Sight · Great Smoky Mountains National Park
A 105-foot payoff after four miles of climbing each way.
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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
Ramsey Cascades Trailhead“You're approaching the Ramsey Cascades trailhead, for a full-day hike to the park's tallest waterfall. The eight-mile round trip takes five to seven hours, climbing more than two thousand feet with a steep, rocky finish.”
Plays as you drive up to Ramsey Cascades 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
Ramsey Cascades is a 105-foot waterfall in the Greenbrier area, the tallest in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Reach its base by the Ramsey Cascades Trail: 8 miles round trip with more than 2,000 feet of climbing. Keep it for a day when a serious hike is the plan; this isn't a quick stop from the road.
The trail begins on an old roadbed through cove hardwood forest, then narrows and gets rockier as it climbs. You'll cross streams on footlog bridges and pass smaller cascades along the way. Steep sections with roots and rocks make the return work too.
The falls drop in tiers over large boulders into a pool. For a photo, shoot from the base and keep the foreground boulders and pool in frame; they help show the scale. Don't climb above the falls. The footing there is muddy and slippery.
Flooding in 2022 damaged the trail and part of Greenbrier Road. A three-year restoration finished in November 2024, adding a 900-foot bypass, two footlog bridges and more than 600 steps. Much of the work was carried by hand or pack mule into places machines couldn't reach.
The trailhead is on Ramsey Prong Road in Greenbrier, and parking there is limited. Arrive early if you need that lot; a Smokies parking tag is required when you park for more than 15 minutes. The nearest restroom listed by the park is at Greenbrier Picnic Area. No food service or potable water is listed at the trailhead, so bring what you'll need. Pets aren't allowed on the trail.
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
ChallengingRamsey Cascades Trail8 mi · 6 hr · 3.3 mi awayFour miles uphill to the Smokies' tallest waterfall
ChallengingOld Settlers Trail15.8 mi · 10 hr · 4.5 mi awayA long traverse through stone walls, creek hollows and Smokies history.
ModerateAlbright Grove Loop Trail6.7 mi · 4.5 hr · 4.6 mi awayOld-growth trees reward the long approach to Albright Grove.
ChallengingMaddron Bald Trail7.2 mi · 6.5 hr · 4.6 mi awayA long climb from old growth to a brushy high bald.
ModerateGrapeyard Ridge Trail7.5 mi · 5.5 hr · 4.7 mi awayFive creek crossings and a rusting engine tucked in the woods.
ModeratePorters Creek Trail7.2 mi · 3.5 hr · 5 mi awayCreekside miles lead past old farms to Fern Branch Falls.
ChallengingBrushy Mountain Trail from Greenbrier11.7 mi · 9 hr · 5 mi awayA hard Greenbrier climb to two open summit views
Sight · 2.3 mi awayAlbright GroveA long hike through one of the Smokies’ finest old-growth forests.
Sight · 3.6 mi awayTyson McCarter PlaceThe farmyard’s unusual layout rewards a long trail detour.
Picnic area · 4.7 mi awayGreenbrier Picnic AreaShady picnic tables and charcoal grills beside the Little Pigeon River.
Sight · 5 mi awayHen Wallow FallsA 90-foot cascade makes the rooted climb worthwhile.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.
