The Gatlinburg trail system in nine films: the signature route, the waterfalls, the easy five, and the one dog trail. Alum Cave leads twice — a local's 2025 journey to the Bluffs (creek-side first mile, Arch Rock's stairway, the dripping rock shelter that is not a cave) and HikingGuy's complete LeConte guide via the same trail: water, exposure, the cables, the lodge, Cliff Top for sunset and Myrtle Point for sunrise.

Watch: first looks

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Best Hike in the Smoky Mountains | Hiking Alum Cave Trail | Great Smoky Mountains National Park

My Smoky Mountain Home

My Smoky Mountain Home's 2025 journey to the Alum Cave Bluffs with the full approach: the creek-side walk, Arch Rock's stone stairway and the bluffs overhead, filmed as a local's guide to the hike.

Key takeaways
  • The trail follows Alum Cave Creek for its gentle first mile
  • Arch Rock's stairway is the hike's signature squeeze
  • The bluffs drip water after rain - the 'cave' is a rock shelter

How to Hike Mt LeConte (Alum Cave Trail)

HikingGuy.com

HikingGuy.com's complete 2023 Mount LeConte guide: the Alum Cave route walked and explained end to end - water, exposure, the cables, the lodge, Cliff Top and Myrtle Point - the page's how-to film, dense with practical detail at a brisk narration pace.

Key takeaways
  • Five trails reach the summit; Alum Cave is the most popular
  • The lodge's cabins, dining hall and rocking-chair porch crown the mountain
  • Cliff Top is the sunset side; Myrtle Point the sunrise side

LAUREL FALLS HIKE IN GATLINBURG TENNESSEE/ 2.4 MILE HIKE TO WATERFALLS / BEST GATLINBURG HIKE?

K&E RV TV

K&E RV TV hike Laurel Falls in 2021 with the practicalities first: the small parking lot and how to wait out a spot, a ranger's history of the path (built in 1963, and showing it), and 2.4 miles round trip to the falls on the park's most popular waterfall trail.

Key takeaways
  • Parking is the first problem - arrive early or wait out a spot
  • A ranger dates the paved path to 1963
  • 2.4 miles round trip as the creators measured it

The waterfall trails

Laurel Falls with the practicalities first (parking is the first problem; the path dates to 1963 — the trail has since been rehabilitated and reopened in 2026, as its own page here records). Grotto Falls walked in full from a pre-7 a.m. park. Rainbow Falls with the page's honest counterweight: a 2026 two-star review — crowds, parking, conditions — that still calls the falls worth seeing once.

The fire trail and the easy five

The park association's own 2017 account of Chimney Tops' reopening — the platform that replaced the summit scramble permanently — is the primary source for the post-fire trail. Five genuinely easy hikes (Anthony Creek, Middle Prong, Little River's troll bridge, Jakes Creek, Metcalf Bottoms) and the dog-friendly Gatlinburg Trail close the ladder; Cataract Falls, a quarter-mile behind the visitor center restrooms, is the easiest waterfall walk of all.

Watch: more views

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

What to Expect on the Chimney Tops Trail, Great Smoky Mountains

Smokies Life

Smokies Life's 2017 film 'Chimney Tops Trail - What to Expect Since it Reopened': the park association's own account of the trail's post-fire reopening with its new viewing platform - the primary source for what changed after November 2016, dated as filmed.

Key takeaways
  • The trail reopened in 2017 with the new viewing platform
  • The park association's own post-fire account, filmed that year
  • The platform replaced the summit scramble permanently

Not Dead Will Travel Visits Grotto Falls (full trail hike)

Not Dead Will Travel

The full trail, uncut in spirit: Not Dead Will Travel start the Trillium Gap Trail a little after 7 a.m. in October 2026 - parked before 7 because the lot is tiny - and walk every creek crossing and root-tangle to the falls with the advice running: arrive early, watch your footing after rain.

Key takeaways
  • Parking is very limited - this hiker was parked before 7 a.m.
  • Full Trillium Gap Trail walked with commentary
  • Creek crossings get slippery after rain

Rainbow Falls Trail Review | Worth the Hike in Great Smoky Mountains?

Parking Nationally

Parking Nationally's unusually candid 2026 review of the Rainbow Falls hike - a 2-star verdict on crowds, parking and trail conditions on the way to a waterfall they still call worth seeing once. An honest-expectations companion to the page's celebratory films.

Key takeaways
  • A 2-star review with a 'worth it once' verdict - expectations content
  • Trailhead parking fills early on the Cherokee Orchard loop
  • The falls themselves impress even the reviewer

Every trail has a page

Each hike here carries its own full page in this directory's park section.

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

Watch: the full set

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

5 Easy Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Just Keep Walkin

Five genuinely easy park hikes walked end to end: Anthony Creek from the Cades Cove picnic area, Middle Prong with Indian Flats Falls, Little River past the troll bridge, Jakes Creek to the Avent Cabin, and Metcalf Bottoms to the Little Greenbrier Schoolhouse and Walker Sisters Cabin.

Gatlinburg Trail 🐾 A Dog-Friendly Hike in Great Smoky Mountains National Park!

Floridians in the Smokies

Floridians in the Smokies' 2025 dog-friendly Gatlinburg Trail hike - the flat riverside walk from town toward Sugarlands done as a pet outing, with the trail's gentle grade and river access points shown as a dog owner experiences them.

Key takeaways
  • The trail is the Smokies' premier dog hike - flat and watered
  • Access points let dogs reach the river
  • Town-to-visitor-center makes an easy shuttle walk

Cataract Falls - Great Smoky Mountains Hike

Smokies Plus

Smokies Plus' 2020 walk to Cataract Falls, starting behind the Sugarlands Visitor Center restrooms: the quarter-mile Fighting Creek Nature Trail to the 25-foot falls - the easiest waterfall walk in the Gatlinburg area, filmed step by step.

Key takeaways
  • The trailhead hides behind the Sugarlands Visitor Center restrooms
  • The walk is about a quarter-mile on the Fighting Creek Nature Trail
  • At 25 feet the falls are small, close and perfect for small children

More Gatlinburg essentials

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

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