Rainbow Falls trail in Smokies reopens

A ribbon-cutting event was held Wednesday to celebrate the rehabilitation of the Rainbow Falls trail in the Great Smoky Mountains.

After two years of projects, the trail reopened with 350 new steps through narrow corridors, 600 feet of elevated trail surfaces, 400 new drains to help prevent erosion and 1,000 new stones to more clearly mark the way. The rehabilitation efforts also removed about a mile of visitor-made side trails that could confuse hikers looking to stay on the path.

The Rainbow Falls trail features six miles of paths and its namesake waterfall, the highest single-drop

falls in the Smokies.

The work was done through the Trails Forever program. The program is a partnership between the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and the Friends of the Smokies, a nonprofit organization. The program provides a full-time crew that maintains trail quality and funds rehabilitation projects, such as the ones that closed Rainbow Falls for most of 2017 and 2018.

The program also accepts volunteers and interns to help maintain many of the trails in the park. The Rainbow Falls project attracted 44 youth interns and 162 volunteers.

“The craftsmanship exhibited by the park trail crew is extraordinary,” Deputy Superintendent Clay Jordan said in a news release. “They create durable, functional trail corridors that support the high-volume hiker use of the Smokies in a manner that also reflects and protects the natural landscape.”

The six-mile long trail is one of many leading to the Mount LeConte summit, a popular spot known for its stunning scenery. The trail also leads to Rainbow Falls, the tallest single-drop waterfall in the Smokies.