Little River Road - Elkmont - Tremont at Hiking In National Parks

Beginning at a fork with Newfound Gap Road and the national park headquarters at Sugarlands Visitor Center, Little River Road links the main park thoroughfare with Cades Cove, the most popular destination in the national park. The road also provides access to the Elkmont Campground (and the historic community that once thrived there), Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area, and the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont.

Laurel Falls Trail: Probably the most popular trail in the entire national park, the wildly popular 1.3 mile (2.1 kilometer) walk to Laurel Falls has been paved by the park service, as the heavy traffic was causing major erosion to the former traditional footpath. The trail does go on for a total length of 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) to the lookout tower at Cove Mountain, but this portion is mostly neglected by hikers, most of whom stop at the waterfall, one of the largest in the national park.

Gatlinburg Trail: Only two trails in the national park allow pets (on leashes) and bicycles, and this is one of them. Most hikers pick up the 2 mile (3.2 kilometer) Gatlinburg Trail from behind the Sugarlands Visitor Center and walk along the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River right into the city of Gatlinburg. In fact, since the trail ends at the foot of the city of Gatlinburg, a visitor staying in the resort community can walk out of his or her hotel room, onto the sidewalk, and into the national park and the Gatlinburg Trail without taking one-hundred steps.

Spruce Flats Falls Trail: This trail really has no name, is not marked, and, without knowing in advance where s/he is going, a hiker would not have any knowledge of the waterfall at the end of this trail. Because of its anonymity, Spruce Flats Falls is the most likely least visited waterfall of its size in the national park. The trail itself is only slightly longer than a mile in length and offers some views of nearby mountains before descending to the waterfall.