Roaring Fork Area Hiking Trails

After Rainbow Falls Trail and Bull Head Trail merge, there is a 0.5-mile section that leads to Mount Le Conte. After going the 0.5 miles, the Alum Cave Trail branches to the right. Totaling 5 miles, it reaches Newfound Gap Road. Along the way, you can access the cave midways through the trail. This trail is very strenuous and sometimes heavily populated.

A footpath trail that leads away from the other trails in the area going toward the inside center of the Roaring Fork Motor Trail. The trail is 2.7 miles long and crosses Baskins Creek. The trail ends at the road where the Grapeyard Ridge Trail begins.

A 5.9-mile trail that branches off to the left at the 0.4 mile of Old Sugarlands Trail.  Bull Head Trail bypasses Rainbow Falls and later merges with Rainbow Falls Trail, becoming the Boulevard Trail that leads to Mount Le Conte and the Appalachian Trail.

After the Roaring Fork Motor Trail becomes one way, there is a trail to the right before you exit back into Gatlinburg called the Grapeyard Ridge Trail.  It is across the road from where Baskins Creek Trail ends.  Grapeyard Ridge Trail winds 7.6 miles to the Greenbrier Area.

A 3.9-mile trail that leads to the main park headquarters and visitor center at Sugarlands.  At mile 0.4, Bull Head Trail branches off to the left.  For the last piece toward the visitor center, the trail runs parallel with the West Prong Little Pigeon River.  From the same parking lot, you can hike 2.3 miles in the opposite direction to merge with Trillium Gap Trail, which leads to Grotto Falls.

A 6.7-mile trail that at the end merges with Bull Head Trail to form the Boulevard Trail.  Halfway through, the trail runs by Rainbow Falls.  Rainbow Falls is one of the main waterfalls people come to see.  If you’re going to hike there, be sure to plan on spending half of your day hiking and enjoying this waterfall.

A trail made as a result of Rainbow Falls Trail and Bull Head Trail merging into one before getting to Mount Le Conte.  After Mount Le Conte, the trail winds uphill 5.4 miles to meet the Appalachian Trail, near Icewater Spring Shelter.

Trillium Gap Trail starts off the Roaring Fork Nature Trail.  A few steps down it, the Old Sugarlands Trail veers to the right.  The Trillium Gap Trail runs 2.9 miles up Brushy Mountain, where at the top you can go three different ways.  Before you get to the top, Trillium Gap Trail runs by Grotto Falls.  Grotto Falls is one of the most visited waterfalls in the park.  It is about a mile away from the parking lot.

At the top of Brushy Mountain, you can go three different ways.  To the left, there is a 0.4-mile trail leading to the very top of the Mountain.  To the right, there is a 3.6-mile trail that takes you to Mount Le Conte.  Going straight puts you on the 4.5-mile Brushy Mountain Trail, which leads toward the Greenbrier Area.

A 1.9-mile trail that runs parallel with Cherokee Orchard Road.