Ramsey Cascades - Great Smoky Mountains National Park

At 100 feet, Ramsey Cascades is the tallest waterfall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is located at the end of the aptly named Ramsey Cascades Trail in the Greenbrier section of the park. To reach the trailhead from the intersection of US 441 and US 321 at traffic light number 3 in Gatlinburg, drive east on US 321 (highway north) for six miles. Turn right onto Greenbrier Road at the park entrance sign. Drive 3.1 miles as the asphalt gives way to gravel and narrows to one-lane for a short distance. Turn left onto Ramsey Prong Road and drive 1.5 miles to the end of the road. Although this is a popular hiking trail, parking is only available for about twenty vehicles. The parking area fills up quickly, so plan to come early or park down the road.

The four-mile one-way hike is considered strenuous by the park service as it gains over 2,000 feet in elevation. The first 1.5 miles of the route follows an old rock and gravel roadbed and has two sturdy bridges. Once the route transitions to a trail, there are two footbridges to cross with the first one being one of the longest (about 70 feet) and highest (20 feet above the creek) in the park. After crossing the second footbridge, the last mile of the trail has considerably more roots and stone steps to climb than the lower section. While the trail generally follows Middle Prong Little Pigeon River and then Ramsey Prong upstream, the streams are often hidden from view by the dense vegetation. Since the area along Ramsey Prong was never commercially logged, there are some very large specimens of several tree species visible from the trail.

I hiked to the falls on a weekday in mid-July 2016 and met over 40 people on the trail including one family with small children.

Topographic map with GPS route

Elevation Profile

Parking area at end of road

Trailhead

First bridge is over Middle Prong Little Pigeon River

Middle Prong from the bridge

The trail follows an old gravel road for the first 1.5 miles

Blowdowns create openings in the forest canopy

The forest begins to fill many years after these trees fell

One of three benches along the old road

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)

Tall tree

Rosebay Rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) blossom

Second bridge is over Ramsey Branch

Vegetation encroaches on the road

Rosebay Rhododendron buds

View of Ramsey Prong from the trail

Loop marks the end of the gravel road

Two boulders mark the beginning of the "trail" portion of the route

Middle Prong Little Pigeon River

Roots and rocks

Ramsey Prong

Another view of Ramsey Prong

Fallen tree caught by another

Path goes over downed tree

Remnants of another huge tree

First footbridge

Ramsey Prong upstream of the first footbridge

Ramsey Prong undercuts a huge boulder downstream of the bridge

Section of tree makes a great bench seat

Top of a very large tulip poplar

Crimson Beebalm (Monarda didyma)

Twin Tulip Poplars line the trail

Plunges and Pools

Two dozen stone steps

Second footbridge

Twin falls

The trail rock hops across a drainage

Another rock hopping opportunity

Another downed tree

More roots, rocks, and steps

More crimson beebalm

Hikers have created a new path around the roots

Cut-leaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata)

This tree was four feet in diameter

The trail scrambles over a rock outcrop

More stone stairs

Passage through the rocks

The trail rock hops across a major unnamed tributary to Ramsey Prong

View of tributary

Ramsey Prong

Ramsey Cascades

Ramsey Cascades

Entry to Great Smoky Mountains National Park is free.

The park website is https://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm.