We arrived at Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) prepared for beautiful nature and fall colors. We were NOT prepared for the crowds! All the other national parks we've visited this year have been relatively empty, with the exception of the Tetons and Yellowstone which had more visitors but did not seem overcrowded. By contrast GSMNP and the surrounding towns were PACKED like sardines. We're not sure why - perhaps GSMNP is closer to drive to for more people who just needed to get out of Dodge during COVID. We were also in town as the fall colors were starting to peak.
It started in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, where we were staying. Three weeks out, we just managed to snag the very last spot available at the KOA.
Each day, we had to drive through or around the town of Gatlinburg to get to the park.
Bumper-to-bumper traffic would typically begin about 1.5 miles from the park entrance - on the bypass!
For those of you who know the park, one day we decided to drive to the historic area of Cades Cove, and traffic came to a standstill on the internal park road more than six miles out from the Cove. We bailed on that plan and decided to visit other areas.
On our last day at the park, we decided to drive the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, an 8 mile winding loop on a one-way road. The views were beautiful, as long as you looked to the side and not in front of you:
OK, enough bitching! We did make it to some beautiful areas of the park and enjoyed our visit. On our first full day, we drove the main road that goes through GSMNP from Tennessee to North Carolina, and turned at the ridge line to drive to Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the park at 6,644 feet above sea level. The park service has built an observation tower with a sloping ramp. You get there by hiking about a half-mile and up 330 feet from the parking lot on a paved trail.
From Clingman's Dme, you can see those classic views of the Smokies with ridge lines fading into the distance.
As we drove down into North Carolina, there were a number of viewpoints where we could take in the fall colors.
We also enjoyed driving underneath the yellow tree canopies as the road followed a rushing stream.
The next day, after we decided to bail from Cades Cove we hiked the Middle Prong Trail, which rises alongside a stream with lots of cascades and small waterfalls. We hiked in a couple of miles and then back to our car.
There is nothing quite so soothing to the soul (especially in these COVID times) as the sound of a stream running through the forest (be sure your sound is turned up so you can hear the clips below).
Although we did see other people, the trail was relatively wide and uncrowded.
Later that day, we hiked up to see Laurel Falls.
It looks idyllic (and was quite lovely), but here's the context view (crowds):
On the hike back down to our car, we saw a young black bear feeding on some vegetation about 50 feet from us.
That hike was such a nice experience for us that we did a similar hike along the Little River the next day. Again, the trail was wide and smooth, so we nicknamed it Little River Turnpike (which is also the name of a major road near our home in Virginia).
We drove on the afore-mentioned Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, where we saw some beautiful autumn views and also some historic homes of people who lived in the area before the park was created.
After three full days exploring GSMNP, it was time to move on again, crossing the width of North Carolina to the ocean. More about that in our next blog post!
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