Sight · Great Smoky Mountains National Park
A small waterfall after a short creekside walk from Sugarlands.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Great Smoky Mountains audio tourRecorded for this place
Sugarlands Visitor Center“You're coming up on Sugarlands Visitor Center, a useful stop if you want help choosing a walk that fits your day.”
Plays as you drive up to Cataract Falls in the Parkwolf Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide.
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“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Cataract Falls is a narrow, 40-foot cascade near Sugarlands Visitor Center, where Cataract Branch meets Fighting Creek. It’s small, so come for a short wooded walk and a quick look rather than a big plunge. The water is most dramatic after heavy rain.
Start behind Sugarlands Visitor Center and follow Fighting Creek Nature Trail upstream. Cross the footbridge, then turn right at the falls junction. Tree markers and a large, unusually shaped sycamore make the walk part of the stop. The falls route is 0.7 mile round trip and usually takes 30 minutes to an hour. If you want more, continue straight after the bridge for the one-mile loop past John Ownby Cabin; that adds about 30 minutes.
Parking and public restrooms are at the visitor center, and the lot can fill on summer weekends. The park has assessed a section of the falls side route and offers GRIT Freedom Chairs for that segment; check the current trail-access details if you need mobility support, since this does not establish the whole walk as step-free.
Take photos from the bottom: people have been seriously injured climbing around the rocks. The footbridge and sycamore are also worth a look on the way in.
Wildlife
1,569 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
900 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
13 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
142 sightingsTimber RattlesnakeMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
26 sightingsBobcatMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
42 sightingsRiver OtterMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Great Smoky Mountains. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingCove Mountain Trail17 mi · 10.5 hr · 0.1 mi awayA long wooded ascent ends at the summit’s closed fire tower.
EasyFighting Creek Nature Trail1 mi · 30 min · 0.2 mi awayA short creek loop passes an 1860s mountain cabin.
ModerateOld Sugarlands Trail7.7 mi · 4.5 hr · 0.2 mi awayFollow an old road past CCC ruins and a pioneer cemetery.
EasyGatlinburg Trail4 mi · 1.8 hr · 0.3 mi awayA gentle river walk where dogs and bikes are allowed.
EasyCataract Falls Trail1.1 mi · 45 min · 0.3 mi awayA quick creekside walk leads to a narrow, 40-foot waterfall.
EasySugarlands Valley Nature Trail0.5 mi · 15 min · 0.8 mi awayA flat forest loop with chimneys, streamside views, and an easy pace.
EasyBig White Oak Quiet Walkway0.7 mi · 30 min · 0.9 mi awayA quiet woods loop with four creek crossings and a long footbridge.
EasyHickory Flats Quiet Walkway0.8 mi · 36 min · 1.3 mi awayA cemetery loop and an old roadbed toward Hickory Flats Branch.
Visitor center · 0.3 mi awaySugarlands Visitor CenterGet your bearings with a bear exhibit, ranger advice, and trail map.
Sight · 0.4 mi awaySugarlands Riding StablesGuided rides on wooded trails, streams, and mountain terrain.Sight · 0.5 mi awayJohn Ownby CabinA short wooded walk to Sugarlands' last standing home.
Scenic pullout · 1.6 mi awayGatlinburg Scenic OverlookGatlinburg below, Le Conte and the Smokies behind it.
Picnic area · 2.1 mi awayTwin Creeks Picnic PavilionA wooded group pavilion for gatherings of up to 150.
Scenic pullout · 2.3 mi awayCarlos Campbell OverlookA quick ridge view with a visible story of forest recovery.
Scenic pullout · 2.3 mi awayMaloney PointA quick Little River Road stop for layered ridges and spring trillium.
Sight · 2.8 mi awayNoah Bud Ogle PlaceA rare saddlebag cabin beside a creek-powered mill.Parkwolf’s Great Smoky Mountains ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
