Alum Cave Trail to Mount LeConte Hiking Guide
Alum Cave is the shortest of the five trails to Mount LeConte and the one most people choose, because it packs the best scenery into the fewest miles. You follow a creek through old-growth forest, walk under a stone arch, climb to a huge overhanging bluff and then keep going through spruce and fir to one of the highest summits in the Smokies. Plenty of hikers stop partway, and that is a perfectly good day too.
Permit: No entrance fee, but any vehicle parked in Great Smoky Mountains National Park for more than 15 minutes must display a physical parking tag: $5 daily, $15 weekly or $40 annual. America the Beautiful passes are not accepted in its place. No permit or reservation is needed for a day hike.
Three Places to Turn Around
The park offers three versions of this hike. Arch Rock makes a 2.8-mile round trip and is the moderate option; past it the grade gets considerably steeper. Alum Cave Bluffs, 2.3 miles up, makes it 4.6 miles round trip. The full climb to Mount LeConte is listed by the park at 10 miles round trip, while AllTrails measures its route at 11.3 miles with about 3,074 feet of gain, so plan for the longer figure. AllTrails lists a separate bluffs-and-Peregrine-Peak route at 4.7 miles with about 1,184 feet of climbing.
Creek, Arch and Bluff
The trail starts around 3,834 feet and crosses two mountain streams on footbridges before following Alum Cave Creek and then Styx Branch through hemlock and yellow birch. Arch Rock is a black slate arch the trail climbs straight through. Above it, Inspiration Point is a rocky outcrop with views across to Little Duck Hawk Ridge. The bluffs themselves are not a cave at all but an 80-foot cliff that curls inward; it was mined for salts in the 1800s and again by the Confederate Army during the Civil War.
On to the Summit
Above the bluffs the forest turns to spruce and fir, and the trail is steep and rocky with stairs and bridges along the way. It meets the Rainbow Falls Trail near the top. LeConte's highest point is 6,593 feet, making it the tallest peak that sits entirely in Tennessee, and the best views are at the signed Cliff Top and Myrtle Point overlooks. LeConte Lodge sits near the summit. In 2026 the park is also repairing erosion on the upper sections of several trails around the summit, so you may pass trail crews near the top.
Parking and the Early Start
The trailhead is on Newfound Gap Road (US 441) between mile markers 10 and 11, about 6.8 miles south of Sugarlands Visitor Center. Its lot holds 69 cars, and NPS names it among the first places in the park to fill. Most trailheads, this one included, have no parking tag machine, so buy your tag online or at Sugarlands before you drive up; it costs $5 for a day. Authorized shuttle companies stop at Alum Cave if you would rather not gamble on a space. Pit toilets are at the parking area.
Weather Up High
LeConte is a different climate from Gatlinburg. The park notes that temperatures above 80 degrees are extremely rare on the summit, and the high country can run 10 to 20 degrees colder than the valleys. In cold weather the upper trail holds ice and icicles can fall from the bluffs, so the park recommends microspikes in winter. Leave the dog home; pets are banned on every trail in the park except two riverside trails.
Hiking tips for Alum Cave Trail to Mount LeConte
- Arrive before the lot fills or book a shuttle; there are only 69 spaces at the trailhead.
- Print or buy your parking tag before you leave town, since the trailhead has no machine.
- Turn around at Arch Rock if anyone in the group is new to mountain climbs.
- In cold months carry microspikes; the park warns of ice and falling icicles above the bluffs.
- Carry layers and rain gear; the summit can be 20 degrees colder than the parking lot.
Nearby trails to explore
- Chimney Tops Trail
- Charlies Bunion via the Appalachian Trail
- Rainbow Falls Trail (Great Smoky Mountains)
Hike this trail with TrailMates
Alum Cave is the LeConte climb most people want to do once. Use TrailMates to find hikers heading to Alum Cave in the Smokies. Download the TrailMates app to connect.