Hiking in Gatlinburg – A Guide To The Best 23 Trails In The Smokies
The Best 23 Hiking Trails in Gatlinburg
Are you looking to go hiking in Gatlinburg? This guide gives you the best 23 trails around the Tennessee side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Whether you’re looking for easy hiking in Gatlinburg, hikes with waterfalls near Gatlinburg, hiking in Cades Cove, or the most challenging trails in Gatlinburg, we have you covered.
We consider easy hiking in Gatlinburg to be trails under 4-miles long with less than 400′ of elevation gain. There is going to be a certain amount of overlap in trail classifications. Some of these hikes are in Cades Cove, and others have waterfalls.
Our first ‘hike’ is actually a 5.5-mile one-way motor loop through the mountains just outside of Gatlinburg. Pretty easy, right? Several other hikes in this guide come off of this loop.
Much like Roaring Forks, Cades Cove Loop is a one-way driving loop through the national park. However, Cades Cove has significantly more historic buildings and less forested regions than Roaring Forks.
Cataract Falls is a little waterfall in the woods right by the Sugarland Visitor Center. Parking at the visitor center and hiking in is the best way to visit Cataract Falls because there’s easy parking and a wide, pea-gravel trail along Fighting Creek.
Elijah Oliver’s Cabin is a well-preserved homestead about 1/2 mile off Cades Cove Loop. The cabin, barn, stable, smokehouse, and corn crib are in their original locations, and you can imagine what life must have been like for Elijah when he returned home from the War Between the States.
Nature trails sound lovely, don’t they? I mean, if you’re a hiker, you love both nature and trails. The reality of the nature trail is a little different. If you’re staying in the Cade Cove campground, then definitely hike the Pine Oak Nature Trail.
Metcalf Bottoms Trail is a real gem because cabin hounds and waterfall chasers often overlook it. You can almost always find parking and find quiet spots on the trail once you leave the picnic area.
Laurel Falls is the most photographed waterfall in the Smokies. I debated whether it should be in the waterfall hike section or the easy hike section. In the end, I thought that hikers looking for quick and easy hikes could use this information more than waterfall chasers.
Clingmans Dome Observation Tower Trail (1.2 miles)
At 6643′, Clingmans Dome is the highest point in the Great Smokies. The park service built a 45′ tall tower with a 375′ ramp to give visitors sweeping 360-degree views. The curving ramp looks almost like a nautilus or parking ramp, depending on who you ask.
The Gatlinburg Trail is the last of our “easy” trails. At 3.8 miles, it’s on the borderline of being considered easy. However, since it leaves right out of town, it’s certainly one of the easiest to reach.
Listen here, all you waterfall chasers. We have already written a fabulous guide to Hikes with waterfalls near Gatlinburg….Oh, you’re still here? Then you must be interested in hiking and waterfalls!
Grotto Falls’ claim to fame is that it’s the one you can walk behind. That’s right. The trail goes around behind the falls, and you can look out through the water. It’s the perfect end to 544′ of sweaty climbing. You can cool off without getting your shoes soaked.
Baskins Creek Falls is a secluded 80′ waterfall located at just about the geographic center of the Roaring Forks Motor Nature Trail. You can either take Baskins Creek Trail or the Grapeyard Ridge Trail to falls.
Abrams Falls is the largest waterfall in the Smokies by volume, even though it only has a 25′ drop, and it’s located at the back of Cades Cove Loop. It has an enormous parking area, so you don’t have to make a mad dash for the trailhead.
The hike to Rainbow Falls is enormously popular near the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. So popular, in fact, that they built a second parking area, and they still both fill up on weekend mornings.
The hike to Rainbow Falls is enormously popular near the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. So popular, in fact, that they built a second parking area, and they still both fill up on weekend mornings.
The Rich Mountain Loop is an 8.3-mile heavily trafficked loop trail. It takes you by Crooked Arm Cascades and up Cerulean Knob. You end up gaining 2000′ on the loop, and you still need to do a little bushwhacking to get to the cascades.
Gregory Bald Trail (10-miles, if the road is open)
Gregory Bald Trail takes you to Gregory Bald from Forge Creek Road. The road is seasonally closed from November through March, but it’s closed due to hazard trees, so I haven’t hiked this trail.
There are rules when defining challenging hikes. Like, they’re reasonably done in a single day without running, and they’re not hard because somebody kicked you in the nuts first or put rocks into your pack.
Alum Cave to Peregrine Peak is like Mt LeConte light. You gain about 1/3 of the elevation and hike about 1/3 of the distance if you stop at Peregrine Peak. You still gain a little over 1000′ in 2 miles (4.2-mile round trip), so it’s still a challenging hike.
There was a time when Chimney Tops was the premier trail in the park. For a minimal gain, you could get an optimal view. However, in November of 2016, a devastating fire swept through the area.
Believe it or not, this trail was actually named after Charlies bunion. Not only do you get a little history lesson here, but you also get to hike 8.6 miles on the Appalachian Trail. You also gain over 1500′ and reached remarkable viewpoints like The Jump-Off the Charlies Bunion outcropping.
Ramsey Cascade is the largest waterfall in the Smokies, with over a 100′ drop over several tiers. You also get to hike through one of the last remaining old-growth forests in the park. However, it comes at a price for your legs and lungs.
While Clingmans Dome is the highest peak, there’s also a road almost all the way up it. You have no such luxuries at Mt LeConte, the second-highest mountain in the Smokies.