No Snow Or Mountain Lions But Great Lake Views At Panther Creek S.P.

Since the weather was supposed to be better and I was left with nothing to do Saturday. Well, I shouldn't say that because I had some duties at home that once again put a time limit on what I could do. So, since I was lazy getting up there were two criteria for the hike. First, it had to be close and second not really over four miles. For that reason, I chose Panther Creek State Park.  

The hike I chose was called the Maple Arch Double Loop. In Johnny Molloy's book Five-Star Trails: Knoxville it is listed as a 5.5-mile hike. I knew I would be pressing it to complete it, but once I started I knew that I would only really get to do the first loop. The reason the trails at Panther Creek are really poorly blazed (like an Alabama grad designed them). The Ore Mine Trail (which begins at the end of the Spoone Picnic Area) that I started on had not one, or two, but three different blazes (red, white & blue). 

Also, it switched blazes, from red to white with the Lost Road Trail, which also shared the yellow blaze of the Maple Arch Trail at some point. Molloy's book wasn't a great help as his description did match the trails. I almost got turned around once, but I just took the most logical path and it worked. Oh, the park map was worthless, but I knew that from an earlier hike here. I talked with a mountain biker who echoed these sentiments, but he said the plan was to blaze the trails and have new maps. 

Once I head down toward the Cherokee Lake, on the Lost Road Trail, I noticed another thing. There were some cut trails that also didn't help, but I finally reached the lake. I decided to head down the Maple Arch Trail for a bit. 

After about four-tenths of a mile, I decided to head back. But instead of going back on the trail I took advantage of lower winter pool and hiked the lake shore. The views were better, I could even see Bean Gap on Clinch Mountain. 

Once back on the trail I rejoined the Lost Road, to complete the only loop I would on the day. Just down the trail, the Lost Road Trail went left and I took the multi-use trail to the old road which is now a horse trail. I then hiked up to the junction I had crossed before I took a left on to the Lost Road Trail and decided not to do the Sinkhole Trail. The reason, once back at the parking area I headed up to the Stencil Ford Overlook to end my day.