The first recorded account of Alum Cave goes back to 1837 when three farmers, Ephraim Mingus, Robert Collins, and George W. Hayes from the Oconaluftee Indian Village in the Great Smoky Mountains applied at the Sevier County (Tennessee) Land Office for a grant of a 50-acre (200,000 m2) tract of land that would include Alum Cave and its salt deposits.

This first leg of the trail is a gradual climb on a well maintained footpath through an old-growth forest, consisting largely of hemlock and yellow birch.

The trail climbs to Inspiration Point, an outcrop of rocks about 4,700 feet (1,400 m) in elevation, which on a clear day offers views of the surrounding landscape, most notably Little Duck Hawk Ridge.

As the trail crosses 6,000-foot (1,800 m) elevation, the landscape is dominated by dead trees, caused by balsam wooly adelgid and acid rain affecting the Fraser fir.

The actual peak of Mount Le Conte and the overlooks of Cliff Tops and Myrtle Point are a short distance from the lodge.