Name: Fire On The Mountain
Rating: 4.6

Conditions

Minor Issues 23 days ago

Lots of leaves History

Getting forecast...

“A loop at the newly opened Fire Mountain Trail System accessed from the Oconaluftee Trailhead.”

— Mike Eagan

Driving Directions GPX File

Dogs Unknown

Features -none-

Overview

This is a new trail system built by Trail Dynamics, sponsored by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. It has excellent flow and most switchbacks are bermed to keep speed and momentum with super radius and curvatures.

Description

Most trails are easy to intermediate with one "Advanced" segment. I only rode the beginner-intermediate route this time. The plans are to expand already.

This loop, as seen on the elevation graph, begins on Tinker's Dream and is almost entirely up for the first half on Lazy Elk and Spearfinger. Followed by a fun descent that starts on the northern half of Spearfinger onto Uktena and back to Tinker's Dream.

Go and enjoy!

Contacts

Local Club: Trail Dynamics

Land Manager: Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI)

Full Details

Trail Ratings

4.6 from 30 votes

#1

in Fire Mountain

#174

Overall

4.6 from 30 votes

5 Star		63%
4 Star		30%
3 Star		7%
2 Star		0%
1 Star		0%

Rankings

597 Views Last Month

18,343 Since May 14, 2017

Intermediate

		0%
		4%
		79%
		7%
		11%
		0%

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Photos

Huge berms near bottom on the trail.

Spearfinger Trail - Fire Mountain - Cherokee, N…

Uktena to Tinker's Dream to Kate's Wave - Fire…

Riding over the bridge on Kessel!

Really well constructed trails, these guys did…

10 Comments

Micah Franz

I rode the firetower road to Spearfinger and then followed it up to the beginning of Kessel Run and Uktena. The upper section of Uktena is tighter single track, flowy and mostly downhill. Some technical aspects such as rocks, roots, and creek crossings... Nice burmed out corners, smooth flow. Can't wait to check out the others! May 19, 2017

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David Tate

I've ridden there twice. Both times I used Spearfinger to climb to the top. To truly enjoy the trails my recommendation is to plan to make multiple trips to the top in order to decsend down several trails. Kessel Run is downhill only and is a great flow trail with several built features. May 23, 2017

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Butch Greene

Held up to rain. Dry and excellent grip and plenty of shade on a hot morning. 3 different junctions with complete, detailed maps of all trails. Intersection impeccably signed & color coded for difficulty. Climbed Lazy Elk to SpearFinger, descended all of Kessel Run, then turned right onto Lazy Elk. Perfectly shaped tabletops all the way down. Well designed. Worth a trip back up to ride Uktena May 29, 2017

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Michael(Sambo) Bussell

This is a great ride very fun but you have to work for it to get to the top no matter which trail you take but spearfinger seems to be the easiest climb fast flowy with jumps and berms something for all Jun 10, 2017

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Damon Niewold

Best use of effort and time- Up Fire Tower (steep grind but not too long) to Spearfinger to Kessel Run. Only 1.2 mile ride to top this way! Down Kessel Run to Lazy Elk to Tinker's Dream to parking lot. Back up Fire Tower to Spearfinger down Uktena to Tinker's Dream to parking lot. If you play around on Tinker's and Kate's Wave first then climb Spearfinger to Kessel. Avoid climbing Uktena- painful. Jun 21, 2017

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Matt Quinn

Rode the Fire On The Mountain loop this weekend. It is a fantastic trail system. We only did the 5.2 mile loop described, because we wanted to move on to Tsali for a second ride of the day. In retrospect, this trail system is so good we all wish we'd stayed to do a second loop with a descent down Kessel Run instead of leaving to do the Tsali ride. It is that good! Nov 13, 2017

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Sam Johnson
Newborn, GA

Sam Johnson Newborn, GA

Rode this trail system for the first time om 11/19/2017. Great riding, I could ride this all day long its so smooth and non technical. Its like a fire road combined with single track and BMX. I disagree that it is any better than Tsali, its just different. I love the wooded single track at Tsali, and the more remote experience. This is a trail good for people starting out MTB'ing then move on the more difficult and challenging terrain. The added security of being no more than 2.5 miles from the parking lot is nice if riding alone. Nov 19, 2017

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Randy Hamilton

Took left on Tinker at trailhead and up Lazy Elk to Spearfinger uphill to Fire Tower and turned left to try and find the tower, turned around as I didn't know where I was going to end up, if anyone has gone to the tower itself Id love to know how the ride to it was, and how long? Proceeded back on Spearfinger up to Kessel Run, took it all the way down and came back up Spearfinger and then down Ukena which was one of the best descents I have ever done, so much fun. Exactly what a mountain bike downhill trail is supposed to be like IMO. Such creek crossings, some tight switchbacks, long undulating descents mixed with burns and jumps. Just pure joy to ride. Worth ever bit of the climbs, which really are not that bad. Apr 23, 2018

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Michael Sulprizio

WOW what a fun system to ride! Jun 18, 2018

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Rich Bosselmann

Fire on the Mountain is an awesome trail system that is well maintained by the Cherokee Tribe. It's a super fun, flowy single track with some good climbing and great downhill with banked turns. The guy that said it's for beginners is crazy. You get a great workout on groomed trails in the amazingly beautiful foothills of the Smoky Mountains. I've been riding for many years and had a blast. All of the trails are very well marked, and you can ride until you are exhausted, with a smile on your face. Big thank you to the Cherokee Tribe for making this available. Aug 9, 2018

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5.2 Miles 8.3 Kilometers 100% Singletrack	737' 225 m Ascent -737' -225 m Descent
5% Avg Grade (3°) 16% Max Grade (9°)	2,927' 892 m High 2,237' 682 m Low

Fire On The Mountain

5.2 Miles 8.3 Kilometers

100%

737' 225 m

-737' -225 m

5%

16%

2,927' 892 m

2,237' 682 m

Shared By Mike Eagan

Conditions

“A loop at the newly opened Fire Mountain Trail System accessed from the Oconaluftee Trailhead.”

Dogs Unknown

Features -none-

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