Laurel Falls (Great Smoky Mountains National Park)

    Laurel Falls is a popular hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  So popular in fact that the easy to find roadside parking area, which can hold dozens of cars, completely fills up at certain times of day, and there isn’t much other parking available anywhere nearby, so to visit it you have to either beat the crowd or get lucky.  You’re looking at a round trip of 2.6 miles, the first half of which you’ll be heading almost entirely uphill, following a paved path, and well before you ever reach the falls at the top there will be fantastic scenic views at random spots allowing you to gaze out over the Smoky Mountains for miles.  The elevation gain is perhaps 300 feet.

    Laurel Falls is 80 feet tall and you’ll be seeing it from a wooden bridge built on the fall itself, and a nearby rocky area.  I like that you can get right up to this fall, but I do enjoy when the viewing happens from a lower position so the fall looks more impressive.  Chances are though, and this is true of myself, this is about the first real hike people take when arriving in the park since there’s the competitive parking vibe which makes you want to try this first “just in case” the parking is full the rest of your trip, and because it isn’t hard to find with Elkmont Campground fairly close and the Sugarlands Visitor Center not far off to the east.