Parking
Use the Bradley Fork Trailhead at the far north end of Smokemont Campground Road. A parking tag is required for vehicles parked more than 15 minutes. The nearest restroom is at Smokemont Campground.
Overview
About Chasteen Creek Trail to Cascade
Why go
- A bedrock cascade rewards a manageable Smokemont day hike.
- The wide river corridor makes most of the approach straightforward.
Heads up
- Two creek crossings and a narrower final spur need careful footing.
- Horse traffic shares the wooded approach.
- The route stays mostly wooded, without a broad overlook.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Smoky Mountains map
Full mapElevation2,293–2,723 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
7 active Great Smoky Mountains alerts
- ClosureHurricane Helene backcountry trail closures and hazardsHurricane Helene damage has closed backcountry trails and left hazardous crossings; avoid closed routes and heed trail-specific restrictions.Official details
- CautionBear-related trail, road, shelter, and campsite restrictionsBear activity has closed trails, a shelter, and campsites and restricted pedestrian access on Cherokee Orchard Road; follow the vehicle restrictions and avoid closed areas.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide
Your drive to Chasteen Creek Trail to Cascade, narrated.
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 trailhead
Smokemont and Chasteen Creek Cascade0:00 / 0:28
“You're nearing Smokemont, the starting point for the walk to Chasteen Creek Cascade. The creek slides over quartz-streaked sandstone in a broad, fifteen-foot cascade, a modest waterfall after a wooded creek walk.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Smokemont Baptist Church
- Reading the White Blazes
- Smokemont Riding Stables
- Collins Creek Picnic Area
- 188 audio storiesacross Great Smoky Mountains’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Elk, Bald Eagle, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 197 trails, 100 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Chasteen Creek Trail to Cascade
The walkThis is a 3.
This is a 3.6-mile round-trip out-and-back from the Bradley Fork Trailhead at Smokemont, following Bradley Fork and Chasteen Creek through a mostly wooded valley to Chasteen Creek Cascade. Allow about 2–3 hours; that is a practical estimate, not a posted hike time. Expect a gradual uphill approach, then retrace the same route. The draw is the creekside waterfall, not a summit or panorama.
Find the cascadeStart at the far north end of Smokemont Campground Road. The wide approach follows Bradley Fork.
Start at the far north end of Smokemont Campground Road. The wide approach follows Bradley Fork. After roughly 1.1–1.2 miles, cross Chasteen Creek and turn right onto Chasteen Creek Trail; Bradley Fork continues left. Lower Chasteen Backcountry Campsite 50 is shortly beyond the junction. Around 1.8–1.9 miles from the start, cross the creek again. At the horse hitching rail, take the narrow left spur along the water; the main trail climbs away to the right. Reverse those turns to return.
At the cascadeThe payoff is a broad, low sheet of water sliding over smooth sandstone into a pool, rather…
The payoff is a broad, low sheet of water sliding over smooth sandstone into a pool, rather than a tall plunge. It feels intimate and creekside. For a close photograph, frame the moving water with the worn bedrock from the trail-side edge; the broad rock surface is part of the view.
Footing and forestThe Bradley Fork section is wide and well graded, with a gradual climb.
The Bradley Fork section is wide and well graded, with a gradual climb. The National Park Service notes occasional roots and rocks, and hikers share this route with horses. Two creek crossings and a narrower final spur call for more careful footing. Most of the walk stays wooded, with some openings and flowering dogwood, yellow birch, sycamore and tuliptree along the corridor.
Start at SmokemontParking is at the far north end of Smokemont Campground Road.
Parking is at the far north end of Smokemont Campground Road. A parking tag is required when a vehicle is parked in the park for more than 15 minutes. Smokemont Campground is the nearest restroom, available year-round. Pets are prohibited on this trail.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Great Smoky Mountains
1,566 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
899 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.
