DEL RIO, Tenn. — Anyone who has driven U.S. Highway 25-70 from Knoxville to Hot Springs, N.C., is familiar with the striking beauty of the French Broad River valley.
One of the best ways to explore this territory is to hike the Paint Mountain-Chimney Rocks trails in the Cherokee National Forest between Del Rio and Hot Springs. This six-mile loop is located in the national forest’s Nolichucky Ranger District, which covers 80,000 acres in the mountains of Cocke and Greene counties. Both trails were damaged by tornadoes in April 2011, but they’re now in excellent shape thanks to a rehabilitation project the U.S. Forest Service completed in early December.
via Changing views of French Broad valley highlight of Cherokee trail » Knoxville News Sentinel.