Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a beautiful place to plan your next family vacation. If your preference is a camping trip, look no further for an outdoor adventure as this place has many campgrounds! If it's a backpacking trip you're interested in, this park has a number of backpacking trails that will keep you busy for many years. There's fly fishing, wildlife galore, beautiful scenery for outstanding outdoor pictures, history, whitewater rafting and tubing the rivers, and some of the friendliest people you'll ever meet. The surrounding area also offers plenty for a family, couple or individual to keep busy for many return visits to one of the most visited National Park areas in the country! It is no wonder it is one of my favorite parks.

I have been going to the Smokies for the past fifteen years and have never grown tired of seeing their awesome beauty. As someone who grew up in Wisconsin, a relatively flat state, the mountains have always fascinated me. We lived in Tennessee for 9 years where my love affair with the foothills of the Smokies and the mountains began.

The first trip we took to the Smokies was a group one with some people from my work. Someone had the idea of renting a chalet for a large group and we would all split the cost. We stayed in Pigeon Forge, TN for a weekend and took in all the attractions, (Dixie Stampede; I don't think they had Dollywood at that time) and our first introduction to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We bought sandwich supplies at a little shop in Gatlinburg that is no longer there and headed to Cades Cove. I don't remember it taking so long to get there, but it must have, since we went back last summer and it seemed to take forever to get there from Gatlinburg.

Cades Cove is one of the biggest attractions at the park. Mostly, I think because it is the best place to spot wildlife. There is an eleven mile one-way road where you can line up behind all the other wildlife seekers and inch along the road trying to catch a glimpse of a black bear. You will always see deer browsing in the fields around early morning or evening. We never saw much wildlife that time as it was the middle of the day, but we enjoyed a picnic lunch and watched the numerous bicycles pedaling along the road.

The last time we were there, my husband and I were getting footage for our website so we pulled off at one of the old homesteads that lie at intervals along the road. We too were hoping for a bear shot, but we were equally delighted to spot not one, but two Pileated woodpeckers along the forest path leading to the homestead. They were so cool looking! One of them was on a fallen log and had the appearance of a dashboard ornament as his/her head literally bobbed up and down as it worked. They were also much bigger then I expected!

We never got a glimpse of a bear, in spite of the fact that the park has a density of over two bears per square mile. However, we were rewarded with plenty of deer pics. Our video footage left a little to be desired as we didn't take the tripod on our hike with us and it was getting dark. It is next to impossible to remain still enough shooting off of your shoulder when you are trying to catch a shot of a moving image.

There is also a lot of history in that area with old homesteads and even a church. They stand bare, but ready for exploration. We enjoyed walking through some of these and marveling at how small they were and yet whole families once lived in them. Each building has an educational display telling what family had lived there or how the building was used. Clingmans Dome is another popular attraction. It is the highest peak in the park at 6,643' and well worth stopping at to hike up the mile or so paved path to the observatory tower. In the summer, there were so many people there that we almost didn't find a parking space. Not that it did us any good, because it down-poured the whole time we were there so we never got a chance to even get out of the car. When we went back in the fall we had better luck. No rain and less people. There were still a good number of people there of all ages, but the parking lot was less crowded. Now I won't lie to you, the climb is pretty steep, but if I made it seven weeks after back surgery, and my husband made it with two bad knees and a bad back, then almost anyone can! Once you get to the top and see the miles of mountains and tree tops, you will have your reward. Snow had fallen right before we got to the area and so the trees were snow covered and the mountain tops were sprinkled in white layers.

The Appalachian Trail runs along the ridge by the observatory. In fact, the Appalachian Trail runs for 70 miles along the park's top ridge. Countless backpackers and day hikers use this trail every year. Newfound Gap is another interesting viewpoint where the trail runs through. There are actually over 800 miles of trails here making it a hiker's paradise.

Wild azaleas that you'll come across along the paths, just add to the park's charm. There are plenty of other native and even rare plants to be found. The park is often referred to as the "Wildflower National Park" for the large assortment of wildflowers. You can also enjoy some massive trees in old growth cove hardwood forests where nearly 100 species of trees grow. Just remember that it is illegal to pick or remove any plants or artifacts from a national park.

The Newfound Gap Road leads through the mountains to bring you to the North Carolina side of the park. It offers panoramic views of the mountain layers and valleys that have made the Great Smoky Mountains famous. You will find mountains and valleys on one side of the road and rippling streams on the other. There are plenty of pull-offs where you can snap those photos that make great wall trophies.

If you enjoy waterfalls, then you are in luck. There are numerous waterfalls within the park, but only one can be seen from the road. So, get out those hiking boots! Grotto Falls is a great place to hike to off of the driving nature trail on the edge of Gatlinburg. It has the distinction that you can walk under it, and actually need to, to continue along the trail. It is gorgeous, although not huge, and the trail is through woods, so quite shaded for summer hiking. Another great spot on the North Carolina side is Juney Whank Falls. This also is not large, but it has a cool wooden plank that runs across the stream that you can walk on. The stream itself is rather long and tall, ending in a tiny streambed at the bottom of the path. After you've sweated to reach this waterfall, you can cool off by inner tubing the Deep Creek that flows along side the nearby campground. Don't have an inner tube? Not to worry as you will find plenty of helpful youths waiting to rent you one.

As you might suspect, I have just touched on a scant few of the natural attractions of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You can always check out our website-Adventure-Crew.com, for further great info on this park or multiple other parks and monuments. Or maybe I'll just write a sequel to this and let you in on some more great vacation options in this popular national park.

About the Author: Corie Marks works for Adventure-Crew.com, a website dedicated to outdoor adventure in the national parks, monuments and wilderness areas. Her job entails marketing, sales, writing for the website and doing field work with her husband Stu, who also works for Adventure-Crew as the art director. Corie Marks - http://www.adventure-crew.com

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