Hiking to High Rocks & Bear Creek Falls - Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina

The tunnel. History. One of the loveliest waterfalls in the Smokies. The climb. The old fire tower foundation. The dilapidated cabin. And the view from the chair. The journey to High Rocks in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (North Carolina) isn't for everyone, but for those willing to make the 20-mile out-and-back hike, every single step is worth it. This is one that had been on my short list for some time; it was a matter of finding (or making) the opportunity to do it. I thought I had missed the peak colors of the fall season, but lucky me, it seems this area might have been slightly behind some of the other nearby sections of the mountains as I had a nice palette of this beautiful autumn goodness!

While there are other ways to get here, my journey is the most typical as it is the shortest and most direct route. Beginning at the end of the Road to Nowhere, just outside of Bryson City, North Carolina, the hike begins by walking up to and through the 1/4 mile-long tunnel. The middle gets quite dark without a light, but you can always see the daylight at the ends, which helps to guide your way. From here, I continued on the Lakeshore Trail for a bit - this was originally intended to somewhat be the path of the road that was being constructed before an environmental issue stopped that progress (be sure to research the full history of the Road to Nowhere). I eventually found myself on the Bear Creek Trail, where I spent the majority of the day's miles.

Bear Creek Falls - one of, if not the loveliest waterfall in all of the Great Smoky Mountains. Most visitors to the park do not even know of its existence. Those that do are likely waterfallers following Kevin Adams' waterfall guidebook or are trying to complete a waterfall challenge. This waterfall is not on most maps and there is no trail directly to it. (Off-trail hike at your own risk) I had the falls marked on my GPS with full intention of making the extra effort to see it. It was a steep off-trail descent to get down to it with a little bit of crawling through rhododendron. It was absolutely worth it! I don't know if it was the solitude, the effort it took, the setting with the fall leaves - likely all of the above - but I was blown away by this 30' waterfall! I spent several minutes just taking it in and then forcing myself to move on as I knew I had a lot of miles left in the day. The climb back out of there was slow, but thankfully the falls are only about a 1/4 mile off-trail.

Back on trail, I continued hiking up and up and up until I reached the stone stairs just before my turn-around point. There was certainly a sense of accomplishment when that chair came into sight. Then there was the view from said chair - breathtaking! Where did this chair come from? It came from the old attendant's cabin, just a few feet from where it sits now. High Rocks is a significant peak for the Smokies. At nearly 5,200', it has nice prominence among the surrounding mountains, hence why it was selected to hold one of the park's 10 original fire towers. The fire tower was removed in the 1990's, but the foundational pillars still remain. The fire tower attendant's cabin, or what's left of it, also remains. About half of the cabin has fallen in, but seeing it, you get the idea of what once was. I still find it amazing this structure wasn't fully razed considering the park's typical stance on such structures - it likely remains due to its remoteness and the difficulty and cost of removing it.

I took full advantage of the view back at the chair to refuel with a bit of lunch before making the trek back down the mountain. A long day - a good day.

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👣 Trail Stats
Trails Hiked: Lakeshore Trail, Forney Creek Trail, Bear Creek Trail, Cold Spring Gap Trail, High Rocks Trail
Total Distance Hiked: 20.3 mi
Total Elevation Gain: 4560'
Total Time: 6h 40m
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