Best Full-Day & Long Hikes in the Smokies

These 16 hikes made the cut because they're substantive; not day-strolls padded to a list, but actual long routes with real mileage and real elevation. The shortest here, Bote Mountain Trail, still runs 6.9 miles with 2,000 feet of climbing. At the other end, the Bartram Trail covers 100 miles and genuinely requires multi-day planning or several return trips to complete.

A few practical things worth knowing before picking your route:

• Multi-trail systems like the Bartram, Benton MacKaye, and Appalachian Trail don't have a single trailhead. Each has distinct entry points with different parking situations, shuttle logistics, and permit requirements depending on where you stage.
• Park-It-Forward: Trails inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park require a $5 parking tag per vehicle, purchased online at recreation.gov or at self-registration kiosks near major trailheads. No national parks pass covers this fee.
• Trailhead crowds peak from mid-May through October, especially at Ramsey Cascades, Trillium Gap, and Alum Cave. Arriving before 8am or on a weekday cuts the parking scramble considerably.
• Weather at elevation runs colder and less predictable than valley readings suggest. Routes hitting Mount LeConte (Bullhead, Trillium Gap) can see clouds, wind, and temperatures well below freezing in shoulder months when Gatlinburg feels fine.

The trails split roughly into two categories: distance-focused routes where total mileage is the point (Old Settlers at 16 miles, Conasauga River at 13.5, the long AT corridor sections), and gain-focused routes where you're climbing hard for views or summits (Maddron Bald packs 3,000 feet into 7.1 miles; Bullhead pushes 3,800 feet into 13.8). Several manage both.

A few routes here sit outside GSMNP entirely. Panthertown Valley falls in Nantahala National Forest, the Conasauga River Trail in the Cohutta Wilderness, and the John Muir Trail runs along the Hiwassee River. The Park-It-Forward tag doesn't apply to those, though each has its own access rules and, in some cases, separate day-use fees.

Spring (late April through early June) brings peak wildflower bloom and high waterfall volume but also muddy conditions on lower trails. Fall color on the higher ridges peaks in mid-October. Some access roads close in winter, and upper trails can be icy from November through March.