Spending a Night at the LeConte Lodge
Mt. LeConte has to be one of our favorite places to hike in the Southeast. Standing as the third-highest peak in the Smoky Mountains, it has some of the best views in the park! From its immediate base to its summit, Mount LeConte is the mountain with the highest relief east of the Rocky Mountains, rising 5,301 feet from its base, near Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Probably the most unique feature about this mountain is that once you reach the very top, and walk through the evergreens, you will discover a lodge and multiple cabins that you can actually stay at (more details coming)! The coolest part; is it’s only accessible by foot! This is the highest guest lodge in the eastern United States, residing between 6,300 - 6,400 feet in elevation.
There are six trails that you can take to get to the top of Mt. LeConte
Boulevard Trail - 16.2 miles RT, 2,700’ net elevation gain
Alum Cave Trail - 10 miles RT, 2,600’ net elevation gain (Trailhead on Newfound Gap Rd.)
Brushy Mountain Trail via Porters Creek Trail - 18.2 miles RT, 4,600’ net elevation gain
Bull Head Trail - 13.8 miles RT (Starting in Gatlinburg), 4,000’ net elevation gain
Rainbow Falls Trails - 13.4 miles RT (Starting in Gatlinburg), 3,900’ net elevation gain
Trillium Gap Trail via Cherokee Orchard - 17.8 miles RT (Starting in Gatlinburg AND there’s Llamas!), 3,300’ net elevation gain
We have hiked up LeConte from Alum Cave quite a few times and Oliver has done the Boulevard Trail quite often as well. We both wanted some new scenery, so we opted to go ascend via Rainbow Falls and then descend either Bullhead or Trillium Gap this time around. We chose the Trillium Gap trail the next day because the llamas were comig up that morning! The Rainbow Falls Trail was a steady climb all the way up to the lodge, nothing super technical. We would recommend going early to avoid the crowds at Rainbow Falls.
We arrived at the lodge around 1 pm. The LeConte Lodge host up to 60 guests per night from Mid March through late November. Checking in was simple: you go to the gift shop and state your last name and how many are in your party. The employee takes you throughout the lodge and goes over the main things you need to remember throughout your stay (meal times, leave no trace, bear canisters, hot water location, kerosene lamp use, etc.) and then shows you your room. Keep in mind: there is no running water or electricity, instead you will learn how to use a bucket and a washcloth to rinse off and a kerosene lamp to see in the dark! They do have flush toilets for ONLY for the guests that are staying at the lodge overnight!
The cabin we stayed in was a 13-person cabin that was separated into 3 rooms. There is a communal space in the cabin, but the rooms are only the guests you booked with. There are also options for a 5 bedroom cabin, or if your able, you can book the entire 13 person cabin for a little over $1000.
We got checked in pretty early, so we unpacked and was able to partake in the drink service served from 2pm-5pm. The drink service is unlimited hot chocolate, coffee, and lemonade. Perfect for getting a warm drink, looking at the views, and sitting on your private front porch.
Dinner was served promptly at 6 pm and consisted of veggie soup, cornbread, a half peach, baked beef and brown gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, spiced apples, and for dessert, the famous chocolate chip cookie bar. Tip: If you want to drink wine during dinner, for $13.00, they offer 3 different types of local wine… bottomless for an hour. Dinner was hearty, perfect for an after hike meal and to withstand the colder nights up on elevation. Fun Fact: The highest temperature ever recorded on Mt. LeConte was 81.5F. Temperatures are much cooler than in Gatlinburg, by as much as 10-20F.
One last drink service happened after dinner, so we were able to grab a drink and go up to Cliff Tops to see the sunset. Cliff Tops is the closest overlook to camp, and is ideal for sunsets! The sunset was absolutely amazing… only a few clouds in the sky. We headed to bed right after the sunset.
Breakfast was served promptly at 8 am and consisted of pancakes, farm fresh scrambleds eggs, canadian bacon, grits, and homemade biscuits. Oliver loved the breakfast! He said it reminded him of Cracker Barrel!
We left around 9 am and headed down the Trillium Gap Trail. The trail was easy due to it being all down hill and seeing the llamas on the way down made it all the more exciting. Our last 100 meters, we even got to see a black bear from 25 feet away! Fun Facts: The llamas make three trips per week, by using the Trillium Gap Trail. The switched from using horses to llamas in the 1980s because of their padded feet, which do little to no damage to the trail. Their impact is less than the average hiking boot! All the llamas they use are males, ideal for their size and strength when it comes to climbing the mountain!
Lets talk prices: The lodge is not charged by room, but per person. For two adults (13+), without tax, the total was $324.00. so, $162.00 per person. It does seem expensive, but when you factor in a full time staff up in the mountains, and two meals provided, it is not an outrageous price. Also you get to stay up in the clouds!
This experience was nothing short of amazing. We even talked about going to stay up at the LeConte Lodge when it snows, or even working as employees for a season. Hope this blog post gives you information you need to know and that it helps!
For Reservations: email reservations@lecontelodge.com, or visit www.lecontelodge.com. Or the best way, call a couple of weeks before your ideal hike date and ask if there are any cancellations for the next couple of weeks and book it! Our best piece of advice would be to stay flexible with your dates! This is how we did it, and the other two groups in our cabin as well.
