By Marti Davis, staff writer

Hike: Chesnut Top Trail to Schoolhouse Gap Trail and Laurel Creek Road

Distance: 6.3 miles one way (or a one-mile round-trip wildflower walk)

Directions: From Knoxville take 129 South to 321 North in Maryville. Follow State Highway 73 through Townsend into the park. Park at Townsend Y. Trailhead is across from parking lot.

The wildflowers alongside the Chestnut Top trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are shouting greetings of the season.

Snowy anenome and star chickweed set off the romantic violets that carpet the path's edge, punctuated by an occasional scarlet fire pink or a sunny yellow cinquefoil.

Thanks to the unseasonably warm weather of Februrary and March, the spring show is about two weeks early this year.

The Chestnut Top trail near the Townsend Y has long been considered one of the best wildflower trails in the park - especially in its first half mile or so. It's worth just going up and back this section if you only have a little time.

As you hike up the steep first quarter mile, which runs perpendicular to the river and road below, watch your step and keep small children by the hand, avoiding the sharp precipice along the outer side of the trail, where many of the wildflowers bloom.

Go slowly. Take plenty of time to stop and enjoy the show around you. Fiddlehead ferns are unfurling, Jack is in his pulpit. Sweet white trillium and bishop's cap are abundant.

Look closely and you'll see squawroot(cq) poking its way up through last winter's oak leaves. This unusual plant, which looks like a bouquet of tiny corn cobs, is a parasite which feeds on the roots of oak trees. It is a favorite springtime food of black bears and wild hogs. You're not likely to encounter them during the daylight hours but you may see signs of their rooting and scratching.

At the end of this half mile, there are some fine views of Townsend and Tuckaleechee Cove far below.

If you choose to hike on, you'll soon leave the crowds behind.

The trail gains 1,100 feet to its peak at Chestnut Top. Until the hardwoods fill out with leaves, you'll be rewarded with spectacular views across Turkeypen Ridge and up to Thunderhead Mountain, the highest peak at the western end of the park.

At 4.3 miles, Schoolhouse Gap Trail intersects the Chestnut Top Trail. Turn left and hike two miles to the Laurel Creek Road. If you're with a group that has more than one vehicle, you can arrange a car shuttle to take you back to the parking lot at the Townsend Y where you started.