Parking
Start at the Deep Creek Trailhead parking area on Deep Creek Road, north of Bryson City. The picnic area and campground are separate nearby stops.
Overview
About Deep Creek Loop Trail
Why go
- Two distinct waterfalls and a creekside start
- A quieter ridge section after the falls
Heads up
- A sustained 350-foot climb over about half a mile
- Rooty and rocky footing along parts of the creek
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Smoky Mountains map
Full mapElevation1,913–2,405 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 Deep Creek Loop Trail, 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
Deep Creek Waterfalls and Picnic Area0:00 / 0:34
“You're coming up on Deep Creek, where waterfall walks and a creekside picnic can fill a relaxed afternoon.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Boulders from a Colder Smokies
- Flowers Across the Lake
- Fontana's Wartime Power
- Room for the Next Rain
- 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 Deep Creek Loop Trail
The routeDeep Creek Loop is a 4.6-mile circuit on Deep Creek Trail, Indian Creek Trail and Loop Trail.
Deep Creek Loop is a 4.6-mile circuit on Deep Creek Trail, Indian Creek Trail and Loop Trail. From Deep Creek Trailhead, it follows the creek to Tom Branch Falls, detours to Indian Creek Falls, then climbs to Sunkota Ridge before returning to the creek and trailhead. Plan about three hours; the itinerary reports 579 feet of total gain. This longer circuit is different from the separate, shorter three-waterfall loop that also visits Juney Whank Falls.
Follow the loopThe broad creekside path reaches Tom Branch Falls about 0.3 mile from the trailhead.
The broad creekside path reaches Tom Branch Falls about 0.3 mile from the trailhead. At roughly 0.8 mile, turn right onto Indian Creek Trail; after about another tenth of a mile, take the short spur to Indian Creek Falls and retrace it. Continue over the footbridge and past the Stone Pile Gap junction, then turn left onto Loop Trail near mile 1.7. The next half-mile gains about 350 feet to Sunkota Ridge. Continue straight at the junction, descend to Deep Creek, and turn left across the footbridge to return on gentler trail.
The mapped line follows the main circuit and does not trace the short Indian Creek Falls spur. Its connected GIS geometry measures about 4.4 miles, while the published outing is 4.6 miles; the difference is small but not fully explained by the available linework.
Creek and fallsTom Branch Falls drops about 80 feet across Deep Creek, with benches beside the path for a view.
Tom Branch Falls drops about 80 feet across Deep Creek, with benches beside the path for a view. Indian Creek Falls is roughly 45 feet high and spreads over sloping rock; reach it on the short spur from Indian Creek Trail. The route is often photographed at the cascades and where the path crosses the creek.
Spring flowersSpring brings successive blooms along the creek, including trilliums, foamflower, galax,…
Spring brings successive blooms along the creek, including trilliums, foamflower, galax, bloodroot, bluets and jack-in-the-pulpit. Different trilliums flower at different times, so the display changes across the season.
History and nearby facilitiesThe early Deep Creek trail network was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s;…
The early Deep Creek trail network was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s; the present campground occupies the site of a CCC camp used from 1933 to 1936. The nearby picnic area is a separate stop with tables, charcoal grills and a pavilion. Campground toilets and drinking water are also separate from the 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.
