Mount Cammerer
A strenuous 11.1-mile round trip from Cosby Campground up Low Gap Trail and the Appalachian Trail to the restored stone fire lookout on Mount Cammerer, with a 360-degree view over the Pigeon River gorge.
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- Length
- 11.1 mi
- Elevation gain
- 2,800 ft
- Difficulty
- strenuous
- Route
- out-and-back
Trail conditions
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Report current conditions →Elevation
4.9 mi · 2,889 ft of climbing · high 5,027 ft · low 2,213 ft
Find the trailhead
Parking
Hiker parking near the Cosby Campground amphitheater; arrive early on fall weekends, and a park-wide parking tag is required.
Directions to parkingWeather at the trailhead
74°FRain now
Sunrise 6:16 AM · Sunset 8:49 PM
- TodayDrizzle86° / 72°F26% precip
- SatDrizzle85° / 70°F22% precip
- SunDrizzle84° / 66°F84% precip
Forecast from Open-Meteo. Mountain conditions change fast; check again before you go.
Mount Cammerer's reward is unique in the Smokies: a restored 1930s stone-and-timber fire lookout, built by the CCC in the style of western octagon towers, perched on a rocky knob with a full circle of views over the Pigeon River gorge, Mount Sterling, and the long crest of the state line. Earning it means business — from the hiker parking at Cosby Campground the Low Gap Trail climbs about 2,500 feet in 2.9 unrelenting miles of switchbacks to Low Gap on the Appalachian Trail, then follows the AT northeast along the ridge for 2.1 miles of easier grade before a 0.6-mile spur drops out to the lookout. The final scramble onto the rock outcrop is exposed, and the summit is brutally exposed to wind and weather, so carry layers even in summer. Water is scarce above Cosby Creek; fill up low. October color over the gorge makes this one of the park's great fall hikes, and the same is true of the crowds at the small Cosby lot.