Find Nearby Peaks

This peak is not in the book. Published January 2023

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Peak 8301 is a forested hump that sits above the junction of Smoky Canyon Road and the Smoky Canyon Phosphate Mining Road. It provides a birds-eye view of the nearby, active phosphate mining operation to its east. USGS Stewart Flat

Access

Park in a large parking area on the south side of Smoky Canyon Road just up from the signed junction of Smoky Canyon Road/FSR-110 and the Smoky Canyon Phosphate Mining Road (7,235 feet).

North Face/Northeast Ridge, Class 2

The Climb

From the parking area, cross a short patch of open scrub just above the parking area and enter the thick pine forest to the left/south. Jump across a small stream and bushwhack south-southwest up an ill-defined ridge in thick forest with lots of underbrush and blowdown. At about 7,500 feet, cross a clear cut (the remnants of an old jeep road that is still shown on the USGS topo map) and continue up into easier forest. Soon after the clear cut, join the north ridge which is better defined than the ridge/face up to this point.

Follow a weak game trail near the ridge crest to avoid the worst of the brush and downed timber. There is no open terrain on this climb except for the clear cut crossing and the summit area. The summit of Peak 8301 had a torn-down cairn so I rebuilt it and made it much larger. The summit offers nice views of the surrounding area. There are a few spots on the upper ridge where you can get clear views of the nearby phosphate mining operation, which is huge. The aforementioned clear cut has a decent foot trail in it and offers an alternative to the initial bushwhack up through the thick forest. This is a longer route and it begins at the 0.7-mile point up Smoky Canyon Road/FSR-110. It begins 300 feet higher in elevation and so that’s also helpful.