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Great Smoky Mountains National Park

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:57:45 +0000

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited National Park in the United States. It is situated in both Tennessee and North Carolina. It encompasses the ridge line of the Great Smoky Mountains – a part of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The border between Tennessee and North Carolina runs northeast to southwest through the centerline of the park. The park is well known for its Black Bear population. The park has ample opportunities for hiking, camping, sightseeing, fishing, bicycling, horseback riding, wild water rafting, water tubing and motor touring. There is no entry fee to the park. The park also has a number of historical attractions, rivers and waterfalls.

The main park entrances are located along U.S. Highway 441 (Newfound Gap Road) at the towns of Gatlinburg in Tennessee and Cherokee in North Carolina.

Sugarlands Visitors Center, Gatlinburg
Oconaluftee Visitors Center, Cherokee

US 441 – Newfound Gap Road is a very scenic highway through the park with access to many trail heads and scenic overlooks. New Found Gap is the lowest gap in the mountains and is situated near the center of the park on the Tennessee/North Carolina state line, halfway between the border towns of Gatlinburg and Cherokee. On clear days, Newfound Gap offers the most spectacular scenes accessible via highway in the park.

The most popular attractions of the park include:

Cades Cove – Historic Buildings, Sightseeing, Trails, Camping, Picnicking
Roaring Fork
Catalochee
Elkmont
Mountain Farm Museum and Mingus Mill at Oconaluftee
Clingmans Dome – Highest point in the park offering spectacular views
Laurel Falls – Beautiful 80 foot waterfall
Newfound Gap

Fall Colors put up a spectacular show throughout the park during Oct and early November. At higher elevations, colors change during the first 2 weeks of October. Good places to view Fall Colors would be Clingmans Dome and New Found Gap. During the last week of October and first week of November, colors would have peaked at lower elevations. Cades Cove, Catalochee and Oconaluftee will be good choices.

Here are some photos taken during our trip on Oct 17th and 18th, 2009. On Oct 17th, it snowed at higher elevations of the park. It was a spectacular sight with beautiful fall colors and snow covered tree tops. We visited Oconaluftee, New Found Gap, Clingmans Dome, Meigs Falls and Cades Cove. NC 441 was very beautiful with fall colors at higher elevations.

Cades Cove (Great Smoky Mountains)

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:39:34 +0000

Cades Cove is one of the most visited attractions of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is a lush green valley surrounded by mountains and there are many historic buildings from 18th and 19th centuries. The valley is very scenic and wild life can be spotted, including black bear. The nearest town is Townsend in Tennessee.

You can drive along a 11-mile one-way loop road around the cove. Traffic will be heavy during the tourist seasons in summer and fall and on weekends year-round. It may take up to 4-6 hrs to complete the entire loop. You can park your car at designated areas and visit the historic buildings which include a grist mill, a variety of barns, three churches, and a marvelous collection of log homes. Peak Fall is generally between last week of October and first week of November.

Cades Cove Visitor Center is open daily. There are picnic areas along a beautiful stream and restrooms. A campground with 159 sites is open year round in Cades Cove. Numerous trails originate in the cove, including the five-mile roundtrip trail to Abrams Falls and the short Cades Cove Nature Trail.

We visited Cades Cove on Oct 18th, 2009 and it was wonderful. It had snowed on the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina & Tennessee the previous day. We could see mountain peaks covered in snow and beautiful fall colors beneath the snow covered peaks. It was a marvelous sight and we enjoyed every minute though it took us around 4 hours to complete the 11 mile loop.

Here are some photos from our trip to Cades Cove.

Oconaluftee (Great Smoky Mountains)

admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:15:52 +0000

Oconaluftee is located inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 2 miles north of Cherokee, North Carolina. It is a river valley in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. Formerly the site of a Cherokee village and Appalachian community, the valley’s bottom land is now home to the main entrance to the North Carolina section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

There is a Vistor Center, Mountain Farm Museum and Mingus Mill. The Mountain Farm Museum contains a fascinating collection of log structures gathered from throughout the Smoky Mountains and preserved on a single site. It includes a farmhouse, barn, smokehouse, apple house, corn cribs and others. The visitor center has restrooms and telephones. There is a bookstore and gift shop with a broad selection of guides, maps and other things.

Mingus Mill is located half-mile north of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. Built in 1886, this historic grist mill uses a water-powered turbine instead of a water wheel to power all of the machinery in the building. Located at its original site, Mingus Mill stands as a tribute to the test of time.

If you are traveling to Smoky Mountains from North Carolina, you can enter Smoky Mountains National Park from Cherokee and continue via scenic US 441 until Gatlinburg, Tennessee. US 441 is a very scenic drive through the middle of Smoky National Park with scenic overlooks and trails.

Two excellent walking trails start from the vicinity. The Oconaluftee River Trail follows its Oconaluftee stream for 1.5 miles to Cherokee. Mingus Creek Trail climbs past old farms to the Smokies high country. The easy, 1.5 mile Oconaluftee River Trail begins near the entrance to the museum. It is stroller-accessible and follows the river to Cherokee, N.C.

Here are some photos from our trip to Smoky Mountains on Oct 17th and Oct 18th, 2009.