Outer Reef

Great Smoky Mountains National Park 

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Saturday, October 10--Sunday, October 11

Road Trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Click on the link on the left to see our Smoky Mountains pictures.

When we planned this trip, we failed to consider three important factors: (1) Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most popular national park in the country. (2) October weekends are the busiest. (3) This was a three-day weekend. So, there was a lot of traffic, but that didn’t detract from the beauty of the place.

We took a longer, more scenic route to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, passing through Cherokee National Forest. The fall colors were breathtaking and some of the wide vistas looked like paintings with vivid hues, especially bright yellows, golds, and reds. The road was very curvy and we climbed higher than we expected. At one point, we entered North Carolina for a while.

We were very surprised to find rapids alongside the road with many brave souls riding them. White water rafting is a thriving business here.

Dozens of motorcycle groups of all ages were enjoying the scenery and we saw several ingenious entrepreneurs poised at curves in the road to take pictures of the riders. Big posters advertised websites where the pictures could be purchased. That was almost the only commercialism we saw.

Our modest motel room in Townsend was expensive, but we were glad we stayed there. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, where rooms were also outrageous, were very touristy. We got to the room in time to watch the University of Texas play (and beat) Colorado.

Sunday morning we drove the 11-mile Cades Cove loop, one of the park’s most popular places to visit. We saw deer, wild turkey, chipmunks, beaver, and two dead possums. We were disappointed not to see any black bear, which are common here. Cherokees hunted here and settlers lived here for a hundred years before the park was established. We visited their rough log cabins, churches and a mill. It was beautiful and very interesting.

We especially enjoyed the Mill Area Walking Tour.

We were disappointed to see that people had carved their initials and written their names on some of the historic homes.

After Cades Cove, we had a delicious lunch at The Alamo in Gatlinburg before driving up Newfound Gap road to Clingman’s Dome. We hiked the strenuous trail to the very top. Because the air was so thin, there were strategically placed benches along the way and we took advantage of them. It was a little disconcerting when we were passed by a middle-aged man hiking at an energetic pace while smoking a cigarette!

At 6,643 feet, Clingman’s Dome is the third-highest mountain east of the Mississippi. At the summit there is an observation tower. No photo can do justice to the panoramic view there.

Because of the leisurely Sunday traffic in the mountains, we were didn’t get to the boat until 9 o’clock, even though we took the speedier Interstate Highway 75 back to Chattanooga. We were really lucky because the rain stopped when we left Chattanooga Saturday morning and didn’t return until after we got back to the boat Sunday evening.

We traveled more than 500 miles! A great road trip!