Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail

Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail is an outdoor activity in Gatlinburg, TN, part of the Gatlinburg & the Smokies guide. Cost: free.

Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail · Gatlinburg, TN

Why you should go…

This one-way, one-lane loop road climbs through old-growth forest past the Ephraim Bales and Alfred Reagan homesteads to Grotto Falls and Place of a Thousand Drips waterfall. It's narrower and slower than the park's main roads, which keeps traffic light even in peak season.

#scenic drive
#waterfalls
#historic cabins
#hiking

What's around here?

The closest stops to Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

Sightseeing
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Gatlinburg Space Needle
Under $25
A 407-foot observation tower with a glass elevator ride to a 360-degree viewing deck.
2.2 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing
Museums
Quirky Fun
Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditorium
Under $25
Ten rooms of oddities, shrunken heads, and optical illusions on the Gatlinburg strip.
2.2 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
Sightseeing
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Gatlinburg SkyBridge & SkyLift Park
$25–$50
A 680-foot pedestrian suspension bridge with a glass floor section above the treetops.
2.3 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing
Sport & Outdoor
Family Favorite
Anakeesta
$25–$50
A mountaintop adventure park reached by gondola, with treetop rope courses and zip lines.
2.4 mi awayMore like this
Sport & Outdoor
Family Favorite
Ober Mountain
$25–$50
An aerial tramway ride up to alpine coasters, a ropes course, and mountaintop views.
3.0 mi awayMore like this
Sport & Outdoor
Iconic
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Free
Drive, hike and camp among forested ridges, waterfalls and preserved mountain homesteads on the Tennessee and North Carolina line.
6.2 mi awayMore like this