When researching things to do for our smoky mountains trip I knew we wanted to go on a waterfall hike, but I also wanted to be realistic and find one that was easy to moderate. Laurel Falls provided a great way to be active but not push ourselves past our comfort level. Although this hike is 1.3 miles out and back (so 2.6 miles total) and uphill the whole way it is also paved. This is one of the most popular hikes in the great smoky mountains and we saw lots of families and hikers of all ages along the way.
Our hike was on a misty spring day, while this didn’t make for looking very cute in photos it did make for perfect hiking weather.
There are trail maps available and markers along the path to learn about the local flora and fauna but we skipped this and just focused on the experience taking a few breaks along the way up.
Laurel Falls is gorgeous making this a hike that provides a good payoff for a modest effort. The trail actually crosses the falls in the middle. There is no official trail to the based buy we did see several people climbing down the rocks. Since it was misty the rocks were wet and slippery so this was just not something we personally felt safe doing, I’m sure the view is gorgeous though!
We spent about 1/2 an hour at the falls before hiking down. Typically the hike out is harder than the hike in but since it was down hill we didn’t really need to stop for any breaks. In total we spent two hours on this hike. We found our hiking sticks useful for the uphill portion but not an absolute necessity. If I had planned a little better we could have combined this with Cataract Falls but I dropped the ball so we made that visit the next day.
In general if there’s going to be unevenness / lots of rocks I prefer my hiking boots but this trail was perfect for my trail runners. I also wore a light weight top from Chic Soul and the Beyond the Studio Jogger from Lululemon which aren’t technically hiking pants but I found them to be perfect for this hike!
The next day we stopped by Cataract Falls, which is only a .5, flat, nature walk from the visitor center parking lot (this is right at the turn off on the road to get to Laurel Falls). This walk is so easy I wasn’t even wearing athletic clothes and it was just fine. I would highly recommend visiting both of these falls on the same day as the path to Cataract Falls is charming and the waterfall is pretty as well. Since it is so accessible it is crowded fyi!
I hope this post has been helpful in determining if hiking Laurel Falls is right for you. Happy Trails!