Woman falls to her death from 60-foot cliff in Great Smoky Mountains, park says

A hiker plummeted to her death from a popular trail in Great Smoky Mountains National, the National Park Service reports.

It happened Saturday and the identity of the woman has not been released.

“Rangers responded to an incident in which a 65-year-old woman fell approximately 60 feet from a cliff on Alum Cave Trail,” the park said in a March 31 news release. “Attempts to resuscitate the individual were unsuccessful.”

The 4.6-mile Alum Cave Trail is among the most popular hikes in the park and the highlight “is a short climb through the narrow tunnel of Arch Rock,” the NPS says.

“Trail includes multiple sets of stairs, steep sections, and obstacles like rocks and roots,” park officials say.

Hikers who complete the trail will have made an elevation gain of around 3,000 feet, according to Gatlinburg.com.

Investigators did not reveal where the woman fell along the trail.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park covers the 522,427 acres along the North Carolina-Tennessee state line, and the Alum Cave Trail is on the Tennessee side, maps show.

The fatal fall happened just one day after two people were injured in the park when boulders crashed onto their car on Little River Road, park officials said. The injured were identified as Brad and Virginia Aytes and they “are expected to survive,” despite suffering serious injuries, according to digital creator Jonny Amusement.

The Alum Cave Trail is about a 190-mile drive west from uptown Charlotte.