Tennessee trails · Rainbow Falls Trail
Rainbow Falls Trail
A 19.5-mile loop in Tennessee, with 3,813 ft of climbing. Reaches Rainbow Falls. Managed by the National Park Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the final third: 50% of the ascent falls between mile 14.9 and mile 22.3. It gives back about 7,608 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Rainbow Falls (waterfall)
Heads up
Getting there
Trillium Gap Trail access — parking nearby. 35.67595, -83.48730 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:38 a.m., the sun rises at 7:05 a.m. and sets at 8:02 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:29 p.m. (EDT) — 12 h 58 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 19.5-mile route takes roughly 9 h 08 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 4:13 p.m. — 3 h 50 min before sunset.
Across the border
- Continues into NC as Boulevard Trail — view on the map
Nearby trails
- Trillium Gap Trail — 1.4 mi
- Cove Mountain Trail — 2.9 mi
- Alum Cave Trail — 3.8 mi
- Brushy Mountain Trail — 5.1 mi