Hikers looking to get off the crowded trails in Tennessee's more popular state and national parks can look for new paths from scenic Tellico Plains down to the Ocoee River in the Cherokee National Forest in a new trail guide that fills a longtime void in information for outdoor enthusiasts.
The first edition of "Great Hikes and Backpack Trips near Tellico Plains TN" was printed in October and has already nearly sold out, and another printing is planned in the coming days, according to author Richard Harris, who wrote the trail guide with local museum curator and historian Pam Hall Mathews. Harris is the Tennessee-North Carolina maintenance director for the Benton MacKaye Trail Association, and Mathews is the curator of the Charles Hall Museum in Tellico Plains.
"My wife, Brenda, and I have hiked, I think, every single trail in the Tellico Ranger District and most of the trails down in the Ocoee Ranger District and quite a number of them over in Nantahala National Forest just over the state line in North Carolina," Harris said in a phone interview. "We've known there's been a void forever and ever, and there's never been a good trail guide for the trails in our local area. All there's been is Will Skelton's book, which covers every single trial in the entire Cherokee National Forest."
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Skelton's 2005 book, "Cherokee National Forest Hiking Guide," is available on Amazon and Harris said Skelton and the local chapter of the Sierra Club have an updated edition due out next year. Skelton was complimentary of Harris' latest book in a social media post.
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New trail guide to Tellico Plains area offers descriptions, trail maps and historical context
"The book contains very good trail descriptions of some of the best trails plus a good history of the Tellico Plains area, written by Pam Hall Mathews, daughter of the longtime mayor of the city, Charles Hall," Skelton wrote in the post.
The Benton MacKaye and John Muir trails are among the paths covered in the book.
Demand for Harris' book on Tellico Plains has been high, and a second printing is coming out within the next few days, Harris said.
"We have been flabbergasted that everybody in the world has been wanting this guide, and it's very clear it was something that was really needed," Harris said.
Around 2020, Harris, a Boy Scout scoutmaster and retired pediatric hematologist, teamed with Mathews so she could lend expert historical commentary to the guide to go with his trail descriptions and maps, he said.
The historical context of a place makes the hike more meaningful for visitors and prompts some to want to learn more, said Mathews, who grew up in the Tellico Plains.
"Knowing the living history of the land will add another layer of excitement to the hiking experience and inspire one to learn more about those who traveled and lived along the paths from prehistoric to historic times," Mathews said via email. "Our mountains hold many great stories of survival, both human in nature and environmental.
"My hope is more awareness of the mistakes and tragedies made toward humanity — such as the Cherokee removal from their ancestral lands and the bloodshed of the Civil War, plus the environmental destruction to our forests from logging practices, invasive species and insects — will encourage better practices toward humanity and also encourage support of sound environmental practices to preserve our forests," she continued.
Mathews' own 2011 book on local history, "The Pictorial History of the Tellico Plains Tennessee Area (1849-1949) 'The Collections of Charles Hall,'" offers 222 pages filled with more than 630 historical photos that tell a detailed history of Tellico Plains, Babcock Lumber Co.'s logging railroad and the birth and development of the Cherokee National Forest.
Harris and Mathews said the two books complement each other.
"The trail guide summarizes specific history to each trail listed in the book, along with historical introductions," Mathews said. "This includes early 1800s history but also more recent history that happened after 1949, such as the development of (the) Indian Boundary Recreational area and the Cherohala Skyway that is not included in the pictorial history book.'"
Harris' guidebook includes trails in Tellico Plains, the Tellico River Road area, the Coker Creek area and trails or sites in the Cherohala Skyway area on the Tellico Plains end of the Cherokee National Forest. On the south end in Polk County, the guidebook includes the Citico Creek area and Ocoee District trails.
In its introduction, the book sets the scene in the Unicoi Mountains, which form the spine of the Appalachians along the Tennessee-North Carolina border. Trail information includes the distance, difficulty rating, highest and lowest elevations, points of interest and an extended background and history section. Campsites, water sources, maps and trailhead and parking information are also noted for each trail.
The book is available at REI in Chattanooga and Knoxville, Rock Creek in Cleveland and Chattanooga and several locations around Tellico, including the museum, as well as other outdoor stores around Knoxville, Harris said.
A future second edition will include information on the 31-mile East Lakeshore Trail and the 5-mile Hall Bend Trail that trace the shoreline of Tellico Lake, he said.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.