Occasional breaks in the foliage allow for views of Mount Le Conte and Sevier County to the east and Blanket Mountain and the ridges above Elkmont to the west.

The Chimney Tops, which consist of two barren slate capstones, crown a narrow ridge that branches off the southeastern slope of Sugarland Mountain, opposite the Rough Creek headwaters.

Sugarland Mountain's various knobs and peaks are typically connected by narrow "backbone" ridges, some of which are just a few feet wide.

"[1] An ancient Native American trail— possibly predating the Cherokee— crossed the crest at Indian Gap and descended along Road Prong to the West Fork of the Little Pigeon Valley.

[3] Although the schoolhouse had burned down by 1916,[4] the trail received continued use by Sugarlanders working in logging camps in the Elkmont vicinity in the 1920s.

[7] Author Horace Kephart, writing in the early 20th century, described Sugarland Mountain as a "razorback ridge" that formed a "rampart tedious to scale from either side.

"[8] Kephart referred to the upper Rough Creek Valley on the mountain's southwestern slope as "Godforsaken" — a remote land that seemed "unearthly in its dreariness and desolation.

The deputy and his hodgepodge posse chased the fugitive across Sugarland Mountain to "Barradale's upper logging camp" on Rough Creek, although they failed to locate him.

[10] George McCoy, writing in an early park guide in 1935, reported that the Sugarland Mountain Trail was "extremely rugged," but offered excellent views of Mount Le Conte.

This peak comes into clear view as the trail enters its first substantial stand of heath immediately south of Huskey Gap.

These upper hollows are littered with boulders, which over the years have broken off from higher elevations and have been carried down into the streambeds by erosional forces.

Approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) from the campsite, a pile of large rocks allows for an unobstructed view out over the Little River Valley westward to Miry Ridge and Blanket Mountain.

Most of the remainder of the trail consists of sharp ascents over steep ledges alternating with smooth strolls over narrow backbones.