The National Park Service maintains more than 800 miles of trails in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Whether you are a novice with little-to-no hiking experience, or a 900-miler on the Appalachian Trail, the Smoky Mountains has a trail for you. Our list of Popular Day Hikes helps you decide which trails suit you.

Popular Day Hikes: Trail Icons Defined

How do you know which trails are suitable for your level of experience and athleticism? Which trails have the features you want? We created a series of icons to identify specific qualities and features and assigned them to the trails.

For example, are you looking for easy day hikes? Look for the “easy” icon. Are you looking for a day hikes with waterfalls? There is an icon for that, too. You get the idea. Each trail on our list of Popular Day Hikes has icons describing the trail’s features.

Difficulty Grade

The brown icons with an “e”, “m”, or “s”, describe the difficulty level of the trail: easy, moderate, or strenuous. Hiking guides differ on how they grade a trail, so we use the most common grade on our day hikes. In addition, if we have hiked the trail personally, we use our own experiences to grade it.

Trail Types

The trail types in Popular Day Hikes fall under four categories: Lollipop, Loop, Point to Point, and Out & Back. The descriptions are fairly obvious. The only one that possibly needs an explanation is the point to point. The difference between an out-and-back and a point-to-point, is that hikers can start at either end of a point to point trail.

Water Features

Many of the Popular Day Hikes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park have water features. No, not like the ones built by your landscaper; God made these, and they are magnificent. The three images highlight from left to right, “waterfalls,” “cascading water,” and “rivers, creeks, and streams.”

Trail Highlights

The four red icons designate day hikes with “great fall foliage,” an “abundance of wildflowers,” “building(s) of historical significance,” and “scenic views.”

Horses, Bikes, and Dogs

Keep in mind that horses, bikes, and dogs are forbidden on nearly all the trails located inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park. However, there are a few trails that welcome one, or all, of these. When you see these icons, you know that your dog, horse or bike is allowed on the trail.

Foot Traffic Levels

The foot traffic on the Popular Day Hikes varies greatly. Trails with our “single-hiker” icon are isolated, and if you want to be alone on a trail, you should head for these. Our “two-hikers” icon indicates that the trail is not crowded, but you should expect to see other hikers on the trail. Heavily used trails are designated by our “three-hikers” icon. More than a thousand people a day use the most popular trails. If you want to hike with the masses, these trails are for you.