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Tallest Waterfalls in the Smokies

Waterfall guide

Tallest Waterfalls in the Smokies

15 curated picks · verified 2026-05-28

The 15 waterfalls on this list range from 411 feet to 65 feet, span four public land units, and require anywhere from a flat 150-yard walk to a 4-mile round-trip through old-growth forest. That spread isn't accidental — the Smokies and their surrounding ranges form one of the densest concentrations of significant waterfalls in the eastern United States, fed by some of the highest annual rainfall totals on the continent.

Height alone doesn't determine what you're actually getting at a given fall. Cullasaja Falls drops 200 feet in a long churning cascade visible from US-64, but there's no maintained trail to the base and roadside parking on that stretch is genuinely dangerous. Whitewater Falls, at 411 feet the tallest on this list, is a 0.25-mile walk from a paved lot. The ranking here is by verified height; each entry covers trail conditions, difficulty, and what to expect on arrival.

A few practical considerations apply across most of these locations:

  • Park-It-Forward ($5 per vehicle per day): Required at most parking areas inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Purchase at recreation.gov or at self-service kiosks before leaving your vehicle. It covers the parking fee but doesn't reserve a spot; timed-entry permits are separate and apply seasonally to high-traffic corridors.
  • Seasonal flow: Volume peaks March through May, when snowmelt and spring rainfall combine. By midsummer, smaller falls often run at a fraction of their spring output. Ramsey Cascades and the GSMNP Rainbow Falls hold their flow into summer better than most, owing to large upper watersheds.
  • Footing: Spray zones stay slick year-round regardless of season. Rocks at the base of high-volume falls are not safe to stand on even when the flow looks manageable.

Falls inside DuPont State Recreational Forest and Gorges State Park don't require Park-It-Forward, but those trailhead lots can fill by 9 a.m. on summer and fall weekends. The Ramsey Cascades approach is the most demanding on this list by a significant margin: 4 miles round-trip over rocky, rooted terrain with sustained elevation gain throughout.

  1. 1

    Whitewater Falls (Upper & Lower)

    411 ft · 0.25 mi hike

    411-foot waterfall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Reached via a 0.25-mile easy hike.
  2. 2

    Cullasaja Falls

    200 ft

    Cullasaja Falls — on Cullasaja River, Roadside view (no safe trail to base) trail, Easy (roadside view, but hazardous parking), about 200 feet (long, powerful cascade).
  3. 3

    Toxaway Falls

    200 ft

    200-foot waterfall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
  4. 4

    Rainbow Falls (Gorges State Park, NC)

    150 ft · 1.5 mi hike

    Rainbow Falls (Gorges State Park, NC) — on Horsepasture River, 1.5 miles trail, Strenuous (steep descent), about 150 feet.
  5. 5

    High Falls (DuPont State Forest)

    125 ft · 1.2 mi hike

    125-foot waterfall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Reached via a 1.2-mile easy hike.
  6. 6

    Mingo Falls

    120 ft · 0.15 mi hike

    120-foot waterfall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Reached via a 0.15-mile easy hike.
  7. Triple Falls (DuPont State Forest) 7

    Triple Falls (DuPont State Forest)

    120 ft · 0.5 mi hike

    Triple Falls (DuPont State Forest) — on Little River, 0.5 miles trail, Easy to Moderate, about 120 feet (three distinct drops).
  8. Ramsey Cascades 8

    Ramsey Cascades

    100 ft · 4 mi hike

    100-foot waterfall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Reached via a 4-mile strenuous hike.
  9. 9

    Bald River Falls

    90 ft

    90-foot waterfall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
  10. 10

    Hen Wallow Falls

    90 ft · 2.1 mi hike

    Hen Wallow Falls — on Gabes Creek, 2.1 miles trail, Moderate, about 90 feet (plunges over a rock ledge, widening at the base).
  11. 11

    Juney Whank Falls

    90 ft · 0.6 mi hike

    Juney Whank Falls — on Juney Whank Branch, 0.6 miles (loop from trailhead) trail, Moderate (steep climb), about 90 feet (upper and lower sections).
  12. Laurel Falls 12

    Laurel Falls

    80 ft · 1.3 mi hike

    Laurel Falls — on Laurel Branch, 1.3 miles trail, Easy (paved, but steep in sections), about 80 feet (upper and lower sections).
  13. Rainbow Falls 13

    Rainbow Falls

    80 ft · 2.7 mi hike

    80-foot waterfall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Reached via a 2.7-mile moderate hike.
  14. 14

    Dry Falls

    75 ft · 0.25 mi hike

    75-foot waterfall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Reached via a 0.25-mile easy hike.
  15. 15

    Benton Falls

    65 ft · 1.5 mi hike

    65-foot waterfall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Reached via a 1.5-mile moderate hike.

Tallest Waterfalls in the Smokies: FAQ

When is the best time of year to visit for peak waterfall flow?
March through May. Snowmelt from the upper elevations combines with spring rainfall to push water volume to its annual high. By mid-July, many of the smaller falls on this list are reduced considerably. Ramsey Cascades and Rainbow Falls in GSMNP tend to hold their flow later into summer than others because of the size of their drainage basins. Fall foliage (typically mid-October in the Smokies) is spectacular near most of these locations, but water levels are usually at their lowest point then.
Are there two different waterfalls called Rainbow Falls on this list?
Yes, and they're unrelated. Rainbow Falls in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an 80-foot drop on LeConte Creek, reached via a 2.7-mile moderate hike from the Cherokee Orchard Road trailhead near Gatlinburg. Rainbow Falls in Gorges State Park is a 150-foot plunge on the Horsepasture River in western North Carolina, accessed by a strenuous 1.5-mile descent. They're in different park systems roughly 60 miles apart.
Which waterfalls here are realistic for visitors with limited mobility or young children?
Mingo Falls is the most accessible high-impact waterfall in the region: 0.15 miles with a staircase approach to a 120-foot plunge. Whitewater Falls and Dry Falls both have 0.25-mile approaches from paved parking areas. Laurel Falls inside GSMNP covers 1.3 miles on a paved trail, though it's steep in sections. Cullasaja Falls requires no hiking at all but is only viewable from the roadside, where stopping requires caution due to traffic.
Is swimming allowed at the base of these waterfalls?
Most locations either prohibit it or strongly advise against it, and for good reason. Plunge pools below high-volume falls contain hydraulics that are difficult to exit, water temperatures stay cold well into summer, and the rocks in spray zones are consistently slick. Several falls on this list are sites of recurring rescues. Follow posted signs at each location; enforcement varies by jurisdiction but the hazards don't.
Do I need a separate reservation to hike to falls inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park?
For most of the trailheads on this list, no reservation is required beyond the Park-It-Forward parking tag. However, GSMNP does operate timed-entry permit systems seasonally for certain high-traffic corridors, and these change year to year. Check recreation.gov before your visit during peak season (May through October) to confirm whether your intended trailhead has any entry restrictions in effect.

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