The Newton Bald trail climbs about 2,800 feet as it winds its way up from the trailhead near the Smokemont Campground. Though it may be dense with weeds and poison ivy in late summer, the trail is as good as it gets during the cooler seasons, especially after the winter storms blow down enough trees to keep the horses off of the trail. We hiked it in mid-April, combining it with the Thomas Divide trail and the Kanati Fork trail to make a terrific semi-loop of about 11.4 miles. It's a great combination of trails for an early spring hike on one of those lazy spring days that lend themselves well to a trailside siesta.

The grade of the trail is steady but smooth, weaving in and out of one cove after another as it heads up the mountainside. There are several small streams and seeps crossing the trail, but with no horses using the path, and it being early in the season, mud was never a problem. As you near the top of Thomas Divide, the forest becomes more open, with evidence of what was once a grassy bald, used for grazing stock during the summer months. With the removal of stock after the Great Smoky Mountain Park was established, the forest has reclaimed the summit. However, the trail remains a smooth, grassy path that winds gently along the Divide. (Bear in mind that this description reflects what we saw in mid-April after months of horse-free trail recovery.)

Campsite #52 straddles the narrow ridgeline at around the 5,000 ft. mark. Campsites are limited, and on a windless night, you'd probably be able to hear the traffic on Hwy. 441, several thousand feet below. It's a pleasant spot, with a few grassy sites and a good spring that is only a minute or so below the camp. On my scale of 1 to 10, #52 gets a solid 8.