Hiking Trails / Smoky Mountain National Park!
The national park system in the Smoky Mountains has over eight hundred miles of trails! Many of the trail heads are located near roadways making finding and access them fairly easy to do. The trails range in difficulty from easy to very difficult. Care should be taken to check the difficulty rating of a trail before setting out for the first time.
Trails cover the park from one end to the other. Many follow streams and lead to waterfalls. Some lead to historical places or well known peaks! Many of the trails are open year round, but again, checking before you set out is highly recommended! Please wear proper clothing, good hiking shoes and bring along some bottled water to stay hydrated!
“Appalachian National Scenic Trail”. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Web. 20 Aug. 2015.
Shuckstack Tower Trail
The Shuckstack fire tower is just 1/10th of a mile from the Appalachian Trail and a 3.4 miles from the nearest road. The best way to access the tower is on the north side of Fontana Dam, which is on the N.C. side of the park.
Ramsays Cascades Trail
This is an eight mile round trip and can take a little over four hours, depending on the hikers skill level. This is a very popular hike through the highly prized Greenbrier section of the Park. A hike on the Ramsays Cascades trail not only reveals what has been called the best falls in the Smokies, but also old growth forest that has never suffered from the logger's saw or the settler's ax.