If someone has told you to take a hike recently, heed their advice.
Hoot Gibbs and I have recently worked on clearing downed trees and brush from the Yellow Creek Falls Trail – 3/10 of a mile – and Yellow Creek Mountain Trail from Old Field Gap Road to Meadow Branch Road and U.S. 129, 1.8 miles.
The Yellow Creek Falls Trail parking lot is located on U.S. 129 north of Robbinsville past Yellow Creek Road. The trail follows Yellow Creek which is a tributary of the Cheoah River upstream to the falls. This trail gets a lot of use. The day we worked on the trail we saw around twenty hikers aging from senior citizens to very young children.
The Yellow Creek Mountain Trail is also a part of the Benton Mackaye Trail. MacKaye (March 6, 1879 – Dec. 11, 1975) was a forester, among other professions. In Oct. 1921, he published an article calling for the construction of the Appalachian Trail. The Yellow Creek Mountain Trail – which used to be the Appalachian Trail – connects with the present day Appalachian Trail at Walker Gap, above Fontana Village.
If you hike the Yellow Creek Mountain Trail from Old Field Gap Road to U.S. 129, you will probably want to start at Old Field Gap Road, unless you like a lot of uphill hiking. There are some scenic vantage points along the trail of the mountains on the other side of U.S. 129 and the Cheoah River. The highway and river can be seen in places especially after leaf fall.
The late Jim Burchfield helped reconstruct and maintain the Yellow Creek Mountain for years while employed with the U.S. Forest Service. At one time in years past, the Forest Service had a work program known as the Young Adult Conservation Corps which worked enrollees for a period of one year. They did a lot of work on the Yellow Creek Mountain Trail.
Once when Jim and a Young Adult Conservation Corps crew were working on this trail, someone set a fire below them on U.S. 129. The fire came roaring up the mountain toward them. They ran out the trail to escape the flames.
The trailhead at Meadow Branch Road is named for Jim Burchfield, in honor of his years of work maintaining the trail.
Marshall McClung is the historical columnist for The Graham Star.