The Sinks - Little River - Great Smoky Mountains National Park

In late April 2019, we had the chance to spend a day on the Tennessee side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Our first stop was at The Sinks in the Little River Gorge about 5¾ miles upstream from the Townsend Wye or two miles downstream from the Metcalf Bottoms picnic area. The Sinks is a ten-foot-high cascade on the Little River and is immediately adjacent to Little River Gorge Road. A small paved parking area holds about a dozen vehicles. It is often filled to capacity. I've posted about The Sinks twice before documenting visits in December 2015 and March 2017. The river flow on this visit was lower than either of the previous visits.

View from the parking lot

View from the trail leading to the observation point

View from the observation point

View from below the observation point

We crossed the road at the entrance to the parking lot and walked upstream enjoying delightful views of the river.

Upstream of The Sinks

A series of rapids upstream of The Sinks

The river is almost obscured by the foliage

View looking upstream

Entry to Great Smoky Mountains National Park is free.

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