| Trail Features: | Waterfalls, Old growth forests | |||||
| Trail Location: | Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail | |||||
| Roundtrip Length: | 5.4 miles | |||||
| Total Elevation Gain: | 1685 feet | |||||
| Avg. Elev Gain / Mile: | 624 feet | |||||
| Highest Elevation: | 4285 feet | |||||
| Trail Difficulty Rating: | 8.77 (moderate) | |||||
| Parking Lot Latitude: | 35.67582 | |||||
| Parking Lot Longitude: | - 83.48527 | |||||
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Directions to Trailhead:
Starting from Light 8 in Gatlinburg, turn onto Historic Nature Trail / Airport Road. At 0.7 miles, veer right onto Cherokee Orchard Road, upon which you'll enter into Great Smoky Mountain National Park. After driving another 2.2 miles, you'll enter the one-way Cherokee Orchard Loop. After driving about 0.6 miles on the loop, the Rainbow Falls trailhead will be on your right (if this parking lot is full, there's an auxiliary parking area about 0.1 miles further down the road).
The first two-thirds of a mile on the Rainbow Falls Trail is a steady climb through a large boulder field. As you pass through this area, LeConte Creek cascades down the mountain on your right. You'll find many opportunities around here for some great picnic sites along this section of the trail.
You'll cross over two footbridges along the way; one at 1.7 miles and the other at 2.4 miles, before reaching the 80-foot high waterfall, roughly 2.7 miles from the trailhead.
Rainbow Falls is the highest single-drop waterfall in the Smokies.
The name given for these waterfalls is a result of the rainbow that is produced by mist and becomes visible on sunny afternoons. During extended winter cold spells an impressive ice formation builds around the falls. You may notice a little bit of ice just to the right of the falls in the photo on the right.
The trail continues onto Mt. LeConte. If you still have the energy you can continue on for another 4.2 miles to reach the summit. You can click here for more information on taking the Rainbow Falls Trail route to Mt. LeConte.