Great Smoky Mountains

My family went over spring break to the Sevierville area. We stayed in a nice cabin with wonderful views of the mountains in a very secluded hamlet. I went on two hikes. One was through a little river, and then we went into an almost tropical environment. We walked through some beautiful wildflowers and stopped at a picturesque waterfall at the end. The other hike we went on was the Alum Cave/Mt. LeConte Trail, and it was the most beautiful trail I have ever seen. The first mile you are traversing through a river, and then you go through an arch rock natural formation that is pretty cool. Then you start going up a little bit, and there is a beautiful corner that you can climb on and see the view below. Once you reach Alum Cave, you realize it is more of an overhang, but still really nice. Then, after that, you start heading up. The terrain gets steeper, and the trail is rocky. But it is no doubt amazing views. This is the part where it is just astonishing. You are so high up, and when it is cloudy, you are mesmerized. The last part of the hike is my favorite, and you go through a spectacular pine forest that just gobbles you up. At the top, there is a lodge with a staff and some cabins. The staff was nice and the accommodation was excellent. I couldn't recommend this hike enough, it is top tier and the …

I went here on a family trip a few years ago and although we had an amazing time and I give the WHS a solid 4 stars, that does come with some major reservations. One of them being a place that starts with G and ends in burg.

Yes, the infamous Gatlinburg and its partner in crime Pigeon Forge. Being from the West Coast, we had no idea what was in store for us. No clue that Gatlinburg IS the capital of American kitsch. We were just there to go hiking. So obviously we decided to stay in Gatlinburg, not knowing we were entering one of Dante's circles of hell. If you enjoy kitsch or are a foreigner who wants to experience something abnoxiously american just for kicks, then go on ahead. But if you value your sanity do not stay in Gatlinburg.

That being said the hiking here was astoundingly beautiful and sososo underrated! If you go hiking you leave the circles of hell behind and ascend to heaven! Ramsey Cascades and Mt. Leconte were my favorites. The forest at points reminded me of costa rica. Also, if you are a fan of plants and mushrooms you will have the best time. There were so many quirky mushrooms here! 

All in all, avoid Gatlinburg at all costs and you will have an amazing time. 

In June we went on a vacation to the Smokey Mountains. I had promised myself a real vacation this year which involves going somewhere that I had not been yet and did not involve visiting family. This vacation fit that request perfectly and we had a great time in this wonderful part of the country where I had not been to before. We walked in the woods including a short part of the Appalachian trail, threw rocks in the river, even tubed down it, hopped on a train and in general relaxed in the great cabin that we had found in Bryson City, North Carolina. The second day there was hiking day as we hiked to the top of the Smokey Mountains National Park. From there you had a great view of miles and miles of green forest all directions. 

This is a United States National Park at the border of Tennessee and North Carolina and covers the southern part of the Appalachian Mountains. It is driving distance from Knoxville and Atlanta and some other larger cities, and therefore one of the most visited national parks. It is a beautiful, forested area with tons of outdoors and hiking opportunities. The Appalachian Trail runs through this park and we were able to walk a short part of this.

Three generations of my family visited the Great Smoky Mountains at the beginning of June 2024, being in almost the four corners of the national park over four days out of our 10 day trip across Tennessee. This provided us the opportunity to take in the expanse of “scenic vistas of characteristic mist-shrouded mountains”, the “clear running streams” and the ancient and ecologically rich woodlands that see this site inscribed under four natural criteria. 

We flew into Knoxville, rented a car (is there any other option?), entered the park through the Townsend / Wear Valley direction before embarking on a 31 mile trip along the Foothills Parkway which closely matches the boundary of the park and racks up plenty of the aforementioned scenic vistas. One of them is Look Rock Tower which is actually an air pollution monitoring station needed due to extensive coal power plants in the Tennessee Valley. Since 2023, it is now required to have an official paid parking tag matched to a license plate number to park anywhere in the national park for longer than 15 minutes. Does this mean the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is still technically free? I suppose it’s OUV could still be appreciated in a series of small timeframes but it’s a hard argument to make. I picked my weekly tag up in a kiosk at Lock Rock Campground.

Next we drove what is advertised as America's number one motorcycle and sports car road with 318 curves over 11 …

I love the Great Smoky Mountains. The best time to visit is in June when you can view the synchronized fireflies. This is an unforgettable experience. Camping there is also a great experience. The mountains are beautiful with an abundance of local wildlife. You will often see elk, and an occassional bear. It is conveniently located near resort towns that are also fun to visit.

*Updated Late Fall 2022

I enjoyed a pleasant, less busy excursion to Cade's Cove on November 21st. Hiking to Abrams Falls was a highlight as I had the waterfall all to myself for a good 10 minutes before another hiker arrived. The temperatures were between 36 and 50 during my visit (2-10 C), there were icicles around much of the falls and river. During the first trip and this one, I was able to see a black bear. 

With some extra time I also visited a somewhat less frequented portion of the park, just past the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. Taking the dirt road for a few miles and crossing two small one car only bridges, you arrive to the Middle Prong Trail. While the whole trail is around 8 miles, I only went 2 miles or so, but the scenery was pretty and the river had plenty of photogenic cascades.

*Summer 2021

Great Smoky Mountains National Park deserves a minimum of two days. Gatlinburg is the hub for most visitors (beware weekends in the Summer). I visited the National Park on a Monday and Tuesday. As a general rule in popular National Parks we make sure to get on the trails early, rest in the middle of the day, and head back out to explore around 4pm until dark. Pleasant hikes to waterfalls (such as Laurel or Grotto Falls) are really for all hiking abilities and if you have the time, make sure …

Great Smoky Mountains National Park was the first World Heritage Site I visited, part of a family vacation when I was six. I have fond memories of the trip and the blue-grey mist over the mountains, but much time has passed since then, so I decided to revisit the park in the summer of 2016 while on a road trip to Atlanta, Georgia. The park is a wonderful encapsulation of Appalachian culture, with small settlements and mills scattered throughout the forest. There are many other similar state and national parks throughout the Appalachian Mountains, but Great Smoky Mountains (and likely its family-oriented gateway towns) retains a mythos that continues to draw vacationers from all over the East Coast of the United States. During my visit, I toured an old farmstead off the Roaring Fork loop road and hiked up to scenic Grotto Falls, an easy and beautiful trail. I later traversed the park via Newfound Gap, which offered memorable viewpoints of the surrounding mountains. I also drove up to Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the park, to take in the views from the observation tower. The Great Smokies are definitely worth a visit (be sure to allow time for hikes), and, if one has extra time, I'd also recommend visiting some of the other parks in the Appalachian Mountains.

Logistics: An automobile is necessary to travel to the many trailheads in the park, but from there the Great Smokies are a hiker's paradise.

Our family spent 4 nights in a cabin in Gatlinburg, which is the Tennessee entrance into the park. Because we had little children with us, it was nice having our cabin so close to the town center. We took in Newfound Gap, which has a beautiful overlook and the site of the World Heritage Site plaque. Also worthwhile was Cades Cove. We were fortunate that even though we were there during the first week of June, summer vacation had not yet started for school children so it was not as crowded as it can be later in the season. We were also excited to see bears in the woods as well as in the meadow. The highlight was watching a black bear play with her three cubs. It was especially wonderful to share this moment with our 3-year-old daughter!

I spent two days in the Smoky Mountains, a Monday and Tuesday in April, and was fortunate enough to avoid the notorious crowds. On the first day, I did the Cades Coves loop. This takes you through a secluded valley deep in the park, with bright green pastures and historical wooden buildings. It's also known for its wildlife, but I didn't encounter more than wild turkeys (huge!) and deer.

About halfway on the loop lies the start of a popular walking tour, the Abrams Falls Trail. It's a 5-mile walk. It takes you on a sometimes slippery path through the forest, ending at a waterfall. Not wildly spectacular, but a fine way to stretch your legs. I walked it in about 3 hours in total.

The second morning I took the Newfound Gap Road that leads right through the National Park, from Gatlinburg (Tennessee) to Cherokee (North Carolina). Along the road are a number of overlooks that give good views over the forests and the mountains. The latter indeed with the layers of "smoke" attached from which it takes its name.

In the evening I undertook the last attempt at spotting a bear (or other wildlife). I went back to Cades Cove, where I arrived at 7.15 pm. The setting sun gave the open fields a wonderful golden glare. There were more cars around than during the day, many of those belonging to photographers. But again no bears! Only deer.

The hosts of my B&B told …

The Smokies can be a joy or it can be a nightmare.

I've had both experiences in this park. I would not

recommend taking the Cades Cove driving loop tour

in the summer. The traffic is overwhelming and very slow.

I would recommend doing this on a weekday in the spring

or fall. The hiking in the Smokies is extraordinary.

I hiked the remote Cataloochee cove area on a Saturday

in July and didn't see a soul. It was marvelous.

I have also hiked to Alum Cave and Andrews Bald and enjoyed

these hikes very much. Clingmans Dome however is a bit

overrated. And I was so disappointed to see all the

acid rain destruction here.

The Great Smoky Mountains have been designated as “one of the world’s finest examples of temperate hardwood deciduous forest”. For those interested, they also apparently have “possibly the greatest variety of salamanders in the world” and are “a centre of endemism for N American molluscs”!! I am afraid we didn’t look for any examples of these “families” on either of our visits and, I suspect, neither have many of the people who visit the Park each year.

In reality the most amazing aspect of the “Smokies” is that it exists at all in such a relatively pristine state so close to the great cities of the eastern seaboard and southern states. It would be an interesting “trivia speculation” to consider which of the world’s UNESCO heritage sites receives the largest number of visitors (clearly this question can only apply to WHS with “entry rules” not to eg cities!). Apparently the Smokies has over 9 million pa – more than twice as many as the next most popular US park. And you will notice as you drive in/through on the relatively few roads! To pass through the “border towns” of Gatlinburg and Cherokee is to see what could have existed inside the park if there had been no restrictions on development. The nearby “Dollywood” theme park is billed as follows:-

“Unique as its namesake Dolly Parton, Dollywood is a one-of-a-kind Smoky Mountain Family Adventure! Spanning 125 acres and nestled in the lush foothills of the …