Best small Section hike in TN?

[Mockernut]

3rd vote for Charlie's Bunion from Newfound Gap. Awesome views, easy-ish hike and will fill a day if you take your time and enjoy it.

[illabelle]

3rd vote for Charlie's Bunion from Newfound Gap. Awesome views, easy-ish hike and will fill a day if you take your time and enjoy it.

4th vote
Charlie's Bunion is well worth the effort.

[ken209]

5th vote

That is where I take friends for their first hike.

[FlyPaper]

5th vote

That is where I take friends for their first hike.

6th vote with a word of caution... Make sure your 11yo is very careful around Charlie's Bunion. It wouldn't be hard to fall.

[HooKooDooKu]

6th vote with a word of caution... Make sure your 11yo is very careful around Charlie's Bunion. It wouldn't be hard to fall.

So long at the 11yo has a sense of "self preservation", it's not that easy to fall either.

In other words, Charlie's Bunion isn't any more dangerous than any other part of GSMNP with an exposed rocky outcropping. So long as you pay attention to what you're doing, you'll be save.

But FlyPaper's words are good word to heed if you take a rambunctious child that's likely to just start climbing a rock without paying attention to where they are.

[FlyPaper]

So long at the 11yo has a sense of "self preservation", it's not that easy to fall either.

In other words, Charlie's Bunion isn't any more dangerous than any other part of GSMNP with an exposed rocky outcropping. So long as you pay attention to what you're doing, you'll be save.

But FlyPaper's words are good word to heed if you take a rambunctious child that's likely to just start climbing a rock without paying attention to where they are.

Take it for what it's worth. There were a few places in the northern half of GSMNP, including I think one place at CB, that made me more nervous in that you could fall seemingly through or under a bush and land 1000' below. But you're right in that almost all around Charlie's Bunion are just your garden variety shear drop off not unlike numerous other places on the trail.

[HooKooDooKu]

Take it for what it's worth. There were a few places in the northern half of GSMNP, including I think one place at CB, that made me more nervous in that you could fall seemingly through or under a bush and land 1000' below. But you're right in that almost all around Charlie's Bunion are just your garden variety shear drop off not unlike numerous other places on the trail.

I've been backpacking in GSMNP with my kids since they were 6yo. The only time I've ever been nervous with them was several years ago along a 100 yard section of the trail between Abrams Falls and Campsite #17. At this particular point, the trail is about 200' above the river, and at the time, a small fire had burned all the vegetation on the hillside. The trail is only about 1' wide, and if you step off the trail, you were going all the way down to the river.
(Since this time, enough vegetation has regrown that the same spot isn't so scary).

But then again, I've always instilled a healthy dose of fear in my kids when we're in the back country, understanding that that you're responsible for keeping yourself safe in the back country, because if you do fall and get hurt, help can be hours (and possibly days) away.