Scenic pullout · Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Step out for the twin peaks without taking a hike.
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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
Chimney Tops Overlook“Chimney Tops Overlook is ahead, a paved pull-off with a view of the twin rocky summits and wooded ridges behind them. The peaks rise nearly two thousand feet above the river.”
Plays as you drive up to Chimney Tops Overlook 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
Chimney Tops Overlook is a paved roadside pull-off on US 441 (Newfound Gap Road), aimed toward the twin rocky peaks and the forested ridges around them. You can get the view without hiking. This is separate from the strenuous 3.5-mile round-trip Chimney Tops Trail, which reaches a different overlook from another trailhead.
Keep an eye out as you drive; the pull-off can be easy to miss. Clouds or fog can hide the ridges. If you stay parked longer than 15 minutes, the park requires a parking tag.
The two steep summits rise nearly 2,000 feet above the West Prong Little Pigeon River, with layer after layer of wooded mountains behind them. For a photo, keep both peaks in the frame and include the forested slopes below; that preserves the distinctive twin outline and its scale.
The Chimney Tops 2 Fire began in the Chimney Tops area in November 2016 and burned about 11,000 acres in the park. A photo made from this overlook in May 2017 shows fire-scarred slopes; a June 2023 view from the same stop is green again. Together they show how dramatically this part of the Smokies has changed.
A nearby roadcut on Newfound Gap Road exposes coarse-grained Thunderhead Sandstone, part of the Ocoee Supergroup. Its sand and mud began as deposits in an ancient ocean trench.
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
ModerateCove Hardwood Nature Trail0.8 mi · 45 min · 0.2 mi awayA shady hardwood loop with 40 steps up front.
EasyBalsam Point Quiet Walkway0.4 mi · 30 min · 1.1 mi awayA short wooded loop with a rock-wall clearing and stream.
ChallengingChimney Tops Trail3.5 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.3 mi awayA steep stair climb ends at a view of the fire-scarred pinnacles.
EasyJohn Carr Place Quiet Walkway0.5 mi · 24 min · 2 mi awayA short forest walk links a river path and a roadside overlook.
EasyRiverview Quiet Walkway0.9 mi · 45 min · 2.3 mi awayA short river loop with a smooth roadbed and rougher return.
ChallengingBullhead Trail to Mount Le Conte13.6 mi · 10 hr · 2.4 mi awayA long, steep route to Le Conte with exposed ridge views.
ChallengingMount Le Conte via Alum Cave Trail10 mi · 7 hr · 2.5 mi awayA creekside climb through rock passages to high mountain views.
ModerateAlum Cave Trail to Alum Cave Bluffs4.6 mi · 3.5 hr · 2.5 mi awayA forest climb to a 75-foot rock shelter and natural arch.
Picnic area · 0.2 mi awayChimneys Picnic AreaA shady lunch stop beside a cold, boulder-strewn river.
Sight · 1.2 mi awayChimney Tops Trail ViewpointA steep climb to the pinnacle view; the summit itself is closed.
Scenic pullout · 2.2 mi awayCarlos Campbell OverlookA quick ridge view with a visible story of forest recovery.
Sight · 2.3 mi awayRainbow FallsA steep Smokies climb to a waterfall named for its rainbows.Sight · 2.7 mi awayAlum Cave BluffsA 4.6-mile Smokies hike ends beneath a 75-foot rock overhang.
Sight · 3 mi awayCliff Tops ViewpointA wide LeConte panorama, best saved for sunset.
Sight · 3.1 mi awayNoah Bud Ogle PlaceA rare saddlebag cabin beside a creek-powered mill.
Sight · 3.1 mi awayArch RockTake the stone steps right through a natural arch.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.
