AT A GLANCE
A serene and beautiful walk through the woods.

Many hikers have been on this trail but turn around at Hen Wallow Falls. On this trip, we went past the falls to complete the entire Gabes Mountain Trail.

We did this as a 2-car hike beginning at Cosby Campground and ending at the quiet parking area off Laurel Springs Road. Here’s a map of the two parking areas:

The beginning of this hike is the same as the trail to Hen Wallow Falls, a shorter trip to a 90′ cascade.

Start off on a wide, well-tended trail up a gentle hill. Enjoy a creek beside the trail for a short while. At 0.3 mile, stay right at an intersection with a spur trail (it heads into the campground if you’re interested in lengthening the loop some and seeing the campground on the way back).

Dip down across a footbridge and then continue uphill. Eventually, another gentle downhill will bring you through what looks like a hemlock graveyard of downed trees. You’ll encounter mud in this area even on the driest day, but it’s not severe and only lasts for about 20′.

Pick your way across a “footbridge” made of a few logs (a good footbridge evidently washed out here in spring 2016: it was there for our early spring hike but not during a hike in July).

Continue up through the rhododendron and hang a left at the next trail intersection, which points you toward “Henwallow Falls” [sic] in another 1.2 miles.

Notice a large log across an old trail behind the sign: A log or other natural barrier is a message to hikers that says, “Don’t go this way.”

At 2 miles, see a sign for Henwallow Falls. For this hike, continue straight along Gabes Mountain Trail (or add 20 minutes to your hike to descend a steep 0.1-mile spur to see Hen Wallow Falls).

For the next 4+ miles, the trail snakes along the side of the mountain deep in the woods until coming to a clearing at the intersection with Maddron Bald and Old Settlers Trails. Here, we took a right and walked 1.2 miles of the wide, graveled Maddron Bald Trail down to Laurel Springs Parking.

Back on Gabes Mountain Trail past the Hen Wallow Falls intersection, immediately begin to ascend an ever narrowing trail into deep woods. This may be the steepest uphill segment of this hike, but it doesn’t last too long (and my memory might be failing me, as I’m writing this several months after hiking the trail). Either way, inclines are manageable, and the trail isn’t too much of a roller coaster. Over the next 4+ miles that snake along the side of Gabes Mountain, the trail reaches a max elevation of about 3,100′ for a difference of 925′ from the trailhead and a total of 1,200′ between the high and low points of this hike.

The last incline occurs a little over a mile before the intersection with Maddron Bald and Old Settlers Trails. After this, enjoy a steady downhill to said intersection, where you’ll take a right and descend the wide, graveled Maddron Bald Trail for 1.2 miles to Laurel Springs Parking.

Highlights

We hiked here during a good rain. The drops had a hard time reaching us under the thick canopy, but the storms apparently set the mood for salamanders, which we saw at nearly every creek crossing. The creek crossings are exceedingly lovely. You’ll encounter many massive old-growth trees, too, as well as the Willis Baxter Cabin (c. 1899) along that last mile of the Maddron Bald Trail.

On the other hand, when we hiked in early June, stinging nettle was out in force. If you’re very sensitive to it, wear long, thick pants.

There’s also one difficult creek crossing just before Campground 34: We could rock hop, but this could easily be a wet crossing with lots of tricky rock crevices to navigate. Take care not to step on a salamander

Due to the continuous rain, the few photos we have are from my phone.

Finding Laurel Springs Parking

Giant, old-growth trees on Gabes Mountain Trail

Difficult creek crossing at Campground 34 with copious stinging nettle

A sweet sight: the intersection of Maddron Bald Trail, Old Settlers Trail and Gabes Mountain Trail

Willis Baxter Cabin 1899, Maddron Bald Trail