Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / North Carolina / Great Smoky Mountains (NC)

Hazel Creek: Proctor to Bone Valley

Great Smoky Mountains National Park (north shore of Fontana Lake, by boat shuttle)

Hazel Creek runs out of the Smokies into the north shore of Fontana Lake, and no public road reaches it. Wikipedia notes that the main way in is a pontoon ferry from the marina at Fontana Village, about a 20-minute ride, though hikers can also walk about 10 miles from Fontana Dam.

The valley once held the lumber town of Proctor, and the walk up the creek passes its remains on the way to campsites strung along the water and a side trail to one of the park’s most remote cabins.

The hike

The marina says its boats drop backpackers at several points on the north shore, Hazel Creek among them. At Proctor, the Lakeshore Trail meets the Hazel Creek Trail. Hiking Project’s Lakeshore Trail page says campsite #86 sits across the Proctor Bridge on the old Proctor baseball field, with water from Hazel Creek. Nearby is the Calhoun House, built in 1928 by Granville Calhoun, a railroad builder for the Ritter Lumber Company. You may go inside, but don’t camp in it.

Wikipedia traces the valley’s history from a Cherokee village at Sugar Fork to Moses and Patience Proctor, who settled in 1829. Ritter Lumber built a railroad, a big sawmill near Proctor, and a logging line up the valley, and had cut about 201 million board feet by 1928. A copper mine on Little Fork Ridge ran from 1889 until a land dispute shut it in 1901, and the writer Horace Kephart lived at the old mining camp from 1904 to 1907. After the Tennessee Valley Authority finished Fontana Dam in 1944, the lake flooded the valley’s road, and the last families left that November. Atlas Obscura says the sawmill ruins are the main remnant of the town.

Above Proctor, the Hazel Creek Trail follows an old roadbed with bridges, which Trail Run Project calls “an easy outing.” Campsites #85 (Sawdust Pile), #84 (Sugar Fork), and #83 (Bone Valley) come in turn, and Hiking Project puts the Bone Valley Trail junction, across from campsite #83, about 6 miles up.

Bone Valley Trail runs about 1.8 miles along Bone Valley Branch, with four or five crossings, to the Hall Cabin, built around 1892 and described by Hiking Project as the most remote remaining structure in the park. A 0.4-mile spur leads to the Hall Cemetery, where 19 family members are buried. The valley takes its name, the page says, from a herd of cattle that froze to death there in a late-1800s blizzard. Camping isn’t allowed in or near the cabin.

Above Bone Valley, Trail Run Project says the Hazel Creek Trail becomes singletrack with deep crossings and steep switchbacks on its way to Welch Ridge, 15.6 miles from the lake. For another Fontana Lake trip, see Noland Creek, reached by road from Bryson City.

Tips

Camping

The National Park Service requires a permit and advance reservation for all backcountry camping in the Smokies, issued through Recreation.gov since April 30, 2026. Recreation.gov’s rules allow up to 7 nights on one permit and no more than 3 consecutive nights at most campsites. Hang all food, trash, and scented items on the cable system at each site, and use only established fire rings. A parking tag is required at trailheads, and a backcountry permit doesn’t exempt you from it. Hazel Creek’s sites are #86 (Proctor), #85, #84, #83, and #82 (Calhoun), per Trout Unlimited’s Hiwassee Chapter.

Inside Intel: No camper accounts recommending a specific Hazel Creek site were found. Al Smith, a longtime Smokies hiker writing in an undated Smoky Mountain News guest column, describes an early-October trip when all but one of the five sites looked like a car campground, with big tarps and lawn chairs, and horse-drawn trailers at campsite #83.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

High water above Proctor:

Trail Run Project warns the upper Hazel Creek crossings get dangerous after heavy rain. Before you buy a shell for this trip, see what testers and owners say about three options.

Read the comparison →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.