It's a great Smoky Mountain pathway to Miry Ridge. Starting near the old cabins in Elkmont, it climbs gently through the forest, crossing a succession of small brooks along the way. There are some pretty big trees down below the trail not far above the trailhead. Connections include the Cucumber Gap trail, the Meigs Mountain trail, and at the top, the Miry Ridge trail, the Panther Creek trail, and the Blanket Mountain trail (unofficial!) Campsite #27 sits on a little knoll about 2.5 miles from the trailhead at an elevation of 3,520'. It's heavily used, and is open to horses. It's still a pleasant spot, with some huge boulders scattered around the sites and has several good, flat spots to set up. If not so close to the trailhead, I'd give it a 7, but due to the mobs that swarm the site during the summer, and the bugs that accompany the horses, it gets a 6.

Top photo: Not far below Jakes Gap, elevation 4,055', the trail winds down a mountainside carpeted in white-fringed phacelia and white trilliums. It's beautiful open forest, and the path is in pretty good shape. Jakes Gap is a picturesque spot, with some good sittin' logs, and it looks like it was probably bald at some point in the past.