Home > Tennessee > Tennessee - Carter County > Laurel Fork Trail

Laurel Fork Trail

Laurel Falls

One of the more popular local hiking trails runs through an Appalachian gorge carved out by the swift waters of Laurel Fork. Laurel Fork empties into the Doe River in Hampton. The Doe River has carved out multiple gorges on its journey from Roan Mountain to the Watauga River in Elizabethton.

The trail runs from Hampton, then merges with the Appalachian Trail which continues on through Dennis Cove. Laurel Falls is a large waterfall along the trail. The Appalachian Trail runs most of the length of this hike and forks off to Watauga Lake between the falls and the Hampton trailhead. There are gravel parking lots at the Hampton trailhead and in Dennis Cove, but they are often full at peak times. Parts of the trail run on an old narrow gauge railroad bed. Most of the Dennis Cove trail end runs on the old railway and passes through many excavated cuts in the rock. The falls are closer to the Dennis Cove end but requires a descent down a rock staircase to reach the lower trail. In some places there are two parallel trails, the high water trail and the lower trail. The lower trail ascends and descends a couple ridges between Hampton and the waterfall, so it does leave the stream bank in places. If you run into a sheer cliff wall while nearing the falls from the Hampton end, you might have missed the fork upward.

The Laurel Fork trail shelter is located on the high water trail downstream from the falls. Allow over an hour of moderate walking time to reach Laurel Falls from Hampton, less time from the Dennis Cove trailhead. Power walkers can reach the falls in under an hour, but there is a lot to see. Sometimes the journey is as important as the destination and we take our time to observe nature along the way.