Ask anyone in Cosby where to go the week the color peaks and you’ll hear the same answer more often than not: the fire tower. The Mt. Cammerer lookout sits on a rocky knob at the far northeast corner of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, right above our valley, and in mid-to-late October it looks out over a sea of reds, golds and rust that runs from the Pigeon River gorge all the way back toward Mt. Sterling. It’s a long day. It’s also the hike we’d pick if we only got one this fall.
Here’s how we do it, what to expect, and how to make the most of the fact that the trailhead is a few minutes from our cabins.
Why this hike, and why now
Cosby is the quiet side of the park. The National Park Service describes the Cosby area as “less-traveled,” known for fall leaf color and old-growth forest, and that’s exactly the point: while the lines stack up at Newfound Gap and Cades Cove, the Cosby hiker lot is usually just full, not frantic.
Timing matters. Color in the Smokies moves downhill over several weeks, and the Gatlinburg Convention & Visitors Bureau’s fall color guide lists Low Gap and Lower Mt. Cammerer among its mid-October hiking picks, when mid-elevation maples, hickories and oaks are turning while the high ridges still hold some color. Cammerer tops out just under 5,000 feet, so on this one hike you walk through the whole progression.
The route from Cosby Campground
There are a couple of ways up, but the classic from our side is the loop-less out-and-back: Low Gap Trail to the Appalachian Trail, then the short spur to the lookout. Per the trail guide at PigeonForge.com, that’s 2.9 miles on Low Gap, 2.1 miles on the AT, and 0.6 miles on the Mt. Cammerer Trail, for a 5.6-mile climb and roughly 11.2 miles round trip.
Low Gap Trail (miles 0 to 2.9)
Start at the hiker parking area near Cosby Campground and find the Low Gap trailhead at the back of the lot. This stretch is the work: about 2,000 feet of climbing in under three miles, following Cosby Creek upstream before the switchbacks begin. In October the lower creek corridor is a tunnel of yellow birch and tulip poplar, and the footing is mostly good, with a few rocky, rooty sections that get slick when leaves are down and wet.
Appalachian Trail (miles 2.9 to 5.0)
At Low Gap you hit the AT and turn left (northeast). The grade relaxes along the state-line ridge, and you’ll start getting glimpses down into the Cosby valley on your left. This is the prettiest walking of the day in peak week, with beech and birch overhead and a leaf-covered tread underfoot.
Mt. Cammerer spur (miles 5.0 to 5.6)
Watch for the signed junction and take the Mt. Cammerer Trail out the ridge. The last few hundred yards scramble over rock to the lookout. Give yourself real time up here. The view runs 360 degrees: the Pigeon River gorge and I-40 far below, the long wall of the Smokies to the south, and the ridges of Cherokee National Forest to the north.
Quick facts for the day: about 11 miles round trip, roughly 3,000 feet of total gain, and 6 to 8 hours for most hikers. Start by 8 a.m. in October so you aren’t finishing in the dark, and carry more water than you think you need. There’s no reliable water on the ridge.
A little history under your feet
The lookout is unlike any other in the park. Instead of a steel tower, it’s a low, octagonal stone-and-timber building wrapped in windows, in what’s often called the “western” style. It was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps between 1937 and 1939 from stone quarried on the mountain, with materials hauled up by hand and horse, according to PigeonForge.com’s history of the tower. The Library of Congress still catalogs it under its original name, the White Rock Lookout Tower, because the peak itself was called White Rock before it was renamed for Arno B. Cammerer, the National Park Service director who helped push the park into existence.
The tower was staffed for fire detection into the 1960s, then left to the weather for decades before a restoration in the mid-1990s brought it back to the condition you’ll find it in today. Walk the catwalk, step inside, and look at the stonework up close. It’s hard to believe it was built with no road within miles.
What to bring in peak color week
October on the ridge can be twenty degrees cooler than the valley, and wind at the tower is a given. We tell guests to layer: a light fleece and a windbreaker in the pack even if it’s 65 at the cabin. Trekking poles are worth it for the descent on Low Gap, which is hard on knees after eleven miles. Pack a real lunch, because the tower is a place you’ll want to sit for a while.
Two park logistics to know. First, parking anywhere in the park for more than 15 minutes requires a parking tag, which you can buy at Cosby or online in advance. Second, bears are active and feeding hard before winter; keep food packed away and give any bear you see at least 50 yards.
If eleven miles is too many
You don’t have to go to the tower to get Cosby’s best color. Hen Wallow Falls, off Gabes Mountain Trail from the same parking area, is about 4.3 miles round trip and turns into a gold-and-amber walk by late October. Lower Mt. Cammerer Trail is gentler still and is on the CVB’s mid-October list for a reason. And Cosby Nature Trail, right in the campground, is an easy mile under big trees if you have little hikers along.
Staying close to the trailhead
The real luxury of this hike is sleeping ten minutes from the parking lot. Our Cosby cabins put you on the quiet side of the park, so you’re on the trail early and back at a hot tub by mid-afternoon.
Cabin in the Smoky Mountains
Room for the whole hiking crew, with a big living room to spread out the maps the night before.
See the cabin
Up the Creek Cabin A
Fall asleep to creek sound after a long day on the ridge. Close to the Cosby park entrance.
See the cabin
Mountain Rest
A fire pit under the trees for the post-hike debrief. Exactly what the name says.
See the cabin
Plan your peak-color week in Cosby
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Sources: National Park Service, Cosby Area; Gatlinburg CVB, Fall Foliage Report; PigeonForge.com, Mount Cammerer; Library of Congress, White Rock Lookout Tower (HABS). Trail conditions change; check the park’s current alerts before you go.
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