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Tallest Waterfalls in the Smokies

Waterfall guide

Tallest Waterfalls in the Smokies

15 curated picks · updated

The tallest waterfall near the Smokies is Whitewater Falls in North Carolina at 411 feet, reached by a quarter-mile paved path. The tallest in Great Smoky Mountains National Park that you can reach on foot is Ramsey Cascades, about 100 feet, at the end of an 8-mile round trip. This page ranks 15 falls by height.

The 15 waterfalls on this list range from 411 feet to 65 feet, span four public land units, and require anywhere from a flat 150-yard walk to an 8-mile round trip through old-growth forest. That spread isn't accidental, the Smokies and their surrounding ranges form one of the densest concentrations of significant waterfalls in the eastern United States, fed by some of the highest annual rainfall totals on the continent.

Height alone doesn't determine what you're actually getting at a given fall. Cullasaja Falls drops 200 feet in a long churning cascade visible from US-64, but there's no maintained trail to the base and roadside parking on that stretch is dangerous. Whitewater Falls, at 411 feet the tallest on this list, is a 0.25-mile walk from a paved lot. The ranking here is by verified height; each entry covers trail conditions, difficulty, and what to expect on arrival.

A few practical considerations apply across most of these locations:

  • Park It Forward parking tag ($5 a day, $15 a week or $40 a year): Required for any vehicle parked more than 15 minutes inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Buy it at a visitor center, a lot kiosk or recreation.gov. It does not reserve a space, and federal passes are not accepted. No timed-entry permits exist.
  • Seasonal flow: Volume peaks March through May, when snowmelt and spring rainfall combine. By midsummer, smaller falls often run at a fraction of their spring output. Ramsey Cascades and the GSMNP Rainbow Falls hold their flow into summer better than most, owing to large upper watersheds.
  • Footing: Spray zones stay slick year-round regardless of season. Rocks at the base of high-volume falls are not safe to stand on even when the flow looks manageable.

Falls inside DuPont State Recreational Forest and Gorges State Park don't need the park's tag, but those trailhead lots can fill by 9 a.m. on summer and fall weekends. The Ramsey Cascades approach is the most demanding on this list by a wide margin: 8 miles round trip over rocky, rooted terrain with sustained elevation gain throughout.

More to plan with: the waterfalls hub, the Roaring Fork guide, the parking tag explainer, the fall color timing guide and the events calendar.

  1. 1

    Whitewater Falls (Upper & Lower)

    411 ft · 0.25 mi hike

    Upper Whitewater Falls drops about 411 feet in Nantahala National Forest, reached by a paved quarter-mile walk. The Forest Service calls it the highest waterfall east of the Rockies.
  2. 2

    Rainbow Falls (Gorges State Park, NC)

    150 ft · 1.5 mi hike

    Rainbow Falls drops about 150 feet on the Horsepasture River in Gorges State Park, North Carolina, 1.5 miles each way from the Grassy Ridge trailhead.
  3. 3

    High Falls (DuPont State Forest)

    120 ft · 1.2 mi hike

    High Falls drops more than 100 feet over bare granite in DuPont State Recreational Forest near Brevard, North Carolina, about a 1.2-mile walk beyond Triple Falls.
  4. 4

    Mingo Falls

    120 ft · 0.25 mi hike

    Mingo Falls spills about 120 feet down Mingo Creek on the Qualla Boundary near Cherokee, reached by a short climb of 161 steps to a viewing bridge.
  5. Triple Falls (DuPont State Forest) 5

    Triple Falls (DuPont State Forest)

    120 ft · 0.5 mi hike

    Triple Falls drops about 120 feet in three tiers on the Little River in DuPont State Recreational Forest, about a half-mile walk from the Hooker Falls lot.
  6. Ramsey Cascades 6

    Ramsey Cascades

    105 ft · 4 mi hike

    Ramsey Cascades is the tallest waterfall in the park at 105 feet. The strenuous 8-mile round trip climbs more than 2,000 feet through old-growth forest.
  7. 7

    Bald River Falls

    90 ft

    Bald River Falls plunges about 90 feet beside Forest Road 210 in Cherokee National Forest, with a bridge view you can reach without a hike.
  8. 8

    Hen Wallow Falls

    90 ft · 2.15 mi hike

    Hen Wallow Falls is a 90-foot waterfall that fans from a narrow stream into a 30-foot spread, reached on a 4.3-mile round-trip hike from Cosby Campground.
  9. 9

    Juney Whank Falls

    80 ft

    Juney Whank Falls cascades about 80 feet in small streams under a log footbridge, up a short but steep trail from the Deep Creek trailhead near Bryson City.
  10. Laurel Falls 10

    Laurel Falls

    80 ft · 1.3 mi hike

    Laurel Falls Trail is closed until sometime in 2027 for rehabilitation. The 80-foot, two-tier falls are not open to hikers now; try Grotto Falls or Rainbow Falls instead.
  11. Rainbow Falls 11

    Rainbow Falls

    80 ft · 2.8 mi hike

    Rainbow Falls drops 80 feet off a ledge into LeConte Creek, a 5.6-mile round trip with about 1,500 feet of climbing. Afternoon sun can throw a rainbow in the mist.
  12. 12

    Dry Falls

    75 ft · 0.1 mi hike

    Dry Falls is a 75-foot waterfall on the Cullasaja River near Highlands, North Carolina, where a short paved path lets you walk behind the curtain of water.
  13. 13

    Benton Falls

    65 ft · 1.7 mi hike

    Benton Falls is a roughly 65-foot, wide cascade in Cherokee National Forest near the Ocoee River, reached by a moderate trail from Chilhowee Recreation Area.
  14. Glen Falls 14

    Glen Falls

    60 ft · 0.5 mi hike

    Glen Falls (often spelled Glenn) spills about 60 feet in three drops south of Highlands, North Carolina, reached by a short trail with stairs and steep sections.
  15. 15

    Looking Glass Falls

    60 ft

    Looking Glass Falls is a 60-foot waterfall beside US-276 in Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina, visible from the road and from a staircase to the pool.

Good to know

Tallest Waterfalls in the Smokies: FAQ

When is the best time of year to visit for peak waterfall flow?
March through May. Snowmelt from the upper elevations combines with spring rainfall to push water volume to its annual high. By mid-July, many of the smaller falls on this list are reduced. Ramsey Cascades and Rainbow Falls in GSMNP tend to hold their flow later into summer than others because of the size of their drainage basins. Fall foliage (typically mid-October in the Smokies) is at its best near most of these locations, but water levels are usually at their lowest point then.
Are there two different waterfalls called Rainbow Falls on this list?
Yes, and they're unrelated. Rainbow Falls in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an 80-foot drop on LeConte Creek, reached via a 2.7-mile moderate hike from the Cherokee Orchard Road trailhead near Gatlinburg. Rainbow Falls in Gorges State Park is a 150-foot plunge on the Horsepasture River in western North Carolina, accessed by a strenuous 1.5-mile descent. They're in different park systems roughly 60 miles apart.
Which waterfalls here are realistic for visitors with limited mobility or young children?
Mingo Falls is the most accessible high-impact waterfall in the region: 0.15 miles with a staircase approach to a 120-foot plunge. Whitewater Falls and Dry Falls both have 0.25-mile approaches from paved parking areas. Laurel Falls, the paved classic inside GSMNP, is closed until 2027. Cullasaja Falls requires no hiking at all but is only viewable from the roadside, where stopping requires caution due to traffic.
Is swimming allowed at the base of these waterfalls?
Most locations either prohibit it or strongly advise against it, and for good reason. Plunge pools below high-volume falls contain hydraulics that are difficult to exit, water temperatures stay cold well into summer, and the rocks in spray zones are consistently slick. Several falls on this list are sites of recurring rescues. Follow posted signs at each location; enforcement varies by jurisdiction but the hazards don't.
Do I need a separate reservation to hike to falls inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park?
No. Inside the park, the only requirement is the parking tag ($5 a day, $15 a week or $40 a year) for any vehicle parked more than 15 minutes. The park runs no timed-entry or trailhead reservation system, and federal passes such as America the Beautiful are not accepted for the tag. Check [the Park Service closures page](https://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/temproadclose.htm) before you drive out, since a few trails remain closed.

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