Like we mentioned in our last post, Cades Cove is a must when visiting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. But, because it is so popular, it can get extremely congested. We were lucky to visit on a slow day, and even then there were some serious traffic jams on the one-way road. If you don’t want to deal with all that congestion but you still want the experience of a beautiful drive with old cabins and good hikes, then you need to check out Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.
Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail is a little odd in that you have to exit the main part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, drive through Gatlinburg, and then re-enter the park. We didn’t mind this though and used it as an excuse to eat breakfast at Crockett’s Breakfast Camp. It might be a bit (or a lot) touristy, but it is still worth it! The restaurant is decorated to have that old Tennessee feel. And the menus resembled old newspapers with fun article about Gatlinburg and the Smokies. The portions are insanely huge, so go with a huge appetite. We split the Black Bear Camp Skillet that came with ham, sausage, bacon, eggs, grits, hash-browns, biscuits, sausage gravy, and a ginormous griddle cake. And it came in a giant cast iron skillet! So fun!
After stuffing ourselves silly, we hit the road to explore the Roaring Fork Motor Nature trail. Like Cades Cove, it is a single lane one-way loop. However, instead of meandering through a cove, it wanders through dense mountain forests. And watch out, it can get quite steep with tight curves in some areas. I wouldn’t suggest driving an RV through the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, but we did see some small ones that seemed to fair okay.
Our first stop on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail is the Noah “Bud” Ogle homestead. Honestly, I was tempted to skip it because we saw so many cabins the previous day, but our bodies desperately needed to walk off breakfast. At first glance, the grounds were pretty similar to what we saw at Cades Cove. There was a cabin, bar, mills, etc. However, the cabin itself was a bit different from the others. It was a saddlebag cabin which is basically two cabins joined together. There was also a beautiful river nearby and peaceful trails to explore. Definitely worth a short stop.
Shortly after the Ogle Cabin we came across the trailhead for Rainbow Falls. This was the first of 2 main waterfall hikes along the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, and boy was it packed! There was zero parking anywhere, so if you want to do this hike, come early! These falls weren’t on our agenda though, so we kept on driving.
Right after Rainbow Falls is where the road turns into the one way loop. (Perhaps that is also why Rainbow Falls is so popular. You don’t have to drive the entire loop!) This is also where the Roaring Fork loop becomes even more gorgeous. Even though we got a late start due to us stopping to get a huge breakfast, we barely saw any other car. It was just us and nature. We took our time as we wound our way up the mountains and stopped to admire mossy rocks as we crossed narrow bridges spanning rivers.
Even though we were driving slowly, we got to our destination all too quickly. The trailhead for Grotto Falls. And while we hadn’t seen many cars since Rainbow Falls, we certainly saw enough here. Like with Rainbow Falls, every parking spot was full, and all the spots along the road’s dirt shoulder were taken for 1/2 a mile. It was madness. I questioned how several cars were going to get out of the spots that I wouldn’t have even dared to park at with our all wheel drive Subaru Forester. Not to worry though, we eventually found a nice spot. As we walked back up the mountain towards the trailhead, we got to see the car’s owners question the same thing I did earlier. Some of them were going to need someone to pull them up with a crane out of their spots. Eeeek!
The trail to the falls is just over 1.2 miles long, and it was one of the easier hikes we did during the trip. There were gentle hills and a few narrow stream crossings but nothing strenuous. And the path was so pretty with flowers all along the side. To be quite honest, I wish the trail had been a bit longer as it was just so gorgeous!
As we hiked towards the falls, we passed group after group going the other way. I was a bit concerned that the actual falls were going to be insanely crowded, but we evidently timed the hike perfectly. When we reached the falls, it was empty! And it was stunning. By this point in our trip, we had been to several waterfalls, and this was by far my favorite. The waterfall was gorgeous, and it is the only place in the Great Smoky Mountains where you can stand behind the waterfall. It was breathtaking to watch the water as it cascaded into the pool beneath it. But, my favorite part was all the tiny little falls all the way down the river with boulders perfect for playing on. There were also salamanders everywhere! I was like a little kid again running around trying to find all their hiding spots.
I can’t believe how lucky we got and were able to enjoy Grotto Falls without the crowd. But after about 30 minutes, our luck ran out. Suddenly the peacefulness was gone, kids were splashing in the water, and people were climbing all over the rocks. Normally, this would have just added to the experience. But not in Covid times! We were out of there!
After hiking back to our car, we drove the rest of the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. And once again, it was as if we were the only ones on the road. It was beautiful and serene. We passed a few more cabins and buildings, narrow bridges with amazing views of the river lined with mossy rocks, and just enjoyed the peaceful drive back to Gatlinburg.
