This is Day 2 of our boys trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). Paul and our sons, Drew and Matt, have 3 days in the Smoky Mountains and we’re planning to do more hikes today. Our uncle Mike, aka Grunkle, is with us and we are planning to hike to Abrams Falls in the Cades Cove area. If you want to jump straight to Abrams Falls, click Abrams Falls Trail. Otherwise keep reading about our whole day.
Background
We haven’t done a boys trip in almost 5 years and President’s Day weekend sounds good. We used to do an annual boys camping trip in Florida, but we didn’t plan early enough this time. All of the campgrounds are pretty booked, but Drew said “what about the mountains?” We loved the last time we went there, so we looked for some availability at a timeshare in the area. Being offseason in winter, we had no problem finding availability. And the boys thought about their Uncle Mike from Chicago. He recently retired and has been asking us for over a year to do a hiking trip with him. So we called and he was immediately on board. And the timeshare resort is equal distance between Chicago and Florida. So we reserved our boys trip for the 4 of us!
Planning Abrams Falls and Cades Cove
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the U.S. It also has over 800 miles of hiking trails and is one of the top hiking destinations in the east. So, yesterday our first stop was to Sugarlands Visitor Center to talk to a park ranger. We got some good information from the park ranger Dexter, and have a good plan today. The weather will also be sunny and clear and a little warmer than yesterday. Plus it’s a Saturday on a holiday weekend, so we want to get an early start. For more information about the park, see Great Smoky Mountains National Park (nps.gov).
Abrams Falls, located off the Cades Cove loop, is twice as long as the Laurel Falls Trail we hiked yesterday. To read more about yesterday’s hike: click Snowy Laurel Falls Trail. Plus the 11-mile Cades Cove loop drive is slow, especially if wildlife is sighted. So, our plan is to get out early and stop at the Cades Cove picnic area for our trail breakfast. And after breakfast, we’ll drive to Abrams Falls. After the 3-4 hour hike, we’ll make a pit stop at the Cades Cove Visitor Center. Then we’ll finish the Cades Cove loop and see if we have time to do anything else.
Cades Cove Picnic Area
From our resort, we find an alternate route to Cades Cove through Wears Valley, which saves us about 20 minutes. At the start of the Cades Cove loop, we turn left into the picnic area around 9:30AM. We didn’t leave as early as we wanted, but there are 4 picnic tables available on our right. Mike grabs our breakfast essentials and lays it out on the first picnic table.
Mike thought it’d be a good idea to bring some trail meals for us to try. But before we eat, he makes us some coffee/hot cocoa to warm us up. He has a little stove that heats up water quickly and the warm drinks are perfect. The trail meals we have our some dehydrated biscuits and gravy and some scrambled eggs. You just mix hot water with these meals too, but you have to make sure you add the right amount. While Mike and Drew are making breakfast, Paul and Matt explore the creek behind us.
Besides the picnic tables, this area is located next to Abrams Creek that goes all the way to the falls. But here it’s a just a nice moving stream that we can walk beside. Matt sees a log in the creek and decides to walk on it balancing not to fall in. Once breakfast is ready, we head back to the picnic table to eat. The meals are pretty good and needed before our hike. They also have heated restroom facilities here with flush toilets for a nice pit stop before exploring further.
Starting the Cades Cove Loop
As soon as we turn onto the Cades Cove Loop we are between other cars. The speed limit here is 20 MPH but is slowed by cars in front of us. Not far along the road, we pass an open field on the left and the cars slow down to a halt. We see a few deer grazing in the field.
Seeing deer is always great to see, and we see even more deer along the way. In one field we see at least 8 deer and we estimate seeing 2 dozen before we have to turn. After we see the sign to Abrams Falls Trail, we turn onto a gravel road to the parking lot. It takes us 25 minutes to go 6 miles, but we enjoyed the views along the way.
Abrams Falls Trail
Though the parking lot is pretty full, we park right in front of the trailhead about 11:00AM. The Abrams Falls Trail is 2.5 miles to the falls or 5 miles roundtrip. It is estimated at 3-4 hours and as moderate, but we have plenty of snacks and water. Mike also lets the boys each have a hiking backpack and offers some trekking poles. And it’s starting to warm up, so we lose a layer while packing our stuff. For more information, see: Abrams Falls – Great Smoky Mountains National Park (nps.gov).
The trail starts at a nice bridge over the creek. Once you cross the bridge, the creek is on the left side of the trail most of the way. The trail itself is easily marked though the elevation goes up and down along the way. There are also multiple log bridges that cross smaller streams on the trail that make it fun. Paul blazes down the trail through large hemlock trees and green rhododendron bushes with no snow in sight.
After about 30 minutes we get to an open spot on the trail where we can access the creek. There are some large rocks here and we walk out to get some better views. Back on the trail, we stop after almost an hour to take a break and eat some snacks. About 15 minutes later we are at a high point of the trail overlooking a horseshoe bend in the creek. As we head back down, we eventually cross another log bridge heading back up toward another log bridge. But before this log bridge is a warning about drowning and on the other side is Abrams Falls.
Abrams Falls
To reach Abrams Falls, it took us an hour and 45 minutes, which is about right. It took us the same amount of time to do Laurel Falls yesterday, which is half the distance. But the payoff is worth it. Abrams Falls is only 20 feet high, but has the most volume of any waterfall in the park. You can’t miss the roar of the falls which empties into a large picturesque pool. It is here that many people have gotten hurt or drowned so extra caution is warranted.
There are a good number of people here, but we manage to get closer to the falls. You have to walk over some rocks. But you can walk all the way out to a large rock right next to the falls. There’s a family already out there, so we wait our turn for a few minutes. Once they leave, we are able to walk right out there and just hang out for a while.
From here you get amazing views up-close of the falls, but also of the deep pool it’s created. We relax and enjoy some rest and take in the peaceful scenery. Drew looks like a legendary hiker in his red ski bibs and black glacier glasses. He has a style of his own even when hiking. And of course, Matt finds a way to climb up the rock cliff to a perch right before the falls. We have this area to ourselves for a while before letting others enjoy it. We spend about 30 minutes here before taking the trek back.
Hiking Back and Completing the Loop
As we leave Abrams Falls, we appreciate the beauty one last time. When we start to head back, Matt jumps down to a side creek almost stepping in it. But we got a ways to get back. Though we went up and down on the way to the falls, on the way back the ups seem higher. And the downs seem lower which was starting to cause achy toes. It seems to take forever to get back to the parking lot, but we get back before 3:00PM. It took us less than 4 hours including the 30 minutes at the falls and other breaks.
Our feet our aching but we want to make one more stop before we leave. The next stop is the Cades Cove Visitor Center located in the Cable Mill historic area. This area has a collection of old buildings moved here. We walk through the Gregg-Cable House before walking past the grist mill owned by John Cable. Though it’s not operating now, it normally does April through October and you can buy ground cornmeal from here. You can buy it in the visitor center along with the usual fare.
After about a 20-minute stop, we return on the Cades Cove Loop. We see some deer in the distance but try to complete the loop quickly. By the time we finish the loop it’s 4:00PM, but we hope to also go to Look Rock Tower today. Read about our separate post: Look Rock Tower in Great Smoky Mountains NP.
Summary of Abrams Falls and Cades Cove
We headed to the Cades Cove Picnic Area for breakfast to have some camp meals and coffee. After breakfast, we started the Cades Cove loop seeing many deer along the way to the Abrams Falls turnoff. It took us almost 4 hours to leisurely hike to the falls and back, including spending about 30 minutes at the falls. We then headed to the Cades Cove Visitor Center in the Cable Mill historic area before finishing the loop.
Day 2 in the Great Smoky Mountains was another great day. Having a picnic breakfast was fun and in such a pretty area. We would recommend this stop to anyone just for the views and restrooms before starting the Cades Cove loop. Though we didn’t stop much on the loop we were happy to see so many deer. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of a black bear, but maybe next time. But, the highlight was hiking and spending time at Abrams Falls. The waterfall is incredible and it was a beautiful sunny day for a hike. It was also twice as long as our hike yesterday, and we could feel it. But, we had no problems and Grunkle is starting to get more ideas for our trail names. And we aren’t quite finished yet. We are headed to Look Rock Tower!