Greenbrier is where Gatlinburg locals send you when the park's main entrances clog: a side entrance off US-321 east of town, up the Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River — swimming holes under hemlocks, a gravel road into old-growth, picnic ground shade, and trailheads without the Sugarlands crowds. The approach itself is half the charm: the Emerts Cove covered bridge (a one-lane wooden bridge over the river, filmed in its own right) marks the way in. The hiking films work the road's pull-offs and the Porters Creek-side trails; the swimming films find deep green pools by the road.

Watch: first looks

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Great Smoky Mountains: Early Spring Wildflowers, Greenbrier

Smokies Life

Smokies Life's 2009 Greenbrier wildflowers film - the park association on the Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River in spring bloom, when the Greenbrier cove's wildflower display rivals any in the park. (The film is largely music and scenery with little narration; it loads as watch content.)

THE BEAUTY OF GREENBRIER Snow & Rushing Water

Smoky Mountain Family

Smoky Mountain Family's 2022 Greenbrier film: snow melting into rushing water along the Middle Prong, the old stone bridges and the quiet of the park's least-crowded Gatlinburg-side entrance, filmed across a family day in the cove.

Key takeaways
  • Greenbrier is the quietest Gatlinburg-side park entrance
  • The Middle Prong's pools and cascades line the whole road
  • Snowmelt turns the river into the show

Snowy Drive Thru Greenbrier Great Smoky Mountains National Park Tennessee Snowstorm 2022 Jeep

Yankee in the South

Yankee in the South's 2022 snowy drive through the Greenbrier section - the gravel road up the Middle Prong past the ranger station and the picnic areas under fresh snow. (No usable caption track exists for this film; it loads as watch content.)

Ramsay Cascades, by representation

One film on this page hikes Ramsay Cascades — at about 100 feet the tallest waterfall in the park, reached by its own trailhead in the Greenbrier area (4 miles, roughly 2,200 feet of climb). It stands here as the area's representative big-hike film; the trail is a Greenbrier-area hike, not part of this page's road tour, and the summary says so.

The quiet register

The films' common note is relief: bird song, river noise, empty pull-offs minutes from the Parkway's roar. Old-growth forest survived here because the Greenbrier logging stopped at the park line in time — the road films pass trees that were already old when the park was drawn.

Watch: more views

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Scenic Drive Thru Greenbrier Great Smoky Mountains National Park / Swimming Holes and Covered Bridge

Yankee in the South

Yankee in the South's 2025 Greenbrier scenic drive: the swimming holes along the Middle Prong, the Ramsay Cascades trailhead, the Emerts Cove covered bridge on the way in - the complete visitor's tour of the Greenbrier entrance, filmed in summer.

Key takeaways
  • The Greenbrier swimming holes are the locals' summer secret
  • The Emerts Cove covered bridge marks the approach
  • The Ramsay Cascades trailhead sits at the road's end

hidden world of Greenbrier in the Great smoky mountains outside of Gatlinburg Tennessee!!!

Something4Every1Outdoors

Something4Every1Outdoors' 2023 Greenbrier exploration - the 'hidden world' of old homestead sites, mossy stone walls and river pools along the Greenbrier road, walked and narrated over 24 unhurried minutes.

Key takeaways
  • Homestead walls and chimneys hide along the Greenbrier road
  • The cove was a settled community before the park
  • 24 minutes of slow, close looking

Our HOTTEST Vlog Ever! 🥵 Swimming at Greenbrier Hole! (Smoky Mountains)

The Childress Adventures

Childress Adventures' 2026 Greenbrier swimming film: a heat-wave day at the Greenbrier swimming hole on the Middle Prong - the deep green pool below the bridge where locals have swum for generations, filmed that summer. (The film is English-narrated, but its only served caption track is an auto-translation, so it loads as watch content.)

Practical

Narrow gravel road, limited parking at the top, no facilities beyond picnic basics: Greenbrier rewards the self-sufficient and the early. It is the park's local entrance, and it acts like one.

Sources: the 9 videos on this page, filmed at Greenbrier, Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Watch: the full set

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

LOVE MOUNTAIN RIVERS?? MUST WATCH! - Greenbrier Section of GSMNP

NCMemoryMakers

NCMemoryMakers' 2026 Greenbrier ride-and-explore: the Middle Prong corridor from the entrance sign to the upper picnic area, with the river pools, the Ramsay trailhead junction and the cove's back-road character in one long film.

Key takeaways
  • The Greenbrier road runs about 6 miles into the cove
  • Porters Creek and Ramsay Prong split at the upper end
  • Filmed 2026 - the current state of the entrance

Greenbrier Serenity | A Short Hike along Porters Creek to Fern Branch Falls

Johnny on the Trail

Johnny on the Trail's 2026 Porters Creek hike - Greenbrier's other great trail: the old roadbed past the farmstead ruins and the cemetery to Fern Branch Falls, a 60-foot cascade in the heart of the Greenbrier cove. (No usable caption track exists for this film; it loads as watch content.)

Hiking to the Spectacular Ramsey Cascades in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park!

Boots on the Trail

Boots on the Trail's 2024 Ramsay Cascades hike - included here with its scope stated: this is the FULL hike to the park's tallest waterfall (100 feet), which leaves from the Greenbrier entrance and climbs 4 miles up Ramsey Prong. The Greenbrier area is its trailhead; the falls are the destination.

Key takeaways
  • Ramsay Cascades is the tallest waterfall in the park at about 100 feet
  • The hike climbs 4 miles and roughly 2,200 feet from Greenbrier
  • Old-growth giants line the upper Ramsey Prong trail

More Gatlinburg essentials

Start from the Gatlinburg hub for the full directory, or keep exploring:

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