Just in time for Halloween, one of the Smokies’ favorite scenic drives has picked up a spooky new honor. The Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, the one-way loop that starts just outside downtown Gatlinburg, landed at No. 14 on Sixt Magazine’s 2026 list of the most haunted roads in the world, as The Tennessean reported on October 28.
Meet Lucy, the barefoot traveler
The ranking comes down to one local legend. As the story goes, a young woman named Lucy died when her family’s cabin burned in the early 1900s. Some time later, a man named Foster was riding through the woods on a cold winter night when he came across a barefoot young woman and offered her a ride home on his horse. He couldn’t stop thinking about her, and when he returned to ask her parents for her hand, they told him Lucy had already died.
People have been telling that story around Gatlinburg for generations, and some visitors still say they’ve glimpsed a barefoot figure along the road. Whether you believe it or not, it’s a fun tale to share on the drive.
For the curious, Sixt says it built its list by weighing Google and TikTok searches for each road paired with the words “ghost” or “haunted.” In other words, a lot of people have been looking Lucy up.
The real draw: a slow drive through old Smoky Mountain homeplaces
Ghosts aside, Roaring Fork is one of the prettiest drives in the park. The National Park Service describes it as a narrow, winding 5.5-mile loop past rushing streams, old-growth forest and preserved log cabins, a gristmill and other historic buildings. A few highlights:
- The Noah “Bud” Ogle farmstead, with a short self-guiding nature trail, just before the motor nature trail begins.
- The Rainbow Falls trailhead, also before the entrance. The hike to the falls is 5.4 miles round trip and moderately strenuous.
- The Trillium Gap trailhead about two miles in, which leads to Grotto Falls. Parking there is very limited.
- The Place of a Thousand Drips, a roadside waterfall near the end of the loop at stop #15. It’s at its best after a good rain, and you can see it from your car.
Pick up an auto-tour guide at a park visitor center if you’d like the story behind each numbered stop.
Know before you go
- The road is open through Sunday, November 29, and then closes for the winter, according to the park’s seasonal road schedule.
- To get there, turn at traffic light #8 in Gatlinburg and follow Historic Nature Trail Road to the park’s Cherokee Orchard entrance. The one-way motor nature trail starts on the right just past the Rainbow Falls trailhead.
- It’s steep and narrow. Motorhomes, buses, vans longer than 25 feet and vehicles towing trailers aren’t allowed.
- You need a parking tag to park longer than 15 minutes anywhere in the park, and you can’t buy one along this road. Daily tags are $5, weekly $15 and annual $40, sold online and at visitor centers.
- Parking at pullouts fills up fast, so come with a backup plan and keep all four wheels off the pavement when you stop.
Bears are the real thing to watch for right now
The park has closed Cherokee Orchard Road, the road that leads to Roaring Fork, to people on foot because of bear activity. Between the park boundary and the Ogle homesite, drivers and passengers need to stay inside their vehicles. You can use a designated pullout to watch wildlife only if it’s more than 50 yards from the nearest bear, and everyone stays in the car. The park also lists Trillium Gap Trail under its bear warnings, so if you hike to Grotto Falls, stay alert and keep your food packed away. Details are on the park’s closures and cautions page, and our Cherokee Orchard Road post has more.
One more timing tip: daylight saving time ends Sunday, November 1, so it will get dark about an hour earlier. Plan to finish the loop well before sunset, unless of course you’re hoping to meet Lucy. Check the park’s current conditions page before you head out, and enjoy the drive.