Scenic pullout · Great Smoky Mountains National Park
A quick Little River Road stop for layered ridges and spring trillium.
Overview
Maloney Point is a roadside scenic pullout on Little River Road in the Fighting Creek Gap stretch between Sugarlands Visitor Center and Elkmont. It looks across wooded, layered mountain ridges without requiring a destination hike. If you are already driving this road, it makes an easy pause; it is a small stop, not a reason to cross the park on its own.
Parkwolf’s verdictWorth a quick pauseMap
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
Maloney Point“You're nearing Maloney Point, a small pullout with a view across overlapping wooded ridges. It's an easy pause on this drive, though I wouldn't make a special trip just for it.”
Plays as you drive up to Maloney Point in the Parkwolf Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“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
Trillium have been reported flowering on the steep gulch behind the roadside, from the edge of the road up the slope. The bloom window is not pinned to a reliable date, so treat it as a seasonal bonus rather than planning a trip around it.
This is a photo stop for the forested slopes and the mountain view. In autumn, the ridges carry color; in spring, the hillside flowers add a closer detail. No particular summit or viewing direction is reliably identified, so enjoy the overlapping ridges instead of trying to match a named peak.
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
ModerateLaurel Falls Trail2.6 mi · 2 hr · 0.4 mi awayA rough paved climb leads to an 80-foot Smokies waterfall.
ChallengingSugarland Mountain Trail11.9 mi · 8 hr · 0.4 mi awayA long ridge walk with a winter view toward Gatlinburg.
EasyHickory Flats Quiet Walkway0.8 mi · 36 min · 1 mi awayA cemetery loop and an old roadbed toward Hickory Flats Branch.
EasyLaurel Falls Quiet Walkway0.4 mi · 18 min · 1 mi awayA short dirt loop follows Laurel Branch through quiet forest
EasyElkmont Nature Trail0.7 mi · 30 min · 1.1 mi awayA short, easy loop with two bridges over Mids Branch.
ModerateLittle River Trail12.4 mi · 7 hr · 1.4 mi awayFollow the old rail grade beside the river to Campsite 30.
ModerateLittle River, Cucumber Gap, Jakes Creek Loop5.5 mi · 3 hr · 1.4 mi awayRiver views, wildflowers, and Elkmont history on a varied loop.
ChallengingGoshen Prong Trail11.2 mi · 9 hr · 1.4 mi awayOld logging grades lead from creekside Elkmont to a rocky AT finish.
Sight · 1.1 mi awayLaurel FallsA two-tier waterfall rewards a popular 2.6-mile forest walk.
Campground · 1.3 mi awayElkmont CampgroundWooded camping, creekside sites, and a road on an old rail bed
Sight · 1.4 mi awaySpence CabinA restored 1928 cabin from Elkmont’s resort summers.
Sight · 1.4 mi awayAppalachian ClubhouseA restored clubhouse from Elkmont’s cabin-era summer community.
Sight · 1.4 mi awayDaisy TownA preserved summer settlement, with cabins you can explore inside.
Sight · 1.8 mi awayJohn Ownby CabinA short wooded walk to Sugarlands' last standing home.
Sight · 2.3 mi awayCataract FallsA small waterfall after a short creekside walk from Sugarlands.
Visitor center · 2.3 mi awaySugarlands Visitor CenterGet your bearings with a bear exhibit, ranger advice, and trail map.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.
