Abrams Falls Trail Closes Weekdays Through Sept. 30 for Bridge Work

Abrams Falls Trail is closing four days a week through the end of September while Great Smoky Mountains National Park crews replace aging bridges and improve footing near the waterfall.

The closure began Monday, Aug. 24 and applies Mondays through Thursdays. The trail will remain open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, as well as Labor Day on Monday, Sept. 7. The park expects the project to be completed by Oct. 1.

Crews will replace four footlog bridges and their handrails along the route. They will also build stairs at a steep, slick rock section near Abrams Falls, where improved footing is intended to reduce hazards for hikers.

The bridge work requires rigging equipment, deliveries by the park’s animal packer team and the removal and placement of large footlogs. Closing the trail during those operations keeps visitors away from active work areas and suspended materials.

Abrams Falls is reached by a five-mile roundtrip hike from Cades Cove. The route passes through rhododendron, hemlock and pine-oak forest before reaching a 25-foot waterfall that drops over sandstone into a deep pool. Despite the waterfall’s modest height, the volume of water and the surrounding rock make it one of the park’s most visited waterfall destinations.

The National Park Service suggests West Prong Trail, Lynn Camp Prong Waterfall Loop and Deep Creek Waterfall Loop as alternatives on closure days. Visitors planning a Cades Cove trip should remember that access to the trailhead does not override the Monday-through-Thursday trail closure.

Friends of the Smokies is funding the project. The nonprofit is also supporting rehabilitation work on Bullhead and Deep Creek trails during 2026.