Hen Wallow Falls - Hike to Hen Wallow Falls in the Smoky Mountains


Trail Features:		Waterfalls
Trail Location:		Cosby
Roundtrip Length:		4.4 miles
Total Elevation Gain:		900 feet
Avg. Elev Gain / Mile:		409 feet
Highest Elevation:		2923 feet
Trail Difficulty Rating:		6.20 (moderate)
Parking Lot Latitude:		35.75719
Parking Lot Longitude:		- 83.20872

Directions to Trailhead:

At the junction of 441 and 321 in Gatlinburg (Light 3), turn to travel eastbound on 321/73 and drive 18.2 miles until the road dead-ends into Hwy 32. Turn right here towards Cosby, and drive 1.2 miles to the Park entrance. Make the right turn into the Park and drive another 2 miles to the Gabes Mountain trailhead. The trailhead is on the right side of the road, but the large parking area, located in the Cosby Picnic Area, is across the street. Hen Wallow Falls is located off the Gabes Mountain Trail.

Trail Description:

Almost from the start, the path leading to Hen Wallow Falls begins to make a steady climb up the northern flank of Snake Den Mountain. While ascending Gabes Mountain Trail, which was once known as the Messer Trail, the roots and rocks on the pathway will testify how rough this trail is in some places. Although rugged, the trail passes through a beautiful lush-green forest of rhododendron and ferns, with hemlocks and yellow poplars that provide a nice overhead canopy.

After a short distance Rock Creek will appear on your right, and nearly 0.4 mile from the trailhead you'll pass a side trail that leads to the Cosby Campground. Shortly thereafter, the trail crosses over Rock Creek.

At roughly 0.7 mile you'll pass a social trail leading off to your right. Continue going straight here.

Roughly 1 mile from the trailhead you'll reach Messer Gap. There's another faint side trail on your right here that supposedly leads to an old grave site. To continue onto the falls hikers should go straight here. Just past this junction look towards your left and you'll see the remnants of an old rock wall from a former homestead.

At 2.1 miles you'll reach the short (and somewhat steep) side trail that leads down to the base of 90-foot Hen Wallow Falls. Although Hen Wallow Creek is only two feet wide at the top of the falls, it fans out to almost 20 feet at the base. We were fortunate to have visited the falls after quite a bit of rain. During the drier seasons throughout the year, water flowing over the cliff side can be a little low.

If you're looking to get some great photographs of the falls you would probably be better off avoiding this hike during mid-day as the sun will be directly in your eyes, as well as your viewfinder.

Be sure to check out the small cave in the ridge just off to the right of the falls.