The Great Smoky Mountain National Park offers a variety of trails. We have done some of them but we still have a lot to discover. My favorite app to search for trails/hikes is AllTrails. For updates on road closings/road conditions or even for just more information about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, please visit the park website.
Some of the hikes we have done so far and recommend :
- Abrams Falls Trail: (pictures)
Fairly easy trail, we would recommend starting early in the morning to avoid traffic both on the Cades Cove Loop and on the trail itself. We walked it in around 2h - 2h30mn.
Start at Newfound Gap parking lot (entrance for the trail by the rock at the entrance of the parking lot when coming from Gatlinburg). Be prepared for a longer hike (it took us around 4h30mn and 5h), the tougher part was actually on the way back from the end of the hike. There is a nice shelter on the way, and personally, I also enjoyed the idea of walking on the Appalachian Trail, even for a little bit :)
Very easy hike, one of our first in the park. Would recommend if you don't have a lot time ahead. We did in Winter the first time and we were actually kind of disappointed. We did it again in May 2019 and it was very different :) Not at all disappointing, so would highly recommend hiking this in Spring-Fall times!
We discovered this hike (which is a very popular one) this summer and we did it twice in three days :). It is a moderate hike, around 2h and 2h30. We particularly enjoyed following the river at the beginning then discovering the cave halfway through and then the wonderful views at the end of the trail. We haven't tried to keep going to Mount Leconte but would like to :) it is better to arrive early as the parking lot fills up pretty quickly. Our favorite trail so far in the park!
- Walker Sisters Home: (pictures)
This hike was recommended by a friend, and it didn't disappoint! Very easy to find, you park at Metcalf bottom picnic area and cross the bridge to start the hike. It is a very nice and easy hike with not much traffic, which was very nice. The first interesting stop is the school and then the walker sisters home. We saw a bear on our way back, it was crossing the trail behind us, very quietly.
- Chimney Top Trail: (pictures)
So, this is a hike I am happy I did but won't probably do again, it was a bit too hard for me! :) The first part of the hike is very nice (following the river) and then you start to climb.... The view was very nice but maybe not worth all the stairs. On the way back, we saw a bear, probably 20 feet away, standing up ! I was so stressed; I didn't even think about taking pictures!!
- Ramsey Cascades Trail: (pictures)
We did this hike back in February 2020, following a friend's advice. It is a moderate hike in the beginning and it gets harder when you get closer to the cascades, both because of the incline and the rocks. The trail offers lots of scenery and stunning trees along the way. We love the area, the river on that side of the park is wonderful, and it is a bit more quiet than other areas of the park. It took us 5h30 including multiple breaks for me to breathe and time to enjoy the fall :)
We did this one again in