Laurel Falls is the Smokies' most popular waterfall walk: about 2.4–2.6 miles round trip on a paved path (built in 1963) to an 80-foot falls in two tiers, named for the mountain laurel along the route. This page carries a status arc that must be read with its dates: the trail closed in January 2025 for a National Park Service rehabilitation — new surfaces, drainage, viewing areas — scheduled into 2026. It reopened during 2026; the Terry family's June 2026 hike (the newest film here) walks the restored trail, and an April 2026 Kuwohi film mentions the reopening in passing. As of those films, the falls is open again; park status can change, and the trailhead sign's warning — falling deaths have occurred at these falls — stands permanent.

Watch: first looks

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Hiking Laurel Falls | Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Terry Family Adventures

Terry Family Adventures hike Laurel Falls in June 2026 - the newest film on this page, made after the trail's long rehabilitation closure: the paved path through mountain forest to the two-level cascade, and a black bear encounter close enough to stop the whole family in their tracks.

Key takeaways
  • Filmed June 2026, after the trail's rehabilitation closure
  • The falls drop in two levels at the end of the paved trail
  • Bears use this trail too - this family met one up close

Laurel Falls, Smoky Mountain Adventure | Easy Smoky Mountains Hike & Surprise Bear Sighting! 🐻

Travel-Learn-Repeat

Travel-Learn-Repeat revisit a favorite in a winter trip posted in 2025, their first time back since 2014: the 80-foot falls still magical, but the pavement honestly reported as deteriorated - cracked and uneven, the wear that sent this trail into its 2025 rehabilitation - and a black bear on the trail in hibernation season.

Key takeaways
  • About 2.6 miles round trip, paved in sections, easy to moderate
  • The 80-foot falls reward a gentle climb
  • Posted 2025: the worn pavement they noted is what the rehab replaced

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 falls

Upper tier, bridge, lower tier: the photo films work the composition locals use (early light, post-rain fullness), and the 2021 first-person hike preserves the pre-rehab trail — narrower path, older railings — as the 'before' picture against the Terry family's 'after.'

The crowd problem

'Parking is the first problem' runs through the films: the lot fills early, the road shoulder tempts illegal parking the rangers ticket, and weekday mornings are the standing advice. A shoulder-season film shows the falls in winter dress, quieter path, cold spray.

Watch: more views

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

LAUREL FALLS TRAIL | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | National Park Waterfalls

CampTravelExplore

CampTravelExplore's 2021 guide makes the popularity case and the timing case together: 15 minutes from Gatlinburg is why everyone comes, so come early - then the 80-foot upper and lower falls, and how to climb down and see it from the bottom. Watch your footing, they warn; it earns its reputation.

Key takeaways
  • Only about 15 minutes from Gatlinburg - hence the crowds
  • 80-foot falls in upper and lower sections; you can view from the bottom
  • Footing near the falls is poor - pay attention

Smoky Mountains- Laurel Falls Hike

Traveling Terrells

The Traveling Terrells hike Laurel Falls with the kids in 2017, the trailhead's stark warning sign read aloud at the start - falling deaths have occurred here - and the bear lesson delivered on the walk: feeding bears is what gets them killed. A family-eye view of the classic hike.

Key takeaways
  • The trailhead sign warns that falling deaths have occurred here
  • Feeding bears gets bears killed - the rangers' rule, delivered on camera

Hiking to the Lovely Laurel Falls in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Boots on the Trail

Boots on the Trail hike to Laurel Falls in 2023: the 80-foot falls in upper and lower sections, with the trail crossing between the two at the base of the upper drop. (The film is English-narrated, but its only served caption track is an auto-translation, so it loads as watch content.)

Safety, plainly

The rocks are slippery, people have died here, and the films that say it plainly are kept plain. Stay on the path, behind rails, out of the water above the falls.

Sources: the 8 videos on this page, filmed at Laurel Falls, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 2021–June 2026.

Watch: the full set

2 videos · summaries from the actual guides

HIKING LAUREL FALLS in the SMOKIES / SHE FELL IN & WE SAW A BEAR! ~ Episode 6

aList Adventures

aList Adventures' Laurel Falls episode, filmed on a spring outing and posted in 2022: an early start chased all day, storm-felled trees across the pathway, a hiker who fell in at the falls - and a bear on the way out. The hike as family adventure, mishaps kept in.

Key takeaways
  • Storm-felled trees can block the path after bad weather
  • The rocks at the falls are slippery - one hiker in this film fell in

Chimney Tops and Laurel Falls - Two Stunning Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains

Seek Up Adventures

Seek Up Adventures double up in November 2024: Chimney Tops first - 1,200 feet of gain in about three miles round trip - then Laurel Falls. The Laurel half is a named segment of a two-hike day, loaded here for its falls footage.

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