Rainbow Falls Trail
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The Rainbow Falls Trail is an
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
hiking trail in the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in the southeastern United States, southeast, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline o ...
, in Sevier County,
Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
. The trail ascends Mount Le Conte, the third tallest in the park (and sixth-highest) mountain east of the
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, and passes Rainbow Falls before absorbing the
Alum Cave Trail The Alum Cave Trail, also known as Alum Cave Bluff Trail, is a hiking trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in Sevier County, Tennessee. The trail ascends Mount Le Conte (Tennessee), Mount Le Conte, the sixth highest mountain ea ...
and terminating near the LeConte Lodge.


Information

* The Rainbow Falls Trail is approximately the same as the route taken by Paul Adams as he led the first Park Commission trip to LeConte, which helped lead to the formation of the national park. * The trailhead is located inside of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, off Cherokee Orchard Road, from Gatlinburg, Tennessee.


Landmarks and overlooks

* LeConte Creek * Rainbow Falls * Rocky Spur


Trail synopsis


Trailhead to Rainbow Falls

The trail asserts itself from the beginning, immediately ascending Le Conte's flank, alongside the mountain's primary drainage avenue, LeConte Creek, which, due to the abnormally large number of mills that sprouted up along this stream at one time (twelve, at its peak), was once known as "Mill Creek". The roaring sounds of the creek accompany the footpath for most of the first , only dying down at about the mark, where the trail temporarily jaunts away from the stream. The path soon swings back, crossing over LeConte Creek twice via narrow footbridges over the final mile to Rainbow Falls. When hikers reach Rainbow Falls, they have hiked and are in the presence of the highest single-drop waterfall in the national park. On the somewhat rare occasion of a sunny afternoon at the falls, a lucky onlooker can see a rainbow reflected in the sprayed mist of the waterfall, hence the Rainbow Falls moniker.


Rainbow Falls to LeConte Lodge

From Rainbow Falls, the trail continues as a third footbridge over LeConte Creek, which the hiker bids farewell to from this point on. Over the next three miles (5 km), the trail continues its steady climb towards the lodge, cutting switchbacks through sandstone chutes, offering both the trail's first scenic overlooks and a peaceful interlude with nature, as most of the hiker's companions have been left behind at the falls.
Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...
, sand myrtle, and mountain laurel blanket the trail during this portion, offering springtime visitors a beautiful carpeting of purples, whites, and blends of pink. At , the trail comes to Rocky Spur, an outcropping of rocks that offers splendid views of the valleys below via a short side trail which loops back to the main trail. The trail continues into a fragrant spruce fir forest, which signals the looming junction with the Bullhead Trail, at . From that point, the now very rocky trail ascends for a half mile towards LeConte Lodge. The LeConte Lodge provides the only commercial lodging in the national park, as it operates about ten rustic cabins with no electricity or appliances. The lodge also operates an office which provides T-shirts and other merchandise for hikers and various amenities for guests of the lodge. For many, this signals the end of their journey, but the actual peaks of Le Conte all have separate trails a short distance from the lodge, with Cliff Tops and Myrtle Point each offering expansive panoramas of the mountains and valleys below.


Maps and directions

* *


Topographic maps

The Abrams Falls Trail is shown on the following 1:24,000-scale topographic maps published by the National Park Service: *


References


Sources

* *


External links


Rainbow Falls Short Trail Summary




{{coord missing, Tennessee Hiking trails to Mount Le Conte Protected areas of Sevier County, Tennessee Great Smoky Mountains National Park