This 18.7-mile weekend trip starts with a 2,700-foot climb up Snowbird Mountain then descends and climbs again to Max Patch, an old homestead and logging camp.

Multiple peaks, steep climbs, and open meadows highlight this 40.6-mile trip in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

This 30.3-miler in the Great Smokies leads to picturesque panoramas including Charles Bunion, a popular 5,736-foot bald.

Start at the Nantahala Outdoor Center and hit the trail for a beautiful, yet rugged 12.7-mile walk under hardwoods and through Nantahala Gorge. Not up for a long day hike? Stop at Sassafras Gap Shelter and swap stories with thru-hikers.

Big views. Quiet streams. A forest paradise. This 8-mile hike to a Hollywood-made-famous summit still offers plenty of solitude, plus fine campsites for a wilderness overnight.

Trek into the past on this 6-day route linking a rock arch, 5,000-foot balds, old settler homesites, and 100-year-old cemeteries.

Climb Mt. Sterling and hike through history on this 16.4-mile loop through the eastern Smokies.

This paved, half-mile (one-way) trail leads to the highest point on the Appalachian Trail and 100-mile views of seven states.

Bag four scenic peaks in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

This 13.2-mile loop is classic Smokies: free-flowing creeks, wide valley views, and hardwood forests peppered with long-abandoned homesites.