AT trail in Smoky Mtns N.P. circa 1981

I walked the length of it last September. We had a very nice walk. There are areas with ruts but most places don't have that deep rut you mention. And its not paved. There are no reservations needed for the trail itself. You still have to reserve the shelters and they occasionally get full; unless you are with the NOBO pack, though, its usually not terrible. Overall, I had a very nice trip on the Smokies AT last year. We were lucky enough to have zero rain and there were still berries in the bushes. The whole 80 miles of trail was pleasant. There are several spots with great views such as Shuckstack, Charlies Bunion, and Mt. Cammerer.

I did it in March 1983 in about 14 inches of snow. I don't recall it being quite the ditch that you described but I do remember it being referred to back then as a big ditch. As for permits, they were required and are still required for all backcountry overnights. On the AT you can only stay in the shelters. The only exception is in the spring thru hike season, thru hikers may tent around a shelter if it is full when they arrive for the night. Four spaces are reserved in each AT shelter for thru hikers.

I think the trail is in pretty good shape considering how much foot traffic it receives. I've hiked most all of the AT in the Smokies and dont remember thinking it looked different than any other trail. The 2-3mi from Newfound to the Bunion is pretty warn though. It probably sees 100k hikers per year I guess. Crews are on the AT there installing water bars,etc pretty much annually.

Ryan

It would be greatly improved if they would ban motorcycles . the noise carries a solid 5 miles from the nearest road. Our greatest expanse of wilderness east of the rockies, is horribly disturbed by idiots with loud motorcycles, and 18 wheelers.

These people are there to use the winding roads as a playground for their bikes, not enjoy the wilderness.

Bad enough the idiot lawmakers built 441 in the first place, splitting it