page_title: Alum Cave Trail
section_title: Alum Cave Bluff to the LeConte Lodge
hierarchical_section_title: Alum Cave Trail / Trail synopsis / Alum Cave Bluff to the LeConte Lodge
caption_attribution_description: Certain portions of the Alum Cave Bluff Trail can be dangerous in inclimate weather.
context_page_description: The Alum Cave Trail is an American hiking trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in Sevier County, Tennessee. The trail ascends Mount Le Conte, the sixth highest mountain east of the Mississippi River, and passes by many notable landmarks, such as Arch Rock, Inspiration Point, the Duckhawk Peaks, and Cliff Top, before merging with Rainbow Falls Trail near the summit.
context_section_description: Once the hiker reaches this final section of the trail (over half of the path's total distance) most of the company has been left behind, leaving only hikers headed for Le Conte's pinnacle. The first half mile or so beyond the bluffs is the single steepest portion of the hike, and included in this section is Gracie's Pulpit. Named for the matron of the mountain, Gracie McNichol, who famously hiked the trail on her 92nd birthday (among very many other times), the pulpit marks the halfway point of the Alum Cave Bluff Trail. From here the onlooker can get as clear a view as any other along the trail of the four peaks of Le Conte (West Point, Cliff Tops, High Top, and Myrtle Point). After Gracie's Pulpit the trail is a scenic, peaceful hike through highland Appalachia toward the end of the trail, with many small water crossings and overlooks along the way. Once the 6,000-foot (1,800 m) plateau is reached, what once was a beautiful Fraser fir zone, which due to the ravages of the balsam wooly adelgid and acid rain, now is dominated with dead trees. A prolific crop of healthy young Fraser firs grows in the place of the old dead ones in many areas, giving hope for the future of the species. At the terminus the trail merges into the Rainbow Falls Trail is the LeConte Lodge. The lodge provides the only commercial lodging in the national park, as it operates about ten rustic cabins with no electricity or appliances. For many, this signals the end of their journey, but the actual peaks of Le Conte all have separate trails a short distance from the lodge, with Cliff Tops and Myrtle Point each offering expansive panoramas of the mountains and valleys below.
caption: The Alum Cave Trail is very rocky and can be dangerous in wet weather
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