The Great Smoky Mountains is somewhat similar to Shenandoah in that it’s easy to experience by just driving through and stopping at all the roadside vista points. If you don’t have much time, it’s worth doing, but if you do have a couple of days I would recommend getting out of the car and hitting a trail. From the road I would have never guessed that the trails would be so lush with all kinds of vegetation and flowers, or that you could climb through a rock, play in mini waterfalls, and balance on log bridges just a short hike from the parking lot. It truly is like entering a different world. Continue Reading
TENNESSEE
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Outside of the park most of the lodging options were either concentrated in Gatlinburg or nearby Pigeon Forge (home of Dollywood, which was very very tempting to visit). I get why…
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At over 6,600 feet, Clingmans Dome is the highest point in Great Smoky Mountains, in Tennessee, and the 3rd highest point East of the Mississsippi. It is also the highest point…
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CABINS Great Smoky Mountains HIKING NATIONAL PARKS TENNESSEE
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS | Visual Guide to Alum Cave Trail
We took the same trail trail back down Mt. LeConte. Even though there were several trails we wanted to explore all of those ended up in a different parking lot and…
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CABINS Great Smoky Mountains HIKING NATIONAL PARKS TENNESSEE
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS | Mt. LeConte Summit – Sunset From Cliff Top
The wind blew pretty hard up at Cliff Top. Some ill-prepared people gave up early while others, like us and our cabin neighbors, waited it out. On their way back down…
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Tiny rugged cabins at the top of the mountain are the stuff dreams are made of. I'm not sure how I first heard about these cabins but I knew the…
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CABINS Great Smoky Mountains HIKING NATIONAL PARKS TENNESSEE
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS | Alum Cave Trail
At about the halfway point we stopped at Alum Cave, which was actually not a cave but still looked cave-y enough and provided welcome relief from the heat. As usual we…