Walton Interpretive Trail

At A Glance

Easy

1.1 mi one-way

Difficulty Rating: 1.49
Steepness: Few Hills
Tread Condition: Some Obstacles
Lowest Elevation: 4100 ft
Highest Elevation: 4260 ft
Climb Total: 160 ft
Blaze Color: None
Trail Number: 376

Description

The Walton Interpretive Trail is named for Walton Smith, a resident in Cowee NC who led the charge against clearcut logging thorough the Western North Carolina Alliance's Forest Management Task Force from the late 70's through the early 90's. The trail winds through a hardwood forest for a bit past some interpretive signs before entering the area of the Red Spruce bog that Alarka Laurel is famous for. This is the southernmost surviving patch of Red Spruce in the Appalachian mountains, able to remain growing here due to a unique combination of moisture, temperature, and slope found few other places at this low of an elevation. The mountain bog is another rare aspect of the valley bottom, the upload bog being one of the most threatened ecosystems in the region. After passing an observation platform overlooking some big spruces and the bog, the trail winds back toward the parking lot via an old road bed.

This trail is located in the Nantahala Ranger District area. For a list of all the trails in that area, see the Nantahala Ranger District trails list page.

All Photos from the Trail

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GPS Map

Map Information

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Data Formats

KML (Google Earth)

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GPX

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About the Map

Copyright

Base Layers

Base layers provided by OpenStreetMap, the US Geological Survey, the US Forest Service, and NC OneMap. Base layer images are subject to the respective copyright policies of their owners. Base layers may not be available at all times due to system maintenance or outages.

WNCOutdoors Base Layer

The WNCOutdoors Base layer is provided by WNCOutdoors.info. It is licensed by Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.

Trail and Marker Overlays

Trail layers and downloadable data are all original works created by WNCOutdoors with guidance from a variety of sources, including ensembles of our own GPS tracks, user contributed GPS tracks, official maps and GIS data from government agencies, and field observations. WNCOutdoors data is made freely available under the Open Database License - you are free to copy and use it for any purpose under the terms of that license (summary).

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Trail Segments

Trails are often made up of several connecting paths which may have different characteristics, allowed uses, and seasons. This trail is divided into multiple segments as follows:

Walton Interpretive Trail - Parking to Split

  • Allowed Uses: Hiking
  • Length: 0.27 mi

Walton Interpretive Trail - West Side of Loop to FS 86F

  • Allowed Uses: Hiking
  • Length: 0.2 mi

FS 86F - Walton Trail

  • Allowed Uses: Hiking
  • Length: 0.17 mi

FS 86F - FS 86 to Walton Tr. N.

  • Allowed Uses: Hiking
  • Length: 0.1 mi

Walton Interpretive Trail - East Side of Loop to FS 86F

  • Allowed Uses: Hiking
  • Length: 0.36 mi

Total Calculated Length: 1.1 mi

This value is derived from our underlying map data, and it may not match officially published information.

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