Posted by Todd Duren:

I had friends Dennis and Margaret Lloyd coming in from out of town, and we hiked to Rainbow Falls in the Smokies on Saturday afternoon along with my buddy Martin Klima.

We drove Alcoa Highway to Maryville, then followed the signs veering left to go to the Smokies via Townsend. The Little River was really high after all the rain we'd had, so we stopped at the "Y" above Townsend, and again at the Sinks on Little River Road on our winding way to Gatlinburg. The Devil's Elbow was full of water, with a sneak route to the left that's not there at normal levels. The sinks had so much water there were no dry rocks at the top, and the pool on river right was very turbulent.

After stopping to discover the Clingmans Dome Road was still closed, we decided on Rainbow Falls as a second choice, heading into Gatlinburg, home of fat butts and funnel cakes, to get to the trailhead. Turning left on Airport Road, we followed the signs to the parking area, which was full. We had a nice picnic there and started our climb.

The trail up Mt. Le Conte to Rainbow Falls is moderately rough, with mud and standing water in many areas. Luckily I had on my bulletproof Timberlands, so I slogged through it all with no problem. Dennis, Margaret, and Martin didn't have waterproof dogs, and had to pick their way more carefully.

The hike is 2.8 miles up, and don't get thrown off by the first 12-15' falls the trail crosses in front of. Martin and I did this the first time I hiked that trail, and missed seeing Rainbow Falls covered in ice. The trail switches back across a footlog, where you can follow the trail or climb the rocks up to just below the falls. The falls themselves are a spectacular sheet of water plunging off a sheer drop and thundering onto the rocks below. on windy days there's a mist that blows across the warm rocks beside the falls--a great place to enjoy the view. The name Rainbow Falls comes from a rainbows that is sometimes visible in the mist on sunny days.

The hike down was much quicker, of course, and we drove home through a relatively traffic-free Pigeon Forge.

--Todd Duren

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