GSMNP Grotto Falls

Trail Name GSMNP Grotto Falls Park Great Smoky Mountains National Park Nearest City Gatlinburg State Tennessee Trail Marking None Trail Use/Features Difficulty Rating Medium Hiking Time 2 Hours0.125 Days <br />120 Min <br /> Distance: round-trip/trail only 2.46 Mi3.959 km <br /> / 1.23 Mi1.979 km <br /> Trail Type In-and-Out Climb/Descent Elevation 974 Ft296.875 Meters <br /> / -437 Ft-133.198 Meters <br /> High Point 3,712 Ft1,237.333 Yards <br />1,131.418 Meters <br /> Parking 35° 40' 49.08" N, 83° 27' 44.82" W Trailhead 35° 40' 49.08" N, 83° 27' 44.82" W Nearest Medical Sevierville Trip Reports Click Here Loading map... {"type":"ROADMAP","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"270px","height":"180px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":8,"layers":[],"controls":["zoom"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":35.6803000000000025693225325085222721099853515625,"lon":-83.4624500000000040245140553452074527740478515625,"icon":""}]} Show Large Map

Trail Overview

Located in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a moderate hike up through classic forest to a waterfall you can walk behind.

How to get there

From Gatlinburg, TN:

1. At traffic light #8 on the Parkway, turn onto the Historic Nature Trail.
2. Proceed into Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
3. Turn right onto Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.
4. Continue to Stop #5 and park.

Trailhead is marked and heads uphill.

Route Description

The Trillum Gap Trail heads up the side of Mount LeConte to the Grotto waterfall and beyond.

Mileage	Description
0.0	Trailhead at Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail Stop #5.
0.2	Intersection of access path from parking lot with Trillum Gap Trail.
0.23	First creek crossing.
0.65	Second creek crossing.
0.9	Third creek crossing.
1.1	Fourth and last creek crossing heading up.
1.4	Grotto Falls

Typical Conditions

National Park Service does trail maintenance primarily between May thru Nov, thus some blowdowns possible during the off-season. The well-worn dirt trail also included tree roots and large stone. Can be very muddy have significant rain.

Fees, Permits, etc.

No fee, but Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail does not allow RVs or trailers and is only open March 11 - Nov 30 during 2011. During peak summer season, you might spend more time on this roadway than on the trail.

If the Roaring Fork Motor Trail closed, then next nearest access point would be at the Rainbow Falls trailhead for a 7 mile round trip hike.

After the Hike

Explore the other older cabins at the other stops along the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail on the way out.

Misc. Information

Per NPS policy, pets are not allowed on park trails.

Maps

Loading map...

{"type":"TERRAIN","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"auto","height":"350px","centre":{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":35.67750000000000198951966012828052043914794921875,"lon":-83.4549999999999982946974341757595539093017578125,"icon":""},"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":15,"layers":[],"controls":["pan","zoom","type","scale","streetview","rotate"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":["https://tehcc.org/clubwiki/kml/GSMNP_Grotto_Falls.kml"],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETrailhead at Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/wiki/File:GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_Trillum_Gap_Trailhead.JPG\" class=\"image\" title=\"Trillum Gap Trailhead\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Trillum Gap Trailhead\" src=\"/clubwiki/images/thumb/GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_Trillum_Gap_Trailhead.JPG/150px-GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_Trillum_Gap_Trailhead.JPG\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"113\" srcset=\"/clubwiki/images/thumb/GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_Trillum_Gap_Trailhead.JPG/225px-GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_Trillum_Gap_Trailhead.JPG 1.5x, /clubwiki/images/thumb/GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_Trillum_Gap_Trailhead.JPG/300px-GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_Trillum_Gap_Trailhead.JPG 2x\" data-file-width=\"1018\" data-file-height=\"768\" /\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Trailhead at Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail\n","link":"","lat":35.6803000000000025693225325085222721099853515625,"lon":-83.4624500000000040245140553452074527740478515625,"icon":"/clubwiki/images/MarkerA.png"},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIntersection of parking access and Trillum Gap Trail\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/wiki/File:GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_Trail_intersection_sign.JPG\" class=\"image\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"GSMNP Grotto Falls - Trail intersection sign.JPG\" src=\"/clubwiki/images/thumb/GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_Trail_intersection_sign.JPG/150px-GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_Trail_intersection_sign.JPG\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"139\" srcset=\"/clubwiki/images/thumb/GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_Trail_intersection_sign.JPG/225px-GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_Trail_intersection_sign.JPG 1.5x, /clubwiki/images/thumb/GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_Trail_intersection_sign.JPG/300px-GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_Trail_intersection_sign.JPG 2x\" data-file-width=\"831\" data-file-height=\"768\" /\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Intersection of parking access and Trillum Gap Trail\n","link":"","lat":35.6794000000000011141310096718370914459228515625,"lon":-83.4609099999999983765519573353230953216552734375,"icon":"/clubwiki/images/MarkerT.png"},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFirst creek crossing\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/wiki/File:GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_First_Creek_Crossing.JPG\" class=\"image\" title=\"First Creek Crossing\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"First Creek Crossing\" src=\"/clubwiki/images/thumb/GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_First_Creek_Crossing.JPG/150px-GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_First_Creek_Crossing.JPG\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"113\" srcset=\"/clubwiki/images/thumb/GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_First_Creek_Crossing.JPG/225px-GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_First_Creek_Crossing.JPG 1.5x, /clubwiki/images/thumb/GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_First_Creek_Crossing.JPG/300px-GSMNP_Grotto_Falls_-_First_Creek_Crossing.JPG 2x\" data-file-width=\"1024\" data-file-height=\"768\" /\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"First creek crossing\n","link":"","lat":35.67895999999999645524439984001219272613525390625,"lon":-83.4606500000000011141310096718370914459228515625,"icon":"/clubwiki/images/MarkerJ.png"},{"text":"\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESecond creek crossing\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Second creek crossing\n","link":"","lat":35.67692000000000263071342487819492816925048828125,"lon":-83.4563500000000004774847184307873249053955078125,"icon":"/clubwiki/images/MarkerJ.png"},{"text":"\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELast creek crossing\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Last creek crossing\n","link":"","lat":35.67663999999999902001945883966982364654541015625,"lon":-83.4537600000000026057023205794394016265869140625,"icon":"/clubwiki/images/MarkerJ.png"},{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGrotto Falls\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"/wiki/File:GSMNP_Grotto_Falls.JPG\" class=\"image\" title=\"Grotto Falls\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Grotto Falls\" src=\"/clubwiki/images/thumb/GSMNP_Grotto_Falls.JPG/150px-GSMNP_Grotto_Falls.JPG\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"/clubwiki/images/thumb/GSMNP_Grotto_Falls.JPG/225px-GSMNP_Grotto_Falls.JPG 1.5x, /clubwiki/images/thumb/GSMNP_Grotto_Falls.JPG/300px-GSMNP_Grotto_Falls.JPG 2x\" data-file-width=\"768\" data-file-height=\"1024\" /\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Grotto Falls\n","link":"","lat":35.6736700000000013233147910796105861663818359375,"lon":-83.449600000000003774403012357652187347412109375,"icon":"/clubwiki/images/MarkerC.png"}]}

Photos

• 

  Trillum Gap Trailhead

• 

  Trail intersection sign

• 

  First Creek Crossing

• 

  Fourth Creek Crossing

• 

  path behind Grotto Falls

• 

  Almost there - cascade downstream

• 

  Grotto Falls

• 

  Grotto Falls