The trail starts just outside the park boundary in mixed hardwood. Private property is all around, so don't wander off the trail (a bad idea even in the park). Almost a mile will take you to a jeepable (but gated) road from Abrams Creek campground (#1) to Cane Gap. Our choice was to turn left here toward Cane Gap, following Cooper road. A left turn at Cane Gap leads to the remote campground #2. The trail gains altitude from about 1600 feet to 2000 feet over one and a half miles. At the intersection we turned right onto another very wide trail following a rather uninteresting ridge (it appears to have been clear cut just before the park was established). After about two and a half miles, the trail drops down the ridge to the Abrams Creek valley. Here we turned right onto the Little Bottoms trail, a very narrow and at times tricky trail onward to campground #17. In winter, this trail would disappear under snow and ice, especially on the rock slopes (prone to put unwary hikers on their Little Bottoms, hence the name?). After passing the camp in a half mile, the trail becomes respectable in both size and maintenance. It passes through evergreen bottomland most of the way. The rest of the way back to the Abrams Creek campground is pretty, though not out of the ordinary , following the Abrams Creek hollow for two miles. The trail once again meets the large jeepable road from campground #1 back to the Gold Mine Road. We were quite pooped at this point and unfortunately, I remember nothing outstanding about the remainder of the trip except my tired feet and a stream crossing with little option but wading. This was a ten or eleven mile hike and though not too steep anywhere, quite long. I didn't find any gold at all and couldn't have taken it out of the park if I had. No panoramic views, but the creek has some excellent swimming or fishing possibilities along the Little Bottoms trail.