5 of the Best Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains With a View

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is densely forested — which means most of its trails don't produce open views until you earn them. These five hikes deliver panoramic mountain scenery as the payoff for the climb.

Alum Cave Trail

The Alum Cave Trail is the most versatile view hike in the park — it works as a short trip (2.3 miles to Alum Cave Bluffs at 4,400 feet) or a full-day summit hike (10.6 miles round trip to Mount LeConte at 6,593 feet). The Bluffs section gives you the first real open views: a dramatic overhang of hardened alum compounds above the treeline with sweeping sight lines into the valley below. From there, the trail continues to Mount LeConte's summit — one of three points in the Smokies above 6,000 feet — with 360-degree ridge views and a completely different perspective on the park than any valley-level trail can offer. The Arch Rock section of the lower trail is a geological curiosity — a tunnel of water-eroded stone that the trail passes directly through. A Park It Forward tag is required at the Alum Cave trailhead on Newfound Gap Road.

Chimney Tops Trail — and the current closure

Chimney Tops Trail is one of the most intensely scenic short hikes in the park — 3.5 miles round trip with 1,400 feet of elevation gain, creek crossings on Road Prong, stone stairs, and a relentless climb that rewards hikers with a powerful mountain view. There is an important note for current visitors: the final 0.25 miles of the original trail — the section that reached the actual Chimney Tops pinnacles — has been permanently closed since the November 2016 wildfire that destroyed the summit area and made it unsafe. The NPS constructed a new observation deck approximately 0.25 miles below the summit, which provides unobstructed views of Mount LeConte and the Chimney Tops themselves. The observation deck view is genuinely excellent; the hike to reach it is the full challenge of the original trail minus the scramble to the exposed pinnacles. Do not pass the gate at the closure — the area beyond remains unstable.

Kuwohi (Clingmans Dome)

At 6,643 feet, Kuwohi is the highest point in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the highest point on the Appalachian Trail — and the view from the observation tower is the most expansive in the park by elevation. A 360-degree panorama takes in seven states on a clear day, with the ridgelines of the Smokies spreading in every direction below the summit. The ascent is a paved 0.5-mile trail gaining 330 feet — steep but short, and accessible for a wide range of fitness levels. The observation tower itself is a concrete spiral ramp that lifts visitors above the surrounding fir and spruce forest to the open summit view. Kuwohi Road, which accesses the parking lot from Newfound Gap, closes from December through March. A Park It Forward tag is required.

Mount Cammerer Trail

Mount Cammerer is the least-visited destination on this list and arguably produces the most dramatic panoramic view in the park for the effort. The summit at 4,928 feet is topped by a restored stone fire lookout tower — a 1930s-era Civilian Conservation Corps structure that sits on an exposed rocky summit with unobstructed 360-degree views of the Tennessee and North Carolina ranges. The standard approach is via the Low Gap Trail from the Cosby Campground area: 11.2 miles round trip with 2,900 feet of elevation gain. A shorter but steeper approach (4.6 miles RT) connects from the Appalachian Trail at Low Gap. The summit is completely exposed — bring layers, as ridge weather can be significantly cooler and windier than the trailhead. The fire lookout tower is one of three remaining in the national park system and worth the hike for its own architectural interest.

Rainbow Falls Trail

Rainbow Falls Trail earns its place on a views list not for summit panoramas but for what the upper trail reveals: a climb through progressively more open forest that delivers one of the most dramatic waterfall framing views in the park at the 80-foot Rainbow Falls cascade — the highest single-drop waterfall in the Smokies. The views of the upper drainage and the ridge above the falls are a secondary reward, particularly in fall when the hardwood canopy turns above the cascade. The trail is 5.4 miles round trip from the Cherokee Orchard Parking Area and gains 1,500 feet — substantial but not brutal, making it one of the most accessible strenuous hikes in the Gatlinburg corridor. Rainbow Falls is also one of the most photogenic destinations in the park; the falls produce a visible rainbow in the mist when morning sunlight hits at the right angle, which is the origin of the name.

Frequently asked questions

Are the Chimney Tops still accessible?

The trail to Chimney Tops is open, but the final 0.25 miles — the section that reaches the actual pinnacles — is permanently closed due to wildfire damage from November 2016. The NPS constructed an observation deck below the summit that provides clear views of both Mount LeConte and the Chimney Tops. Do not go past the gate; the closed area remains structurally unsafe. The hike to the observation deck is still a full strenuous trail with 1,400 feet of elevation gain.

Which of these hikes is best for first-time visitors?

Kuwohi (Clingmans Dome) gives the most dramatic view for the least physical effort — a 0.5-mile paved trail to a 360-degree summit panorama. For visitors who want a longer hike with a view payoff, the Alum Cave Trail to the Bluffs (2.3 miles each way) is the best balance of challenge and scenery. Both require a Park It Forward parking tag and early arrival on peak weekends.