Adventures in
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Excerpts from the National Park website shares the following about this hike to the falls:
- Ramsey Cascades is the tallest waterfall in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and definitely ranks as one of the most spectacular.
- Water drops 100 feet over rock outcroppings and collects in a small pool where numerous well-camouflaged salamanders can be found.
- We did not see any salamanders 😦
- The trail to the waterfall gains over 2,000′ in elevation over its 4 mile one-way course.
- The 8-mile roundtrip hike is considered/rated strenuous in difficulty.
- The closer you get to the falls, maybe the last mile or so, it gets a lot rockier and you need to watch your step.
- Because of the recent rainfall, there were several water crossings but we believe this wouldn’t exactly happen with lower water tables.
We arrived early and were the first car in the parking lot.
About 1-mile into the hike, we encountered a smallish/skinny black bear and then realized she had two small cubs with her. We hope she is able to fatten herself up before winter.
The trail was (for the most part), well groomed. However, there was one section that followed a small stream bed that was actually flowing because of the recent rains.
One of the special features that makes this hike so spectacular is that it follows rushing rivers and streams for much of its length. This makes for several well constructed bridge crossings as well as some rocks to hop across others.
Although downed trees disrupting travel down the path are not unusual, there were some very large ones that were a little tricky to maneuver over.
It took us about 3-hours for the hike up while briefly stopping to admire the trail, the obstacles, the rushing water and to go around the downed trees. I believe that was a solid workout.
On the 4-mile trek back to the car was a bit shorter taking us 2-1/2 hours but we did several stops for photographic opportunities, as well as encountering lot of eager explorers hiking their way up.
As always, be good stewards of nature:
- Be careful to stay on trail so you don’t damage fragile plant life and further diminish the integrity of the surrounding ground.
- Don’t litter! Be conscious of your candy wrappers, water bottles, nut shells and especially cigarette butts. These items can harm the native inhabitants.
- Use extreme caution if you choose to climb on the rocks — EXTREMELY SLIPPERY.
- Have respect for the rushing water. The power of the rushing water is HUGE and UNFORGIVING. You can quickly find yourself in a life threating situation.
- Several humans have been killed trying to climb to the top of the falls.
We give this adventure a……
Dream Big, Travel Far, Live Well…
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More Great Smokey Mountain National Park adventures!
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