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National Park Service Working To Improve Laurel Falls Trail Experience At Great Smoky Mountains

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By Compiled From N... - October 27th, 2023

The Laurel Falls Trail at Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be closed for at 18 months while crews work to improve the visitor experience/NPS file

The Laurel Falls Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the most popular in the park, and has had past problems with too many people wanting to experience the trail, not enough parking, and resource impacts. Now the National Park Service has settled on a plan to improve the visitor access there.

Under the approved proposal, the agency can:

  • Resurface and widen the trail. 
  • Build a new viewing platform. 
  • Install new signs at the trailhead and along the trail. 
  • Build a wider bridge at the upper falls. 
  • Expand and improve the available designated parking spaces. 
  • Include a shuttle service and timed-entry parking reservation system for the trailhead. 

The park intends to implement the plan and begin construction on improvements to the trail and trailhead starting in 2024. The Park Service expects the trail to be closed for at least 18 months. Parking tag revenue will fund some of the construction work near the trailhead and parking lots. The Park Service does not currently have a timeline for implementation of a timed-entry parking reservation system.  

In 2020, more than 375,000 visitors hiked the 1.3-mile trail, which leads to a scenic waterfall near the Gatlinburg entrance. 

A signed Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the project, the EA and other documents are available at this site.

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