Southeast Waterfall & Hiking Guide

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This site is designed to be an easy to use website to help you find hiking trails to waterfalls on your travels. Use the search box, or menus at the top to quickly locate the area and type of waterfall you are looking for.

On the main menu, under Ease of Trail, you can find trails based upon the difficulty of the trails. For more information on how we rate these trails, please visit our article on Rating the Hiking Difficulty.

Please contribute by rating and commenting on the the waterfalls listed.

We will be constantly adding new waterfalls to the website, so if you don’t see what you are looking for, don’t worry, I’m sure it’s coming soon.

Recently Added Trails

Meadow Branch Cascades

Ease of Trail: Roadside Nearby Cities: Great Smoky Mountains National Park State: Tennessee

While on the way to Cades Cove we decided to check out the nearby waterfalls and the Wye on our way. Our third stop after visiting Cane Creek Twin Falls and Whiteoak Flats Branch Falls was Meadow Branch Cascades. This waterfall isn't the easiest to find, so I'd recommend you put it into your GPS to find it as it isn't easy to see from the road. Meadow Branch Cascades is located on the right side of the road a few … (more...)

Whiteoak Flats Branch Falls

Ease of Trail: Roadside Nearby Cities: Great Smoky Mountains National Park State: Tennessee

While on the way to Cades Cove we decided to check out the nearby waterfalls and the Wye on our way. Our second stop was Whiteoak Flats Branch Falls. After driving through the Townsend entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a short distance away you'll come to a fork in the road. Going toward the right takes you to Cades Cove and going to the left heads toward the other park entrance and Gaitlinburg. … (more...)

Cane Creek Twin Falls

Ease of Trail: Easy, Roadside Nearby Cities: Great Smoky Mountains National Park State: Tennessee

While on the way to Cades Cove we decided to check out the nearby waterfalls and the Wye on our way. Our first stop was Cane Creek Twin Falls. The Cane Creek Twin Falls are located across Little River about two and a half miles east of the Townsend Wye, just inside the Townsend entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This small set of waterfalls isn't the easiest to locate, so I'd recommend you enter it … (more...)

Machine Falls

Ease of Trail: Easy, Moderate Nearby Cities: Rutledge Falls State: Tennessee

Machine Falls is an impressive 60 foot waterfall located inside the Short Springs Natural Area, located between Tullahoma and Manchester. Short Springs National Area contains several waterfalls, which can all be accessed from the same starting trail. When we visited in October, we walked the entire area. While there are signs denoting the loops they can be confusing and cross the same spots in several places, making it … (more...)

Recently Added Trips

Wartburg Area Waterfall Day Trip

Here’s a family friendly waterfall day trip to at least five waterfalls. The best time of the year to do this day trip is in the spring to get the best water flow. Driving distance for the first four waterfalls of this day trip is 1 hour and 5 minutes, depending on traffic. When you add the last one, the driving distance is 2 hours and 15 minutes. While it adds a little over an hour to your trip, Little Egypt Falls is … (more...)

Tullahoma Family Friendly Waterfall Day Trip

Here's a short family waterfall day trip to at least four waterfalls. The best time of the year to do this day trip is in the Spring to get the best water flow. Driving distance for this day trip is 20-30 minutes, depending on traffic. All of these waterfalls have extremely limited parking, so I'd recommend visiting on a weekday. Click on “More options” inside the map to get a full list of directions and stops along … (more...)

South Central Tennessee 3-5 Day Trip

There are so many waterfalls in the south central part of Tennessee that it is hard to decide which ones to visit first. This 3-5 day trip allows you to see some of the largest and most popular ones in the area, as well as some smaller lesser known ones to give you some quiet time in nature. Many of these locations have multiple waterfalls that you can see in the same park, including Rock Island, Burgess, Fall Creek … (more...)

Erwin Area Waterfall Day Trip

This waterfall day trip clocks in at just under 1 hour drive time and includes 6 waterfalls ranging in length and difficulty. My youngest has been able to walk all these trails except one, which he wasn't with us for, however I'm pretty sure he could have done it with some assistance. Two of the trails do involve creek crossings. The first two trails are longer and the most difficult, however the drive to the two parking … (more...)

Area News

Closures Due to Hurricane Helene

We have noticed that social media and the internet in general has a lot of inaccurate and conflicting material on closures due to Hurricane Helene. Our data in this article comes from official sources. This article will be updated as repairs complete or reopenings occur. We have included links throughout the article, which is the fastest way to check and see if closures remain in place for the duration specified by … (more...)

Fall 2021 – The Leaves are Changin’

We're just starting into fall, and here in North East Tennessee, we're starting to see some of the leaves change. Of course, where they change, and how much they change depend upon a lot of different factors such as how far north you go, your elevation, and even things like rainfall over the past summer. The smokymountains.com website has put out their fall foliage map. The areas we cover on our website will be in peak … (more...)

Recent Hiking Experiences

Closures Due to Hurricane Helene

Your First Hike: What You Need to Know

Are you eager to explore the beautiful waterfalls in the Southeast US? That means there is a great chance you'll be going through the Appalachian Mountains. But what if you have little to no experience outdoors? Does the idea of hiking in the mountains scare you? Don’t worry. We’re here to guide you through everything you need to know before you hit the trails. Hiking is a fantastic way to connect with nature, get … (more...)

Easy North Carolina Waterfalls: Highland/Cashiers

Looking for easy waterfall hikes in North Carolina? Well, you've come to the right place! We'll be including easy, roadside and wheelchair accessible trails and even break them down into areas to make finding waterfalls in your area a piece of cake. There are many beautiful waterfalls in North Carolina, but the best areas are the Blue Ridge Parkway and surrounding areas, Brevard (also known as the land of waterfalls) … (more...)