Alum Cave Trail, Tennessee, United States

5Clint D 5:00 PM May 27, 2022

Awesome Hike!
My wife and I have been coming to this area for our whole life and this was the first time either of us had hiked the trail. I will say it is a moderate trail. Once you get to the stairs going through the cave, the hike becomes a little more strenuous. The elevation begins to pick up from that point. To make it to the bluff is around 2 miles. From the bluff I believe it is just over 5 miles to LeConte summit. we would love to go to the top, maybe another time! We began the trail around 8:45 am and made it back to our car almost exactly at 12:00 pm. We did notice on our way back down that the trail had definitely added more hikers. I would say to get there early (8-9:00 am) if you want a relatively less crowd (earlier if you want less). When we left, there were a ton of cars parked on the side of the road for the hike. We will definitely come back, hopefully next time we will make it to the very top, possibly stay in the LeConte lodge at the top

4Emily R 5:00 PM Aug 15, 2021

Tough hike to the top, but great trail
Awesome varied trail with a bit of everything. We have hiked in the Rockies and Cascades and every region has it's own topography to appreciate. Are you at 14,000 ft? No. Is it still beautiful? Yes. We hiked to the top with our young teens and it was tough, but fine for reasonably fit people. Hiking poles would be great for the downhill. The trail is ever-changing, rocky, stairs, creeks, open, forested to keep you going. Some of the photos might make you wonder if there are dangerous drop offs, but we never felt alarmed by any of the crossings or narrow trails. Reasonable precaution is sufficient. There are cables along the wall in many places, more for the fact that the rocks are often wet than because there's an alarming drop-off. But it is a nature trail, not an amusement park with seatbelts and tracks, which is part of the joy of the experience. We parked by 8:00 on a weekday and were just outside the lot. However, we saw very few people as we hiked up - many many more on the way back down, especially once we got back past Alum Bluff. Recommend early start to enjoy your own space and avoid heat in the open areas. We tracked about 5 hours of "moving time" going up and down and walking around at the top.