On the Trail in the Smokies

At about 90 feet high, Ramsey Cascades is the tallest waterfall in all of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. At roughly 4,300 feet elevation, it also has the distinction of being the highest-elevation major waterfall in the park.

For the legions who hike to the cascades during any given year, the payoff is substantial: what many consider to be the most spectacular falling water in the park, not just the highest. But a strong case can be made even for a shorter trek on Ramsey Cascades Trail for those who may not be able to hike the strenuous eight-mile round trip—and yes, the latter section is strenuous.

In recent years Ramsey Cascades Trail and the park’s Greenbrier section it lies within have been pounded by strong storms and flooding, prompting lengthy trail and road closures. Happily, however, Ramsey Cascades Trail is the most recent project of the Trails Forever program, with work completed in November 2023 that rehabilitated and repaired extensive damage to the popular path.

Ramsey Cascades Trail begins where the 1½-mile-long Ramsey Prong Road ends. At one time the road continued for another 1½ miles, but today the first part of the trail itself follows the old roadbed, making for generally easy hiking at the outset.

Park guides and maps formerly spelled Ramsey Cascades, and the Ramsey Prong that relentlessly feeds it, Ramsay. A 1964 U.S. Geological Survey quadrangle also uses the latter spelling, as does a 1972-revised relief map for the Knoxville region. But Ramsey has emerged and prevailed as the spelling in recent years. In any case, the prong and cascades owe their existence to headwaters with an elevation above 6,000 feet. Those headwaters are on the northern slopes of Mount Guyot, at 6,621 feet the Smokies’ second highest peak. Flanked by Guyot Spur and Greenbrier Pinnacle, Ramsey Prong flows essentially west before meeting the Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River a couple of miles below Ramsey Cascades.

Driving to the Ramsey Cascades trailhead is somewhat of an adventure in itself, as it involves traveling about five miles from U.S. 321 on mostly gravel roads that follow the Little Pigeon River and then its Middle Prong. But recent road and bridge repairs have made the excursion easier.

Right away, at the trailhead, a pedestrian bridge crosses the Middle Prong. Just before the bridge, to the right, Little Laurel Branch tumbles toward the prong. The branch serves as a small preview of the abundant falling water you’ll see as you gain more than 2,000 in elevation before reaching Ramsey Cascades. Most of that gain is achieved over the final 2½ miles of the 4-mile trail, after the former old roadbed gives way to a footpath that is steep, rocky and wet in places.

Soon after crossing Middle Prong, you’ll see a large split rock, featuring a small channel of water running between the massive boulders to your left. The rocky old road that the trail follows continues to climb fairly steadily along an easily hiked route.

The roadbed ends at a small turnaround, where an unmaintained trail to the left leads to the site of a former fire tower atop Greenbrier Pinnacle. Ramsey Cascades Trail continues at the top of the turnaround, near where Ramsey Prong flows into the Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River. At this point, the character of the trail changes fairly dramatically as it works toward its destination. Ramsey Cascades Trail begins in earnest here, at times giving way to the traversing of rocks large and small.

Speaking of rocks, about a half-mile above the turnaround, you may need to rock-hop in order to clear a bold branch. You then descend to cross a long, high foot log above Ramsey Prong. After crossing the prong, you may encounter a briefly muddy track before continuing on firmer ground.

In another half-mile or so, you reach two huge yellow poplars, flanking the trail as if to announce ENTER RAMSEY FOREST with its impressive array of old-growth trees. Just up the way is the king to these two princely poplars because the third is even larger—at least seven feet in diameter. These trees and others in this area were spared the logger’s ax that was so active in the Smokies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Above the poplars, a rugged section of trail employs a couple of dozen rock steps, recalling Arch Rock along the Alum Cave Trail that leads to Mount Le Conte. Soon another foot log crosses Ramsey Prong, this one a dogleg-right track that’s wider than the previous one and not as high. Ironically, as the trail presses on toward its terminus at the cascades, it begins to swing away from the prong, reaching an area known as Cherry Orchard. At last, where a sizable unnamed branch flows toward Ramsey Prong, the trail plays out to the right and follows rocks in the branch toward today’s main attraction: hard-earned Ramsey Cascades.

If not the most dazzling display of crashing water in the Smokies, the nearly 100-foot-high cascades must be very close to that distinction. The prime viewing spot is a prodigious boulder that typically catches some spray from the cascades. Below is a run of water that flows from a shallow pool at the base of the cascades into a larger one. Above the high ledge, from which Ramsey Prong spills, the sky enhances the beauty of these environs. It’s a beautiful natural theater to relish before the four-mile return trip to the trailhead.

• Trailhead: Ramsey Prong Road terminus about 5 miles from U.S. 321
• Length: 8.0 miles if hiking entire trail to Ramsey Cascades
• Difficulty: Strenuous if hiking all the way to cascades

About the author: Ben Anderson is author of Smokies Chronicle: A Year of Hiking in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (blairpub.com).