Ramsey Cascades Trail

Ramsey Cascades Trail leads to the tallest accessible waterfall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park — a 100-foot multi-tiered cascade tumbling over moss-draped sandstone in one of the park's finest old-growth cove hardwood forests. The route begins in the remote Greenbrier section of the park, passing through second-growth forest before entering a grove of old-growth yellow birch, eastern hemlock, and tulip poplar trees exceeding 400 years in age and 20 feet in circumference. Several of the tulip poplars rank among the largest trees east of the Mississippi. Ramsey Prong rushes alongside the trail, requiring two significant rock-hop crossings that are impassable at high water. The upper mile of trail steepens dramatically through a boulder field where the forest transitions to northern hardwood — beech, yellow buckeye, and silverbell. At the falls, a cold mist drifts 150 feet into the surrounding forest; the pool below averages 50°F year-round. Spring salamanders — including the shovel-nosed salamander found only in the Smokies — inhabit the mossy boulders near the cascade. Black bears frequent the upper Greenbrier drainage in late summer for berry foraging. The trailhead is reached via a narrow 4-mile gravel road off Highway 321; passenger cars can navigate it slowly. Trail congestion peaks on summer Saturday mornings.