Family-friendly waterfall trips

No doubt, Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s waterfalls are among the most popular destinations along its more than 800 miles of hiking trails. But if you don’t have the time or energy for even a short hike, the Smokies offers a small handful of waterfalls that you access easily.

Note that all waterfalls are at their most impressive after a heavy rain. In general, the best months for waterfalls in the Smokies are March and July, when rainfall is the highest. September and October, on the other hand, are the driest months.

Meigs Falls
Meigs Falls is a pretty 28-foot waterfall that’s tucked 300 feet back from the road. In the summer when the leaves are out it isn’t immediately obvious, and no sign or marker points it out, so you have to look closely. You’ll find Meigs Falls along Little River Road at marker 6, about 13 miles from Sugarlands Visitor Center (or 4.6 miles from the Townsend Wye near the Townsend entrance to the park). It’s on the opposite side of the road from Little River at a longer-than-usual pullout with a low stone wall.

The Sinks
This 15-foot waterfall is not natural but was instead created before the national park was established when loggers from the Little River Lumber Company dynamited the riverbed to break up a huge logjam. You’ll find the Sinks on Little River Road, about 11.5 miles from Sugarlands Visitor Center (or just under six miles from the Townsend entrance to the park). To best see the Sinks, park in the small lot and then walk to the adjacent stone observation deck, where you can look down at the river as it plunges over the rocks and swirls into a deep pool before continuing on its way. 

Place of a Thousand Drips
This 80-foot waterfall must really be magic, because it’s capable of disappearing. During dry spells, you could easily drive right past the place without a second glance. But after a hard rain, the water runs over this rock face every which way in countless dramatic rivulets, some dropping as far as 20 feet, giving it its name. You’ll find the Place of a Thousand Drips at the very end of the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail (which is closed in winter), on the left side of the road at marker 15.

Mingo Falls
One of the tallest falls in the Southern Appalachians, this 180-foot waterfall is actually located in the adjacent Qualla Boundary, the ancestral home of the Cherokee people, and not in the national park. With water splashing over hundreds of small shelves, the falls look something like liquid lace.

To get there, drive south on US 441 for two-and-a-half miles and turn onto Big Cove Road. Go about five miles, and then turn right at the sign for Mingo Falls Campground. Drive over a short bridge and park in the lot. Then take the short walk (a quarter of a mile) with many steps to the base of the falls. If you take the Balsam Mountain Loop scenic drive, it includes Mingo Falls near the end.

Fun Fact: All the water you see in the streams of the Smokies eventually flows into the Gulf of Mexico.