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Hiking to Grotto Falls in Gatlinburg, TN
About 2 weeks ago now I went on one of the best hikes I've ever been on and it was completely unplanned. I was in Gatlinburg, Tennessee with Kim when I started looking up things to do. We had just left a ranch on a group trip and I felt underwhelmed by what we found there. After doing some light research I found that hiking in the smoky mountains is apparently a big thing while visiting Gatlinburg.
Once I looked up hiking in Gatlinburg it became obvious that we should go on a trail that has a water fall on it. After looking at pictures online of a few possible waterfalls to go see it seemed like Grotto Falls had the best looking fall in my opinion. There was a gap between the water and the wall behind it. That just seemed to make the most sense to me for making cool content for my blog and social media.
Picture this, you're in the car with "bae" aka your significant other, when they turn to you and say, "Hey, lets go hike to this water fall." Now there are plenty of responses I could've gotten from Kim. Some could've been like, "F*** no" or "You are out of your mind", but instead she said, "Sure, lets go." And that ladies and gentlemen is why she's here in this story with me and not reading about it on my blog.
So we put Grotto Falls in the GPS and found ourselves weaving through the forest on a car trail that leads up to the parking area for the hike. Along the way we came across a mother bear and her triplets who stopped traffic with their casual walk across the trail. There was also a park ranger there telling us about the bear. Bears are definitely a story for another post. We saw a ton of them on this trip including waking up to them outside our window at the cabin.
After finally finding parking at we started our 1.6 mile hike up the mountain to Grotto Falls. I would be lying if I said it was slightly a challenge to walk up hill the entire way there. Miles start to feel longer than a mile when you're constantly going up hill. The views also start to become increasingly more beautiful the higher you go. You start to feel a sense of accomplishment headed your way the more you push yourself.
When you start to approach Grotto Falls the first thing you notice is the loud rushing noise of water racing through the valley right next to your trail. All of a sudden the sound of a finish lines begins to erase all sense of exhaustion like all you did was park your car and cross the street. When you finally see the water fall in the distance more than likely you start to increase your pace and start mapping out the pictures that you plan on taking first.
There is an obvious place to take pictures from to get Grotto Falls in the background when you first walk up. There is a rock that seems to be wide enough and flat enough to look like a small stage perfect for taking selfies. Not only did me and Kim take full advantage of this spot but we took time out to walk behind the falls and go all the way to the other side as we took tons of pictures and videos for social media and our on private collection.