The Gatlinburg-side waterfalls ladder from a quarter-mile stroll to the park's tallest plunge, and these eight films climb it. Laurel Falls leads with the newest record: a June 2026 family hike on the rehabilitated trail — paved path, two-level cascade, and a black bear encounter close enough to stop the whole family. The falls' closure-and-reopening story is told with its dates on the Laurel Falls page in this directory.

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

Grotto Falls Hike | Hidden Waterfall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park 4K | Cruising America

Cruising America

Cruising America's 4K hike to Grotto Falls in 2025, with the most honest accessibility verdict on this page: a great, kid-friendly trail that is nonetheless 'hard for ambulatory access' - moderate grade, technical in places, significant risk if your legs are compromised.

Key takeaways
  • You can walk behind the falls
  • Rated moderate; technical in places
  • Verdict: hard for ambulatory access despite the family-friendly label

Rainbow Falls Hike, Great Smoky Mountains, TN | Appalachian Mountains, Ep. 8

Magellan and Greyhound

Magellan and Grey's 2020 Rainbow Falls episode: the climb from the Cherokee Orchard trailhead up LeConte Creek to the 80-foot falls, with the trail's rocky character and the mist-borne rainbows that give the falls their name, narrated the whole way.

Key takeaways
  • Rainbow Falls drops 80 feet in a single leap - the tallest single-drop falls in the Smokies
  • The trail climbs about 1,500 feet over 2.7 miles up LeConte Creek
  • Sunny afternoons put rainbows in the falls' mist - the name is literal

The walk-behind and the tall one

Grotto Falls in 4K, with the honest accessibility verdict (moderate, technical in places — 'hard for ambulatory access'). Rainbow Falls, 80 feet in a single drop up LeConte Creek, rainbows literal in sunny-afternoon mist — two films, 2020 and 2019, both earning it.

The small and the dangerous

Cataract Falls, 25 feet behind the visitor center, the rest-stop falls. The Sinks, where the page repeats the park's warning plainly: the viewing bridge is the viewpoint, the rocks are dangerous, the accident history is long. Meigs Falls reached at its base by an unglamorous scramble.

Watch: more views

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Cataract Falls

Cruising America

Cruising America through the Smokys' 2025 Cataract Falls stop: the easy trail from the Sugarlands Visitor Center to the 25-foot falls, filmed as part of a first-timers' Smokies road trip - the falls as most visitors actually find them.

Key takeaways
  • An easy add-on stop on any Gatlinburg park day
  • The nature trail's benches make it a rest stop as much as a hike
  • First-timers' road-trip context throughout

"THE SINKS" WATERFALL & SWIMMING HOLE IN GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK IN GATLINBURG, TN |

K&E RV TV

K&E RV TV's 2022 film of The Sinks: the Little River's most dramatic roadside stop, where the river plunges through a horseshoe bend of boulders - the swimming hole, the viewing bridge and the danger signs all explained on site.

Key takeaways
  • The Sinks is a boulder-choked plunge of the Little River
  • A bridge gives the safe viewing angle - the rocks are dangerous
  • Swimming here has a long accident history; signs warn plainly

Getting Up Up Close & Personal with Meigs Falls in the Great Smoky Mountains

Boots on the Trail

Boots on the Trail's 2024 Meigs Falls close-up: most drivers photograph the 30-foot falls from the pull-off across the river - this film gets up close to the base of the falls on Little River Road, with the creek scramble shown honestly.

Key takeaways
  • Meigs Falls pours 30 feet just off the road
  • Most visitors see it only from the pull-off - this film reaches its base
  • The creek scramble is shown without glamor

The tallest

Ramsay Cascades — about 100 feet, the park's tallest — closes the page with its scope stated: a full 4-mile, 2,200-foot hike from the Greenbrier entrance, old-growth giants on the upper trail. Each falls has its own page in this directory.

Sources: the 8 videos on this page, filmed at waterfalls in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Watch: the full set

2 videos · summaries from the actual guides

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

Rainbow Falls Trail - Great Smoky Mountains National Park Dayhike

Bryce Newbold

Bryce Newbold's 2019 day hike to Rainbow Falls - a quiet, well-shot walk up LeConte Creek to the falls with the trail's log bridges and rocky treadway as they were pre-2020s.

Key takeaways
  • The trail crosses LeConte Creek on log footbridges
  • Weekday hikes dodge the worst of the falls crowds
  • The amphitheater at the base is the photo spot

More Gatlinburg essentials

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

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