The Lower Mount Cammerer Trail is an American hiking trail, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park of Cocke County, Tennessee. The trail ascends Mount Cammerer (elev. 4,928 ft) leading (via a connection with the Appalachian Trail) to a small, untraditional firetower at the summit, from which panoramic views of Cocke County, the main range of the Great Smoky Mountains, and the dominating presence of Mount Guyot are all prominent.

The hike begins along a gravel road in the Cosby Campground, which fords over Cosby Creek and beyond the Cosby Stables. After crossing over a few more small creeks, at 0.6-mile (0.97 km), the trail turns off the road and onto a familiar footpath as it begins its ascent of Mount Cammerer. After a mile of steady–but gentle–climbing, the trail descends to rock-hop Tom Creek, a subsidiary of Cosby Creek. Just beyond the creek the trail rises again to top Sutton Ridge. There, a very short side trail offers magnificent views of the Cosby Valley below. For the next 2 and a half miles the trail continues in a similar patter of dives into tiny creek crossings and subsequent climbs over said creeks, slowly gaining altitude along the way. At 3.6 miles (5.8 km) the trail passes by Campsite #35, where, with a permit obtained from the national park, hikers can spend the night on Mount Cammerer above the Cosby Valley. As the hiker continues to mount Cammerer Ridge for the next four miles (6 km) or so, a few more streams lie ahead to be rock-hopped, but there’s nothing the hiker doesn’t have the experience to conquer by this point. From here the hiker reaches the junction with the Appalachian Trail, where the Lower Mount Cammerer Trail technically comes to an end, after 7.4 miles (11.9 km). The AT can be taken either left to Davenport Gap, or right to the Mount Cammerer firetower.

This video was shot by TheBackpackerTV Member Byran DeLay

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