Great Smoky Mountains National Park · North Carolina, Tennessee

Welch Ridge Trail

6.6 mi of trail, end to end · about 1,000 ft of climbing · 4,467 ft–5,448 ft · native surface · trail class Developed

PeaksGaps

4,562 ft 4,880 ft · 3.9 mi high 4,941 ft

Along the way Mule Gap Water Oak Gap Bearwallow Bald

On the parks map

All 244 trails in Great Smoky Mountains National ParkFind a trailOn the parks mapPark on nps.gov

About this trail's facts

The lines are the National Park Service's public trails layer, the trailheads and the waterfalls, views, peaks and historic places along them the Service's public points of interest, read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end. The write-ups are the Service's own "things to do" text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the park's own site before you go.