Rhododendron Trail Falls

The waterfalls on Rhododendron Trail are not the easiest to find. If you want to see them, pay careful attention to the directions below.  It is a 1.6 miles round trip, moderate hike to see the waterfalls.

From the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains Greenbrier Station, which is located at the junction of U.S. 321 and Greenbrier Road, turn into the Smoky Mountains National Park. The distance to the parking area is 1.7 miles from the entrance to the park.

There are lots of turnoffs, so check your mileage. You will pass the ranger station. You can purchase your parking pass here. After purchasing your parking pass return to the road and keep going to a stop sign. After the stop sign, you will cross a small bridge and your parking area will be immediately on the right. The unsigned trailhead begins here.

Parts of the trail are very narrow, so this trail not be the best to take with children. Also some of the paths leading down to the waterfalls are a little bit steep.

Follow the main trail until you dead-end into the stream and there is no other way to keep moving forward. Cross the stream and follow the instructions below. Please note that there are also several smaller unnamed waterfalls, while very scenic, are not listed below.

• Oldhamii Falls – 3-6  ft., 0.2 miles, Head up the stream where the easy path becomes more difficult after 0.2 miles due to a rock hop. This is just beyond the stream crossing.
• Rhodora Falls – 10-15 ft, Proceed about 100 yards beyond Oldhamii Falls to a very short spur trail to your left that quickly leads to the base of this fall. (0.3 from beginning of trail)
• Pinxter Falls – After 0.1 mile beyond Rhodora Falls  the main trail will begin to ascend. You will find another short spur to the left, this one taking you to the base of this fall.
• Mountain Laurel Falls – 7-12 ft, Go back to the main trail from Pinxter Falls, and continue heading upstream. This waterfall is just a short distance away. (0.4 from beginning of trail)
• Glenn Dale Falls – 10-15 ft, Just beyond Mountain Laurel Falls you will come to this fall. (0.6 from beginning of trail)
• Azalea Falls – 10-15 ft, After Glenn Dale Falls, the trail splits. Take the lower, streamside branch to your left. Soon thereafter you will reach this fall. (0.7 from beginning of trail.)
• Kurume Falls – 10-15 ft, Continue on the lower, streamside branch past Azalea Falls to see Kurume Falls. (0.7 from beginning of trail)
• Alpenrose Falls – 15-25 ft, Continue walking past Kurume Falls to this uppermost descent to the final waterfall. From here it is 0.8 miles back to the beginning of trailhead. Simply turn around and go back the way you came.

We were unable to photograph all of the waterfalls listed above as we were caught in an unexpected rainstorm. We returned in August 2024 and were unable to make it past Pinxter Falls due to over a half dozen downed trees that had fallen across the trail.