Parking
Start near the Smokemont campground entrance and RV dump station. A parking tag is required if your vehicle is parked longer than 15 minutes.
Overview
About Smokemont Loop Trail
This is the full loop from the Smokemont campground entrance area, including the campground return. Plan about 6.1 miles and four hours. Published totals range from about 6.1 to 6.5 miles depending on the start point and how the campground approach is counted.
Why go
- Creekside approach and a long footbridge
- Historic Smokemont details along the loop
- Spring woodland wildflowers
Heads up
- Sustained rocky, rooty ridge climb
- Only occasional partial ridge views
- Wet roots and leaf cover can make footing tricky
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Smoky Mountains map
Full mapElevation2,238–3,661 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
Safety
7 active Great Smoky Mountains alerts
- ClosureHurricane Helene trail damage and backcountry restrictionsHurricane Helene damage has restricted backcountry trail access; avoid damaged crossings and observe trail-specific limits.Official details
- CautionBear-related trail, campsite, and road restrictionsBear activity has closed trails, a shelter, and campsites and restricted pedestrian access on Cherokee Orchard Road; stay out of closed areas and follow vehicle-only rules.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide
Your drive to Smokemont 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
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
- Smokemont Riding Stables
- Reading the White Blazes
- The Miller Who Came Back
- 200 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, 137 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 Smokemont Loop Trail
Creekside approachStart near the campground entrance and follow the broad Bradley Fork approach beside the creek.
Start near the campground entrance and follow the broad Bradley Fork approach beside the creek. At the Chasteen Creek junction, stay left on Bradley Fork. Around 2.5 miles in, turn left for the narrower Smokemont Loop and cross the long footbridge over the fork.
Ridge and returnBeyond the bridge, the trail climbs steadily on rocky, rooted ground, gaining close to 1,000…
Beyond the bridge, the trail climbs steadily on rocky, rooted ground, gaining close to 1,000 feet before reaching the ridge. Expect only occasional partial views toward Newfound Gap and North Carolina, not a broad summit overlook. The descent passes a small cemetery and an old auto bridge before the campground road returns to the start.
Access and trail rulesUse the Smokemont entrance area near the campground and RV dump station as the starting access.
Use the Smokemont entrance area near the campground and RV dump station as the starting access. A parking tag is required when a vehicle is parked longer than 15 minutes. Dogs are not allowed on this trail; check current park notices before setting out.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Great Smoky Mountains
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.
