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Great Smoky Mountains National Park has a few scenic drives from which you can explore the park. The Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail is approximately 6 miles of narrow, winding road. It is one-way, just outside Gatlinburg.
The trail-head for the popular Rainbow Falls hike is at the beginning of this road. We stopped there, but saw that the hike was over five miles. It was a hot, humid afternoon and we weren’t really up to that challenge.
A little further along the loop, we parked at the Trillium Gap trail-head to take the shorter hike to Grotto Falls. It is 1.5 miles from the trail-head to the falls. It is steep and rocky in places.
At the top of the Grotto Falls hike, the falls cascade over a rock shelf. This creates a ledge behind the waterfall. We walked behind the falls and cooled off in the spray.
To see my other Great Smoky Mountain National Posts, click the following links:
Location: Gatlinburg, TN
Designation: National Park
Date designated or established: 9/02/1940
Date of my visit: August 2013
Some really nice waterfall pictures that seem to almost capture the movement of the water.
Thanks! These were taken with my old point and shoot…no control over shutter speed, so just got lucky
Looks a like a beautiful place to visit. Hope I can make it there one day. I love waterfalls 🙂
Thanks! It is beautiful
I was just there a few weeks ago!! We did the Rainbow Falls hike that you talked about. Although I think you made a wiser decision – it was indeed tough in the heat and humidity! Here’s some pics if you’re interested: https://mb-henry.com/photography/tennessee-photos/
Great pics. Fall is definitely the time for that kind of hike…I barely made it up the hill for this one 😂
Yep, Rainbow Falls was a nice hike, but we did it in late Fall. There is no good time to hike in the east in the summer! 🙂
Too true! 🙂
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