VIDEO: Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness, Nantahala National Forest, NC - 4-day Backpacking Loop

**Layne** · 06-16-2020, 11:22

On this trip we spent 4 days backpacking in North Carolina's Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness. JK-S is well known for being a tough but beautiful place to explore, we have been wanting to make a visit here for years!

Our first day (after a heckuva time even making it to the trailhead due to car problems) took us straight upwards to the top of the Hangover. The views from this mountain are as good as it gets - unbroken trees, mountains, rivers & lakes for as far as the eye can see. Unfortunately this ended up being one of the worst nights of sleep I've ever had in the backcountry due to unrelenting wind that shook our shelters all night long and caused a puncture hole in my tarp.

On day 2 we dropped down from the Hangover ridge into the Little Santeetlah Creek basin, home of the massive trees that Joyce Kilmer is so famous for. Beautiful cascading streams escorted us on our way down to the bottom of the drainage and the trees grew larger and larger with each descending step.

Day 3 took us back up to the top of the ridge by virtue of an off-trail bushwhack then an on-trail bushwhack up the Stratton Bald Trail. We were too pooped to make it out to the view on Bob Bald, but that gives us something to aim for in a future trip. We set up camp in the Naked Ground area and saw 3x more people come through that one spot than we had the entire rest of the trip.

We finished up our final day by dropping back down to our trailhead at Big Fat Gap - but not before enjoying the view from the Hangover one last time. We had an awesome, albeit difficult, time in Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock and definitely look forward to exploring this area further in the future.

Shorter highlight video for anyone who wants to see the scenery without the trip details:
https://youtu.be/k9tlnDBGZ6k

Thanks for checking out our adventure!
Layne

**TallPaul** · 06-16-2020, 12:31

Nice. I need to get up there sometime.

**Layne** · 06-17-2020, 09:53

Originally Posted by TallPaul

Nice. I need to get up there sometime.

It's definitely an area worth exploring! It had been on our to-do list for quite some time before we made it out. I might try to avoid it in the summer though, seems like the trail systems can become very overgrown

**cmoulder** · 06-18-2020, 06:40

That's really a beautiful area... and tough hiking to boot!

I was down there in Aug '17 for the solar eclipse and hiked from the Kilmer parking lot up to Bob Bald. Was damm happy when the switchbacks started about halfway up.

**Layne** · 06-18-2020, 14:12

Originally Posted by cmoulder

That's really a beautiful area... and tough hiking to boot!

I was down there in Aug '17 for the solar eclipse and hiked from the Kilmer parking lot up to Bob Bald. Was damm happy when the switchbacks started about halfway up.

We only did ~25 miles over 4 days and it still whooped my butt! I bet that was an incredible spot to take in the eclipse.

**TrailSlug** · 06-18-2020, 18:32

Layne,
At which trail head did you guys park? I went up to Bobs bald two years ago in the Spring and camped at Naked Ground. That one camp site looking over Joyce Kilmer was one of the nicest site's I've ever camped at. I parked Beach Gap off of the Cherohala Skyway and took that up to Bob Stanton Bald. I thought that view was great but the view from Naked Ground was even better. Hangover has a beautiful 360 degree view from the rocks as well. Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I only went 6 miles the first day and 5 the next and I thought I was going to die but I'm fat and old so that to be expected. Still beautiful and a must see for anyone in that area.

**Layne** · 06-18-2020, 21:37

We parked at the Big Fat Gap trailhead. Our last night we spent in the Naked Ground area as well. Awesome view down into the Little Santeetlah Creek valley. Didn't make it out to the view on the bald, something for next time. The Hangover was incredible. We didn't do too many more miles than you per day and it whooped us as well!