Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of America’s most visited national parks. It offers endless opportunities for exploring natural and cultural history. These ancient mountains are filled with a variety of plant and animal life. The Alum Cave Trail has moderate elevation gain. Some of the highlights along the trail are Arch Rock and Inspiration Point. Alum Cave is not a cave but a concaved bluff about 80 ft. tall. During the summer water drips from the ledges and during the winter the water droplets turn into icicles.

Starting at the visitor's center in Linville Falls Recreation Area, this trail leads to a small section of Linville Gorge to Linville Falls. There are two waterfalls along the route, the 12 foot Upper Falls and the 60 foot Lower Falls. Both are extremely beautiful and there are overlooks to view both as well. This is a popular area and there are 39 miles of trails at the recreation area. The gorge is over 2,000 feet deep and is one of the deepest natural gorges in the country.

Located in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Deep Creek Trail is a loop trail following Deep Creek to Tom's Branch, to Indian Creek and then through the hills for beautiful views of the park. Where both Tom's Branch and Indian Creek respectively join Deep Creek, there are waterfalls. Tom's Branch Falls is a phenomenal 80 foot waterfall that drops in multiple tiers. Indian Creek Falls is a 35 foot waterfall with a beautiful pool at the base perfect for swimming. Mountain bikers can take advantage of this trail, one of the few park trails where bicycles are permitted.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of America’s most visited national parks. It offers endless opportunities for exploring natural and cultural history. These ancient mountains are filled with a variety of plant and animal life. Laurel Falls is a 60ft. waterfall and one of the most popular destinations in the park. It is a pleasant hike along a paved trail. The pavement is uneven and not recommended for wheelchairs. The trail crosses over the center of the waterfall and the pavement ends. Finding parking can be difficult so get an early start.

Overlooking the Linville Gorge, this trail leads along the ridge and to the top of Shortoff Mountain. This trail offers a view from the southern end of the gorge all the way up north. This route is a backdoor route to the top of the mountain, as there is a more popular and a lot longer trail from Table Rock Picnic Area. The top of the mountain is more of a plateau, but the view of the 12-mile-long gorge is not to be missed and arguably could be the best view in the state.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of America’s most visited national parks. It offers endless opportunities for exploring natural and cultural history. These ancient mountains are filled with a variety of plant and animal life. Middle Prong Trail was an old railroad bed that was used by the Little River Lumber Company to haul logs out of the area. Along with lots of history and old artifacts along the trail, there are several impressive waterfalls to see.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of America’s most visited national parks. It offers endless opportunities for exploring natural and cultural history. These ancient mountains are filled with a variety of plant and animal life. Abrams Falls is 20 ft. high and produces a large amount of water that rushes over a cliff into a deep pool. The trail to the falls is short and moderate as far as climbing. You will travel through a beautiful pine-oak forest along ridge tops with Abrams Creek close by. This area is dangerous with many unknown hazards. There have been many fatal accidents so take caution

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of America’s most visited national parks. It offers endless opportunities for exploring natural and cultural history. These ancient mountains are filled with a variety of plant and animal life. Laurel Falls is one of the most popular destinations in the park. Finding parking can be difficult so get an early start. This amazing waterfall is 60 ft. The trail is paved and climbs steeply, but is short and well worth the climb.

One of the most popular locations in the area, Sliding Rock is exactly as the name implies, a large rock that is used as a slide. This is a short hike along a paved path to the large smooth rock. For those wanting to ride the water down the rock, there is a paved path with a bar to the top of the rock where an estimated 11,000 gallons per minute descend down the rock into the pool below.