Fern Branch Falls

Fern Branch Falls is a small forest waterfall on Porters Creek Trail in the Greenbrier part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It sits about two miles from the trailhead, so this is a moderate waterfall hike, not a roadside stop. Plan on four miles round trip and roughly one to three hours, depending on your pace and how long you linger. Most day hikers turn around at the falls.

The route starts on an old gravel road beside Porters Creek, then narrows to a dirt footpath after the Brushy Mountain junction. At about 1.6 miles, cross the long footlog bridge; a short climb follows, then the falls appear on your left at a small stream crossing. Roots, rocks, stream crossings and high footlogs make the footing uneven. Dogs aren't allowed. The gravel lot at the trailhead holds about 20 vehicles, and a parking tag is required; parking can be tight in peak season.

There’s more to the walk than the waterfall. Around two-thirds of a mile in, stone walls mark the Elbert Cantrell farmstead, with Ownby Cemetery nearby. Around a mile in, a short spur reaches the John Messer farm site, including a cantilevered barn built by John Whaley around 1875. A Smoky Mountain Hiking Club cabin built in the mid-1930s served as members’ overnight shelter until 1981.

Late March can bring bloodroot, hepaticas, white-fringed phacelia, violets and white trilliums along the route; April and May add yellow trillium, toothwort, wild geranium and May-apple. Go in spring if you want the flower walk as well as the cascade. The falls run more strongly in high water. For photos, frame the water over the mossy sloping rock from the trail, with the forest around it; don’t leave the established path for a better angle.