GetHiking! Southeast's Classic Hikes: Great Smoky Mountains Weekend

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Could a year of Classic hiking omit a summer weekend in the Great Smoky Mountains?

Our base camp for the weekend will be the Smokemont Group Camp, located about six miles north of Cherokee on US 441. The camp, at an elevation of 2,700 feet, has room for 20 campers; when you sign up for this hike, please indicate whether you will be camping with us. Not a camper? Not a problem: lodging options about six miles down the road in Cherokee.

Saturday, we will offer two hikes. Our Long option will be a 15-mile lollipop loop, about 5 miles of which is on the Benton MacKaye Trail. Much of this hike is along, occasionally in, creeks — perfect for a summer's day. A Short option will be an out-and-back of 10 miles.

Sunday, we will do a 5.5-mile loop on the Smokemont Loop Trail.

All hikes originate from the campground. You'll be able to cool off after hiking in the two mountain creeks (Chasteen Creek and the Oconalufte River, which flow through the campground.

This hike is part of our GetHiking! Southeast's Classic Hikes program, a fee program. Hikes are either $25 for a one-day hike, $35 for a weekend hike, with group camping included for the latter. Membership in the program is $75, which includes your first three hikes (if those hikes are all two-day, weekend hikes, you save $30). The fee also includes a joining gift, a swag bag for each hike, monthly emagazine with details of the upcoming hike and discounts on hiking gear at Great Outdoor Provision Co. You will be sent a PayPal invoice upon signing up for this hike.

Estimated drive time: Charlotte: 3 hours, 20 minutes; Greensboro: 3 hours, 45 minutes; Raleigh: 5 hours.

Note: The August hike on the original schedule was originally scheduled for the Deep Creek Campground near Bryson City, the weekend of Aug. 12-14

For more information on the GetHiking! The Southeast’s Classic Hikes program and to sign up, visit GetGoingNC.com (http://getgoingnc.com/2015/12/in-2016-gethiking-the-southeasts-classic-hikes/). You can also sign up and get more information by contacting Joe Miller at joe@getgoingnc.com.