Hike · Rainbow Falls trailhead

Rainbow Falls Trail

Distance

4.9 mi

Vertical

3,835 ft

Summit

5,902 ft

Difficulty

Strenuous

The Rainbow Falls Trail climbs the flank of Mount LeConte from the Cherokee Orchard trailhead outside Gatlinburg, Tennessee, gaining nearly 4,000 feet over six and a half miles to the summit. The route passes Rainbow Falls — at 80 feet, the highest single-drop waterfall in Great…

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Rainbow Falls drops over its sandstone ledge, the namesake waterfall the trail reaches at 2.6 miles. — John Manard · CC BY-SA 2.0

The rocky tread of the Rainbow Falls Trail climbs into the hardwood understory above LeConte Creek. — John Manard · CC BY-SA 2.0

One of the narrow log footbridges spanning LeConte Creek on the approach to Rainbow Falls. — John Manard · CC BY-SA 2.0

Rainbow Falls plunges through a hemlock-and-rhododendron frame in early summer. — John Manard · CC BY-SA 2.0

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