Great Smoky Mountais National Park

greyford1979

Well my fiance and I are going to be headed down to the Smokies on the 19th and were wondering if any of you that have been there could give us some ideas of the best areas to visit. We have a few things in mind, one being Clingman's Dome ofc. But some other ideas, such as maybe some falls or great hiking trails as we will be doing a lot of hiking in the day time. We will be spending a week there, so we will be able to do a nice amount of hiking. Although I know we would need way more time than that to see all of the Smokies lol. I'll post some pics when we get back home. And yes we will try to avoid the various poison plants, don't want any poison ivy on the ****$:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Thank you!:)

faster100

Rented a cabin there in dillsboro/sylva area year before last. Great smokey mountain railroad is pretty cool.. refurbed 1920's train go's through the mountains and the Nantahala Gorge , On the tenn side you can visit cades cove and see deer, black bears and such on a 7 mile loop through the wilderness..

you can also visit cherokee NC and shop the stores in the Indian reservation.

one of our favorite vacations we have taken. Id post some pics if i knew how anymore

george daniel

Hike up to Grotto Falls-- in G'burg--nice mototr nature trail on the way--about a mile or so hike--take a camera.

greyford1979

Thanks! The railroad idea does sound pretty cool, and she just saw the thing about shopping Cherokee...looks like that is definitely gonna be one of our stops:eek::p And we could probably do Grotto as well since we will be headed through Gat on the first day.

faster100

If your into the nature thing and mountains,as we are. Its great! we went in the winter so no bears around but cades cove had hundred or so deer throughout the drive. clingmans dome was closed because of weather. and on our way back from pigeon forge they closed the mountain entrance down and we had to take the very long way back to the cabin

cokewithvanilla

I live 30 minutes away, but I couldn't tell you where to go... it's tourist hell... I hope you got a hotel/cabin within walking distance- tons of traffic when you get within a few miles.

Have fun!

greyford1979

Yep we're both outdoorsy types and did the beach thing last year so decided to head for the mountains this time. For being a model, she sure does love to get some dirt under her fingernails and do a bit of rock climbing:p She really wants to see the sunset atop Clignman's, so hopefully we will get a nice clear evening for that.

faster100

cokewithvanilla wrote: »

I live 30 minutes away, but I couldn't tell you where to go... it's tourist hell... I hope you got a hotel/cabin within walking distance- tons of traffic when you get within a few miles.

Have fun!

We noticed this in gatlinburg, pigeon forge.. Not what we liked at all.. up in the mountains pure bliss

greyford1979

cokewithvanilla wrote: »

I live 30 minutes away, but I couldn't tell you where to go... it's tourist hell... I hope you got a hotel/cabin within walking distance- tons of traffic when you get within a few miles.

Have fun!

Yes we have a cabin. After we hit up some of the more well known spots though, we're gonna do some less touristy type things that are not visited by droves of families:D And thanks, We can't wait to get away, ofc once we hit the areas where we are alone lol.

EndersShadow

Just got back from there for my Honeymoon . We rented a cabin in Gatlinburg off Ski Mountain Road. Some suggested spots to eat are the Apple Barn (make it a point to eat there each time we go), the Smokey Mountain Trout House (fish are about as fresh as you can get), The River Road Pancake house (home made pancakes.....need I say more?), and Bubba Gump's Shrimp ('cause momma always saaiiddd....)

Some stuff we have done, or want to, are: Helicopter tour of Gatlinburg, indoor skydiving, a ATV tour, Zipline's, Horseback riding (we went at a place called the Deer Farm, was awesome)

Pigeon Forge has all your go-carts, laser tag, shows, chain restaurants, etc. There are two outlet malls w/ lots of shops (if thats your thing)

If you or your fiancee like knicknacks, there is this road that has like 300 little houses with different shops in them (I think its called the Artists trail) that I really want to do.

Some good trails that I like to hike are Chimney Tops (pretty hard hike but short), Grotto Falls (so easy my 80 yr old grandma did it last year), and Cades Cove is pretty cool as well.

Some good driving trails are the Motor Nature Trail and the Newfound Gap Trail (ends in Cherokee NC where there is a casino ). There are tons of good motorcyle trails as well as other driving trails. I highly suggest stopping at the Welcome center and picking up info on them.

There is much much more, but you gotta find out for yourself

greyford1979

Wow thanks for the info, and ofc the shopping thing again caught her eye lol. I will have to keep her focused lol:p Oh and congratulations!!!;)

EndersShadow

greyford1979 wrote: »

Wow thanks for the info, and ofc the shopping thing again caught her eye lol. I will have to keep her focused lol:p Oh and congratulations!!!;)

NP. The outlet malls are fun. I have never done the Belz Outlet, but the other one (Tanger) has tons of stores, including a some manly stores (Coleman, a Tool Outlet, and a couple others )

If I had to say one thing its to eat at local places. Ask locals where they go to eat for good food, cause hell I can eat O'Charleys, Texas Roadhouse and stuff here.....

If you like shows the Comedy Barn was fun when I went (been like 10 years though).

Trust me, if you drive down the strip you will see more to do than you will ever be able to. I suggest stopping at Wal-Mart (cause its not a town w/o one) in Sieverville and they have a entire wall w/ flyer's with stuff to do (if your rental office doesnt already )

Also I believe there are some places to rent a motorcycle if your interested. I would say that Obergatlinburg isnt worth spending too much money on, but the tram ride sure was fun (20 bucks for the two of us, but you can ride as many times up and down as you want in 2 days). They have a small zoo (barely worth calling it that) with some bears that were fun to watch, as well as otters. There are some other fun things up there, but not my cup of tea (fake bobsled trail, waterslides, etc)

EndersShadow

Ok, only one more post (for at least the next hour)....

You will want to check if Clingman's Dome is open (they had it closed to pave when we were there (August 22-August 28) as well as the Motor Nature Trail (also closed for paving)

There is a place called the "Trout House" (I think) that was something we are totally doing next time (provided you like fishing and fish). They have stocked ponds and you catch the fish and then the restaraunt will cook it up for you (how's that for fresh).

Also worth mentioning is that you are not that far from Asheville, NC. The Biltmore Estate is totally worth doing, but give yourself a full day to do it all (explore the grounds/picnic lunch, winery, and of course the super awesome HOUSE!). There are also some good restaraunts there, one for sure is the Taproot. They have like 40+ local beers on tap and make a nasty good slice of pizza.

BTW I know all this because I have been in G-burg about 15 times in the past 5 years, and one of my better freinds lives in Hendersonville, NC (burb of Asheville).

Honestly that whole area is awesome.....

and I almost forgot to plug Kilwins Ice Cream....it was soo good we drove down the mountains (@ 6pm but we didnt care) in our PJ's to get it. I totally looked like a gangster in my 3x Notre Dame sweatpants and small T-shirt (I am 6'1 and all of 140 lbs, hence the pants looking crazy)....We ate there 5 times in 7 days.... Recommend the Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.....

Man I am jonesing to go back there already....

shack

Please ignore the helicopter tours. Overpriced and a blight to the area. :mad:

Food:

A couple of the best restaurants have been mentioned. The Apple Barn and Old Mill Restaurant in Pigeon Forge are excellent. The Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg is THE BEST pancake house hands down. Other of my favorites in Gatlinburg are The Peddler Steakhouse, The Cherokee Grill and Calhoun's BBQ.

Attractions:

An attraction worth visiting is the Ripley’s Aquarium...not as good as the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga or the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta....but a very good attraction for the price. Takes a couple of hours...but it's worth it. A MUST SEE is the new Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge. It is the best thing to come to Pigeon Forge in my lifetime. Great artifacts, photos, memorabilia etc. Some very rare stuff. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! If you want to get a view of Gatlinburg, the tram ride to Ober Gatlinburg Ski Resort is a nice ride. Dollywood is not as hokey as it sounds and is really a pretty cool park if you like those sorts of things.

Shopping:

A couple of shops in Gatlinburg to visit are the Old Smokey Candy Kitchen and the Nantahala Outdoor Center. MOST of the shops in Gatlinburg and Pigeon are your typical tourist traps. I avoid the ones in Pigeon Forge like the plague. You can stroll down the main drag in Gatlinburg and take it all in within a couple of hours. Some of the shops are ok if you stay out of the t-shirt and junk shops and visit some of the more upscale or “unique” shops. If you are into heavy duty shopping there is the Tanger Outlet Mall at the entrance (north end) of Pigeon Forge. It is near the Titanic and The Apple Barn. It has all the normal outlet stores for things like Coach (the wife’s favorite), Fossil, Under Armor, Nike, Timberland, Adidas, Disney, etc, etc, etc (even a Bose store ).

Hiking – nature:

Near Gatlinburg is the Roaring Forks Motor Trail. You can stay in the car and it takes about an hour or there are several trails ranging from easy (Grotto Falls) to extremely hard (Mt LeConte via Bullhead) and several in between. The most popular trails on the main road (US 441/Newfound Gap Rd.) over the mountains is Chimney tops (one mile easy, one mile straight up). Another is Alum Cave which is very moderate…but the trail can take you all the way to Mt. LeConte if you choose (not an easy hike but the shortest route to Mt. LeConte). Of course Clingmans Dome is a must. Check the road report for Clingmans Dome as they are repaving now and I’m not sure when it will re-open, but hopefully by the time you go there. The Elkmont area has several easy (forest and streams mainly) hikes. Cades Cove is another must. The 11 mile loop can take an hour or three depending on the traffic. Take time to get out of the car and go to some of the old buildings like the John Oliver cabin and the Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery as well as some of the other historic structures. Most people never get off the main road...but the best stuff is not on the main road. Saturday and Wednesday mornings are only open to bicycles till 10:00 AM. It is a great way to see Cades Cove. The easiest and most popular hike is the Abrams Falls Trail. Five miles round trip. Again you can get as hard of a trail as you can do…like Rocky Top and Thunderhead.

One thing about these areas, you can see lots of deer, coyotes, turkey, birds, elk (in Cataloochee and Cherokee) and BEARS. Please follow the rule about how close you can get to these animals…especially the bears.

“Willfully approaching within 50 yards (150 feet), or any distance that disturbs or displaces bear or elk is prohibited." In addition, feeding, touching, teasing, frightening, or intentionally disturbing wildlife is prohibited.

A couple of bears have been put down this summer…not because of the bears (they were acting naturally)…but because of stupid tourists who tried to get too close and or feed them. The rangers are starting to get tough on violators.

I've also come across a couple of rattlesnakes and copperheads this year as well as some water snakes and black racers. It's doubtful even a rattlesnake bite will kill you...just be careful.

If you have any other questions just PM me. I've lived in the area for over 50 years, so I know it pretty well.

ratster

When you get tired of all the tourist crap and wanna take a lil ride check out the Cherohala Skyway.One of the best rides around.Be sure and check out Bald River Falls and Green Cove along the way.My favorite.

Ride the world famous Dragon (US 129)up to Fontana. Check out the village and the dam.Also,part of the Appalachian trail cuts through there for even more hiking pleasure.

Foothills parkway is a nice ride also.

Someone mentioned motorcycle rentals.If your interested the Honda dealer @ exit 407 rents them.I think the HD dealer in G-burg.does also.They also rent HD's @ Smokey Mtn HD in Maryville.Same dealer as G-burg.

Buy your gas in Sevierville.There is a Murphy Express next to the Chevy dealer and Dunkin doughnuts that is always .05 cheaper than everyone else.Once you hit Pigeon Forge it gets ridiculous.

Watch your speed in the construction zone they have been workin it pretty hard lately.

george daniel

Hey Shack-- thats the one!! "Roaring Forks Motor Nature Trail"-- hiked up tp Grotto Falls back in the 70's,, been going there every time I visit--still remember my first hike there,, hobbits,knomes,and a couple of wizzards inhabit the area.

Squidmon

I liked Roaring Forks and the hike to Rainbow Falls.

TNRabbit

If you like to hike, Mt LeConte is TOTALLY worth it. If you're not in good shape, I wouldn't try it. If you do, go early & leave time to explore & get back before dark.

As said, stay away from the bears! I once saw a couple of tools get out of their car & chase a mother bear with CUBS off into the woods to try to record them. That's a recipe for getting your ****$ handed to you by a angry momma bear!

TNRabbit

If you like to hike, Mt LeConte is TOTALLY worth it. If you're not in good shape, I wouldn't try it. If you do, go early & leave time to explore & get back before dark.

As said, stay away from the bears! I once saw a couple of tools get out of their car & chase a mother bear with CUBS off into the woods to try to record them. That's a recipe for getting your ****$ handed to you by a angry momma bear!

greyford1979

Thanks again for the replies!! Will definitely check out some of the places to eat some of you mentioned. Looks like we will do some shopping now as well, or should I say she will do some shopping:p Will be spending a lot of time hiking and winding down in the hot tub at the cabin in the evenings:cool::D No pics from the hot tub though, sorry:p I hope it's not a hot tub time machine:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: