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Benton MacKaye
Trail Assn. |
Hiker Resources
"...leaving a footpath for generations to follow."
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Trail Overall
BMT-South, miles 0 - 80.2, Georgia
- Guidebook, Hiking the Benton MacKaye Trail by Tim Homan, is currently available. It covers the southern 91 miles of the BMT and includes a southern-91-miles map set.
- Paper maps of Sections 1 - 10, Georgia, the southern 80.2 miles of trail - print Order Form and mail in.
BMT-Middle, miles 80.2 - 187.8, Tennessee/North Carolina
- Section 11 Advisory on local trail name changes south of US Hwy 64 in Tennessee (also available on Free Downloads page)
- Paper maps of Section 11, Double Springs Gap to US Hwy 64 (miles 80.2 - 91.3) - print Order Form and mail in.
BMT-North, miles 187.8 - 287.6, Smokies
The BMT is open from end-to-end. Nearly all of it is in top condition thanks to the hard work of volunteer trail builders and maintainers, and to the National Park Service (Smokies).
A few sections lack maintainers. (Check the Section Mileages page for sections in need of adoption.) The remote stretches from the Tennessee/North Carolina state line through the Upper Bald River Wilderness Study Area are most in need. Until claimed, some of this run will continue to get overgrown by midsummer.
- Fontana Dam: (updated 4/1/08) The Tennessee
Valley Authority Police have announced that Fontana Dam is again totally
closed for both pedestrian and vehicular traffic until further notice. For
hikers on the Appalachian Trail, there is a Blue Blazed Alternate Trail from
the TVA Police Building down to cross the river over the route 28 Bridge,
then back up to the Park end of the Dam. This adds about 1 mile to the hike
distance. Violators are subject to arrest.
- Other maps may be useful and/or necessary. (See list below under 'Suggested Maps'.) No painted blazes are permitted in federally designated Wilderness. Over a third of BMT-Middle, between the Georgia state line and the Smokies, is in Wilderness.
- Signs are lacking in the Big Frog Wilderness (miles 80.2 - 86.3) just north of the Georgia state line. New signs are being developed but have not been installed yet. Extra caution is urged here until the new signs are in place.
- New signs in the Citico Creek Wilderness (miles 164.8 - 175.8) from Cold Springs Gap to Farr Gap are bear resistant and thus use abbreviated, vertical lettering on one side only. Hikers need to understand that these signs have been oriented to direct flow on the BMT. So, for example, if a southbound BMT hiker enters a trail intersection where the BMT arrow points the way for northbound BMT hikers, the southbounder would simply continue in the direction from which a northbounder would have come. (Takes a lot of words to say but the concept is pretty simple!) Also, these signs use the US Forest Service's designation for the BMT, trail number 2, along with an engraved diamond to identify the trail.
- Signs in the Joyce Kilmer/Slickrock Creek Wilderness Area (miles 175.8 - 182.7) were in place before the BMT route was approved so there is no reference to the BMT on those signs yet. Hikers must follow the local trail names - Slickrock Creek-Ike Branch-Stiffknee. Special care is needed at the Slickrock Creek-Stiffknee trail intersection where the short, weathered sign in the trail-riddled campsite area is easy to miss. (This sign is slated for replacement.)
- The Eagle Creek-Lakeshore Trail intersection (mile 200.1) has no BMT trail markers. Northbounders turn right on the Lakeshore Trail and southbounders turn left onto the Eagle Creek Trail.
- At Martins Gap Trail intersection, Campsite 57 (mile 242.2) there is no BMT trail marker for southbounders (who should follow Deep Creek Trail upstream).
- Northern intersection with Mountains-to-Sea Trail (mile 249.8) BMT marker has been vandalized. For northbounders, trail follows Newton Bald Trail. For southbounders, BMT runs with MST trail.
- The Smokemont Campground / US Hwy 441 area (mile 254.6) is not well marked. Northbounders descending on the Newton Bald Trail turn right at the highway and walk 0.2 mi to bridge, turn left and cross the bridge, [Smokemont Campground is located 0.2 mi on access road to your left] then proceed straight into the woods approximately 50 feet to intersect the concessionaire trail, turn left and follow it to the Water Supply Road, turn left and follow a short distance to the Bradley Fork Trail where you turn right. Southbounders on the Bradley Fork Trail turn left at the Water Supply Road, continue straight past the "KEEP OUT" sign (not sure who this applies to) a short distance to the concessionaire trail which enters the woods on the right, follow the concessionaire trail to the wooden sign near the bridge, turn right and exit the woods onto blacktop in about 50 feet, [Smokemont Campground is located 0.2 mi on access road to your right] cross the bridge and Hwy 441, turn right and proceed uphill on the highway 0.2 mi to Newton Bald Trail where you turn left. This area is targeted for improved trail marking.
- The Davenport Gap - Big Creek area (miles 285.7 - 287.6) is not well marked. Northbounders reaching trailhead near bridge over Baxter Creek proceed slightly right and exit picnic area on gravel access road, follow this road to 4-way intersection where you turn left and ascend to Davenport Gap, the intersection with the AT and northern terminus of the BMT. Southbounders descend on road from Davenport Gap to 4-way intersection where you turn right, follow road [Stop and register at backcountry registration station on right, if applicable.] to Big Creek Picnic Area. At picnic area loop, bear left and head for the stairs going down toward the creek and the bridge over it. (Do not continue on picnic area loop to right and up to camping area further to right.) Ascend on Baxter Creek Trail.
- Carry your own tent or trail shelter is the rule on the BMT. There are only two shelters on the trail. (This is by design - the BMT was chartered as a primitive trail.)
Anyone interested in these maps should check details such as area covered, map scale, shipping costs, etc. before making a purchase.
The trail is marked by a 5" wide x 7" high standard white blaze everywhere outside of designated Wilderness. A few odd-sized blazes may be noted where post width is insufficient to fit a standard blaze. No painted blazes of any kind are permitted in Wilderness. (The single exception is the six-mile stretch immediately south of the Georgia state line.) Half-scale wooden diamond 'blazes' (which are classified as 'signs') are currently being tested in the Big Frog Wilderness with hopes for their future use in all Wilderness areas. They appear at only two points near each trail intersection and at one point on each side of questionable creek crossings.
Double blazes - one over the other - are placed just before turns and just before any areas of potential confusion. They convey the standard meaning, "Heads up! -or- Watch for a turn in the trail."
In Georgia, the longest established trail, there should be road signs each way wherever the trail crosses a public road and flexible, brown, plastic sign posts with trail marker decals about 50 to 100 yards into the woods from each trailhead. In Tennessee and North Carolina, there are both wood and painted metal signs but the coverage is not complete, as it is in Georgia. Hikers should be extra cautious to follow the trail at unsigned intersections until this work is done.
The BMT route through the Smokies is marked at trail intersections with distinctive decals affixed to short, brown, plastic sign segments and mounted on existing wood sign posts, as allowed by the National Park Service. The decals are a dark green color with a white diamond on the face; the words "Benton MacKaye Trail" appear inside the diamond.
The BMTA asks that you follow Leave No Trace guidelines. Leave only footprints, take away only memories.
BMTA President, Steve Cartwright and Jeffrey Hunter, Southeast Trail Programs Director for American Hiking Society, were interviewed on WUTC FM in Chattanooga on April 1, 2005. Click here to 
listen.
Enjoy the hike-a-little/fish-a-little approach? Check out the Fish the BMT page.
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All content copyright © 2003-2008 by Benton MacKaye Trail Association, Inc. All rights reserved.
Little hiker photo courtesy of Eric Lewis; Giant Citico Mushroom, of Ken Jones; and Quarry Blaze, of Diana Ristom
