Gregory Bald area in the GSMNP

[Bianchi Veloce]

Planning on doing a backpacking trip in late May around the Gregory Bald area north of the Twentymile Ranger station. Haven't been to that area of the park before and I want to drink the water from Moore Spring.

Where is the best info on bear activity in park?

Checking out the park's Warnings and Closures page, I see Campsite 113 (northeast/east of the Twentymile station) is already closed for bear activity.

Thanks in advance for any helpful advice on the Gregory Bald area. There are some very knowledge people who post and hang around WhiteBlaze.

[Derf]

Besides calling you found the best spot , they are pretty good about updating it you could also try calling 865-436-1297 best i have found. Also we had a trip couple years ago to Gregory Bald with reservation for site 13, they closed it day before we got there for bears. Good luck great area of the park

[The Solemates]

we stayed on top of the bald this past winter and would highly recommend it!

[colonel r]

I was on Gregory Bald just three weeks ago. Hiked the trail off Parsons Branch Road. I did not on this tip encounter any bears but have meet them on numerous occasions in the Park. Never had a problem; just don't be stupid. Now feral hogs are a different story.

The trails and the top of the bald have numerous blueberry and blackberry bushes. I don't think they will fruit until June but they will be a big attractor when they do.

Col R

[Farr Away]

The website you found is very good, but do check again very close to the date you plan to be there. Like Derf said, closings can happen at any time. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have an alternate hike in mind if you show up and find a campsite you planned to use closed. We ended up needing to change our plans on the fly once when that happened to us.

Have fun! That's a great area of the Smokies.
-FA

[Bianchi Veloce]

The website you found is very good, but do check again very close to the date you plan to be there. Like Derf said, closings can happen at any time. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have an alternate hike in mind if you show up and find a campsite you planned to use closed. We ended up needing to change our plans on the fly once when that happened to us.

Have fun! That's a great area of the Smokies.
-FA

Thanks! That's some good advice. Never thought about having back-up plans. Now I will.

[P-Train]

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/temproadclose.htm

Here's the link. I go up there almost every weekend.

[Patton]

I hiked that area early May and saw only one bear, but there were other hikers who I met who had seen numerous bears and two guys who were hiking together when a bear reared up on its rear haunches and then bluff charged toward them. Only one rattler was seen and it was about 5 feet long. Great views and some of the best hiking Ive been able to do lately.

[Farr Away]

We hiked Abrams Creek area this weekend and overnighted at campsite #1.

A couple of fearless raccoons showed up after dark. Although we were still up sitting by the fire, the first one ambled through within just a few feet of the fire and us. He grabbed the potty bag (trowel, toilet paper & baby wipes) and ran off; we chased him, and he ripped it open and dropped it when he didn't find any goodies. The second raccoon then showed up and kept coming towards us, flinching when my hiking buddy threw a rock at it, then checking out the rock (presumably because it was expecting food). We finally figured out that it wanted the yellowjacket nest about 10 feet from the fire (coolish day - we didn't notice them). We kept a flashlight on it, and I got several pics from about 5 feet away - which didn't faze it at all.

We had our packs with all our food, trash and smellables hung from the bear cables well away from the campsite.

Another strong argument for not camping too close to the front country - that site is about a mile from the Abrams campground.

-FA