by Anna Lee Zanetti 

Hike along Deep Creek Trail on November’s Classic Hike of the Smokies. Hikers will reward themselves with breathtaking views of the 80 foot Toms Branch Falls and other waterfalls and cemeteries throughout the trip. Hiking guide and author Danny Bernstein will lead this Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park hike on Tuesday, November 11, 2014.

The hike is 9 miles in length with a total elevation gain of 1,600 feet and is moderately difficult. Starting on the Deep Creek Trail, participants will visit Juney Whank Falls and pick up the loop trail to Indian Creek Falls gaining elevation and returning to the Deep Creek Trail.

The Deep Creek area has a long and vibrant history being one of the first trails constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the newly legislated park in the early 1930s. Also in 1910 Horace Kephart, a leader in creation of the park and author of Our Southern Highlanders, lived in Deep Creek for a short while.

Participants on the hike will learn how donations made to Friends of the Smokies helps fund projects in the Deep Creek area, including native trout management to help replenish and monitor streams as well as ginseng poaching protection. Wild ginseng only grows in select cool climates, such as North America’s Appalachian Mountains and the Himalayas. This rare and highly prized plant is poached in the national park and Friends supports efforts to limit the amount of poaching in the area.

Guided Classic Hikes of the Smokies are $35 per person which includes a membership to Friends of the Smokies. Current members receive a $15 discount. All registration donations benefit the Smokies Trails Forever program.

Carpools will leave from Asheville and Waynesville.

To register for this or any upcoming Classic Hike of the Smokies, contact AnnaLee@friendsofthesmokies.org  or 828-452-0720. For a complete listing of Friends’ monthly Classic Hikes of the Smokies, visit friendsofthesmokies.org/hikes.html.