Great Stone Door

Part of South Cumberland State Park. Parking lot for both Stone Door and Laurel Falls. Ranger station and flush toilets. Small gift shop with park/hike items. Trails are well maintained, pet and kid friendly. Laurel Falls is under a mile with some slope, steps, and rocks/roots. To the door is a mile trip there, first 0.3 mile paved to an overlook, then rock/root trail that dips to creek before raise out to rock outcropping. No railings or safety nets, to keep kids and pets close. Drop offs are cool to view, open gulf views. Fairly busy trail, with families and small groups. Easier side of moderate. Parking free. Some hike in primitive camps sites available.

Beautiful views and easy enough hike. There are some places with drop off, so be careful esp with kids.

This place is breathtaking & incredible. The vastness, stillness & beauty of it all is overwhelming! When I went it was about 86°F, sunny & the clouds were just ever so slowly rolling to the right. This is such a nice little escape from the metropolitan area(s) of TN.

About 2 miles round trip to the stone door and back. Beautiful outlooks!! I absolutely loved it. Toilets at the beginning of the trail and tiny gift shop. Watch out for snakes, this area has lots of them. Look under rocks and on the other side of logs.

South Cumberland State Park is a fantastic park. The Stone Door portion is just one of several, but it is a favorite of mine. The door itself is a crevice formed by the separation of the rock near the bluff that leads to one of the many hiking trails into the Savage Gulf. Rock stairs have been placed to make scrambling up and down easier.
That said, the highlight of this area is the bluff overlook itself. It is one of the best overlooks in the state. The view over the gulf is breathtaking, especially in the fall. I hesitate to rave about it as I like to have it to myself.
The hike to the Stone Door is an easy, mostly level 1 mile with an overlook deck at approximately .3 miles in, keep going, the bluff overlook is a hundred times better.

Best place to spend some time
With friends and family and hike short or long distances

My husband and I hiked to the Great Stone Door soon after we hiked the Greeter Falls trail. This one is also a beautiful spot. The trail is somewhat strenuous and has spots that can be dangerous if you're not careful. There are lots of cliffs and rocky crevices, so please watch your step. But it's lots of fun and exciting. The Stone Door itself is beautiful. It's steep and narrow, so be prepared to walk gingerly and if you walk down the steps it's a long way back up. So make sure your physically fit for it.

Very well maintained area. We even saw a precious couple doing their engagement photos. The overlooks in the fall are gorgeous. Not a super intense hike, the stone door stairs are steep so be careful.

Spectacular views as always. The Stone Door is a wonderful masterpiece either mother nature or nature American made. Can be slippery because of the dripping water. But it's so worth going down and coming back up.

Very easy trail. Gorgeous views. Dog friendly. There was a color blind viewer, which I can’t confirm how well it works because I’m not color blind, but it is a sweet gesture regardless. It gave a somewhat red hue when looking through for me.

Beautiful and unique area with two impressive overlooks and a waterfall. The Laurel Gorge overlook, the first of the two, can be reached by a paved, ADA accessible path, while a dirt path continues on to the Stone Door Overlook. The hike is under two miles out and back, and very easy. The Stone Door has several exposed cliffs and sink holes, so care should be taken, especially with children

This trail is a popular part of South Cumberland State Park. The Great Stone Door walk is partially paved and the rest is so well packed, it may as well be so am easy walk for the whole family.

Such a beautiful trail with amazing view. Hiking with group or couple would be a great experience. I'm not recommend hiking with kids under 5 tho. I mean you can do but it's not safe, just my opinion.

Scenic hike with dramatic views and overlooks. You can keep it simple with the 1 mile hike to the Stone Door or keep going down the wooden steps at the bottom of the Stone Door for more rugged hiking and rock outcroppings. Either way, it's well worth the hike.

We decided on a family picnic and hike 😁
This was almost 15 miles of hiking with 8 Adults and 6 kids ages 9 to 1 year old !!
It was a beautiful 😍 hike 🚶‍♂ a little difficult with kids. Some areas are really close to the edge and you really need to watch your feet . Its Definitely a place I would visit and explore more !!!

We went as you can see in one picture my oldest daughter was afraid.. idk what was up with this place but at night time it feels very different..

Unique place! Great hiking with plenty of views! Cool piece of history. Worth the visit!

Nice easy walk. The view is spectacular. And at laurel bluff lookout they have a viewing binocular so if you're color blind you can see the colors.

Amazing overlooks on a very nice, well maintained trail. Didn't have time to make it down the steps to the stone door, but it looked really cool from above.

So pretty!! Gorgeous views!!! Stairs were wet, broken, kind of narrow, but definitely worth the trip!!