Colllins Creek, GSMNP, NC    Jess Riddle    Feb 12, 2006 07:42 PST  Ents, Thomas Divide juts southeast from the main ridge of the Great Smoky Mountain for, and maintains an elevation of approximately 5000' before finally descending below Newton Bald. Collins Creek flows east off Thomas Divide and north off the adjacent Newton Bald. Prior to the formation of the park, a logging railroad snaked up the main stem of the creek from the stream's mouth above Cherokee, NC at 2400' elevation; however, little logging occurred on the stream's north fork, and farming was scarce in the rest of the watershed. Previous forays up the north fork located a hemlock over 150' tall, northern red oaks to 140', a swollen tuliptree with a 23' cbh, and the tallest known serviceberry. Moderately inclined, north facing slopes along the stream support a rich second-growth forest with an open understory. Tuliptrees comprise most of the canopy, but basswoods grow along drainages and black locusts, many of them dead, occur on the upper slopes. Several of the young tuliptrees reach three feet dbh, and many approach 150' tall; however, significantly taller trees are absent. Farther up the stream, around 3500' elevation, the forest becomes unusually mixed for second growth. Tuliptree still occurs, but only as scattered emergent individuals. White ash probably has the highest canopy coverage of any species, but sugar maple, black birch, yellow birch, basswood, cucumbertree and silverbell are also common. The current abundance of cucumbertrees partially results from the loggers of the watershed passing over the species, an uncommon practice. Hemlocks provide green to the midstory, and shrubs have not invaded the understory. The railroad did not penetrate above about 4000', so large hardwoods still fill the upper coves. Hemlocks and rhododendrons cover some of the higher ridges, but hardwoods occupy much more of the undisturbed portion of the watershed. Not surprisingly, white ash, northern red oak, basswood, yellow birch, and yellow buckeye dominate the open coves. Kanati Fork lies farther up the Oconaluftee River watershed, and drains a smaller portion of the east side of Thomas Divide. The watershed resembles the main stem of Collins Creek in both disturbance history and in having high, sheltering ridges to the south. The Kanati Fork trail, which winds along slopes above and northwest of the stream, traverses three distinct sections of forest. The upper trail passes through steep, open coves with sugar maples and large northern red oaks. The middle part of the trail traverses drier, younger coves filled with chestnut oak, black birch and rhododendron. The lower trail weaves in and out of narrow ravines and small coves that support rich, hardwood forest. Species Cbh Height Creek Basswood, White 7'7.5" 133.3' Collins Creek Basswood, White 7'4" 133.6' Collins Creek Basswood, White NA 142.1' Kanati Fork Birch, Yellow Coppice 98.8' Collins Creek Buckeye, Yellow 13'3" ~111' Collins Creek Buckeye, Yellow 13'3.5" 133.7' Collins Creek Buckeye, Yellow 15'4" 137.6' Collins Creek Locust, Black NA 156.9' Kanati Fork Magnolia, Cucumbertree 12'10" 127.9' Collins Creek Oak, Northern Red 17'3" NA Collins Creek Oak, Northern Red 6'9.5" 134.2' Collins Creek Oak, Northern Red 7'4" 142.4' Collins Creek Serviceberry, Allegheny 5'4" 101.3' Collins Creek Serviceberry, Allegheny 4'6.5" 104.9' Collins Creek Tuliptree NA 167.1' Kanati Fork The 15'4" buckeye swells below two burls on the lower trunk, so the tree has a Coke-bottle shape. However, the tree is still a potential North Carolina state champion, with a long spread of 51.4' and an average spread of 48.3'. More remarkably, the tree grows at at least 4400' elevation; where in most of the Smokies, buckeyes only reach three feet diameter and 120' tall. The black locust is the second tallest so far found. The tree fills something of a gap since the record locust, at 162', was nearly ten feet taller then the next tallest known. The large northern red oak is remnant tree along the middle of Collins Creek with a dead top. The tallest northern red oak is nearly dead. The current record serviceberry had also seemed something of an anomaly. The two tall serviceberries both grow in the diverse second growth forest along Collins Creek, and they have reached unusually great diameters for such low elevation. Collins Creek now has three of the five tallest known serviceberries. I was rather tired by the time I reached lower Kanati Fork, so I only measured trees from the tree. The forest in the east facing coves along the creek resembles the recently found grove on Bradley Fork and Chasteen Creek more than lower Big Creek. The exceptional forests on lower Big Creek are similar in age, but more diverse than the Kanati Fork coves. Streamside areas and north facing slopes along Kanati Fork have not yet been explored, so the stream has great potential to hold exceptionally tall trees. Jess Riddle   Home