Ramsey Cascades - Ramsey Cascades Trail in the Smoky Mountains


Trail Features:		Waterfalls, Old growth forests
Trail Location:		Greenbrier
Roundtrip Length:		8.0 miles
Total Elevation Gain:		2375 feet
Avg. Elev Gain / Mile:		594 feet
Highest Elevation:		4400 feet
Trail Difficulty Rating:		12.75 (strenuous)
Parking Lot Latitude:		35.70267
Parking Lot Longitude:		- 83.3572

Directions to Trailhead:

At the junction of 441 and 321 in Gatlinburg (Light 3), turn to travel eastbound on 321. Drive 6 miles and turn right into Greenbrier (look for the Smoky Mountain National Park entrance sign on the right). This road will turn into a gravel road after a short distance. Drive 3.1 miles to the fork in the road. Turn left and drive across the bridge to reach the Ramsey Cascades trailhead. The parking lot will be another 1.5 miles from this junction.

Trail Description:

This waterfall in the Greenbrier area goes by two different spellings. Historically, the park has spelled the cascades as "Ramsay". However, in more recent publications, and on their website, the park is now spelling it "Ramsey". The revised version properly reflects the correct spelling, since the cascades are named after the Ramsey family that lived in this area.

The Ramsey Cascades Trail gains 2375 feet in elevation over its 4-mile course, and is considered to be a moderately strenuous hike. Despite this, however, the trail is still very popular and you should expect to see many people on the trail and at the falls during peak tourist seasons.

The beginning of the Ramsey Cascades Trail follows the remnants of an old gravel road. At 1.5 miles you'll reach an old traffic circle, which marks the end of the old roadway you've been following to this point. This location also marks the junction with the old Greenbrier Pinnacle Trail, which took hikers to the top of Greenbrier Pinnacle where a fire tower used to stand. The trail is overgrown and is no longer maintained by the park. At the end of the old road the Ramsey Cascades Trail continues as a narrow footpath.

Soon you'll enter the largest old-growth forest remaining in the national park. One of the primary reasons the park was created was in response to the damage being done to the ancient forests by the logging industry. This forest was one of the few to remain mostly unscathed. Some of the trees along this trail are among the largest known in the park. Over the last 2 miles hikers will pass through an old-growth hardwood forest that includes large tuliptrees, eastern hemlock, basswoods, silverbells, and yellow birches.

The trail follows the Ramsey Prong of the Little Pigeon River, which drains off of 6621-foot high Mount Guyot, the second highest mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains. There are countless waterfalls and rapids that line the stream, which are intermittingly interrupted by cool clear pools of water.

Ramsey Cascades is the tallest waterfall in the park, as well as one of the most spectacular. Water drops 100 feet over rock outcroppings and collects in a small pool where numerous salamanders can be found.

Don't attempt to climb to the top of the falls as several people have been killed trying to do so. One other caution for hikers during the summer months: watch out for hornets' nests hanging over the trail at about eye level and looking like large gray paper balls.