Smoky Mountain National Park was our fifth destination on our East Coast road trip of baseball stadiums and national parks. We left Atlanta later on Wednesday morning and made our way to our Airbnb outside of Pigeon Forge.
As it was our third wedding anniversary we wanted to take it easy on our first day. We unpacked in our super cute Airbnb, got ourselves coffee from Smoky Mountain Espresso in Pigeon Forge and then had our anniversary dinner at the Old Mill Pottery Cafe which was super cute! Our waiter recognized immediately that we were from out of town and gave us lots of tips about the area. After our delicious southern dinner we had after dinner drinks and a tasting at Old Forge Distillery. Their liqueurs are so good!
The next day we had big hiking plans. As rain was predicted for the whole morning we decided to do some waterfall hikes! Hiking in the rain does keep crowds to a minimum and can make for some pretty cool pictures.
Cataract Falls
This trail leaves from the Smoky Mountain Visitor Center and is only 1.0 miles long with 29ft. of elevation gain. This trail is well trodden, follows a stream, goes under a pretty bridge and ends at the falls. We got here first thing in the morning and had the falls to ourselves.
Grotto Falls
Next we went to Grotto Falls. Grotto Falls are located on Roaring Fork trail which is a one way road with lots of stops for trails along the way. This is a pretty small parking area along the side of the road and even though we still arrived pretty early we got the last parking spot.
The trail is 2.6 miles out and back and has 544ft. of elevation gain.
It's a very pretty trail and cross a stream quite a few times before arriving at the falls.
The best part of the falls is you can walk behind them! These were some of my favorite falls I've seen because of this unique feature.
At this point it was raining pretty hard and it was cold so we drove the rest of the way down Roaring Fork admiring all of the trailheads and made out way back to the Visitor's Center so we could get our patch and sticker!
Clingman's Dome
After we went back to the Airbnb to get some dry clothes and lunch the sky started to clear up so we decided to go to Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the park. This is a little bit of a drive from the Pigeon Forge entrance but it's very pretty and has several overlooks for you to stop at.
Because of the natural fog that gives the Smokies their name, it is actually very difficult to get a clear view especially from Clingman's Dome. With the morning rain we knew the odds were against us. However, when we arrived to the parking area, we were so happy to see we had the most beautiful blue sky views.
From the parking area, it's a walk up a paved road to the top. You then climb this really neat spiral tower to the highest point. There were quite a few people here at this point so we didn't stay long but we did get a lot of great pictures.
After this it was time for some beer! We knew the number one brewery we wanted to go to in this area was YeeHaw Brewing, obviously because of the name. This was located in an area called "The Island" in Pigeon Forge. This has one large parking area where you can shuttle over to the main area but it's not a long walk. Yee Haw Brewing isn't located too far from the bridge into the island from the parking lot. This place wasn't super crowded and they were dog friendly!
After we had had enough of the crowds in the the Island we went back to the Mill area where we got some homemade ice cream before we want back to the Airbnb for the night.
Alum Cave Bluffs
The next day we planned our "big" hike. Initially we were going to hike to Alum Cave and then continue on to Mt. LeConte which is one of the most popular hikes in the park. After five previous days of hiking we decided to just hike to the Alum Cave.
The whole trail to Mt. LeConte is 11 miles with 3061 ft. of elevation gain. If you just hike to Alum Cave, the trail is pretty gradual and only about 4.4 miles round trip. The whole first part of the trail is pretty flat and follows a very pretty stream.
As soon as you start to gain a little bit of elevation, you'll reach Arch Rock which is this really cool little cave.
You'll start climbing a little more where you'll reach Inspiration Point which overlooks the mountains and soon after that you'll hit Alum Cave Bluffs!
This hike gets extremely crowded so start early if you want to do this.
Laurel Falls
We decided we weren't quite done hiking so we decided to go to Laurel Falls. This parking area was very full by the time we arrived so we parked in a pull off down the road. Laurel Falls is 2.4 miles with 396 ft. of elevation gain but it's a paved trail all the way to the falls. We wish we did this trail early in the morning because the trail was packed with people.
The falls are very cool and the paved trail leads to the bottom of the first cascade of the falls. There were people climbing down some rocks to the bottom of the falls on an unofficial trail without proper footwear. Without going into total lecture mode, DON'T DO THIS.
Gatlinburg Trail
Since our dogs weren't able to come with us on most of the trails in the park, we decided to take them on a walk on the only trail that allows dogs in this area, the Gatlinburg Trail.
We concluded our final day in the Smokies with a brewery and a distillery. Gatlinburg Brewing has a couple of locations, we went to the one in Sevierville thinking it would be less crowded and it was! Their beer was great!
Next door was Tennessee Legend Distillery. We did a tasting, the staff was so nice and they loved our dogs!
Initially we were going to cook back at the Airbnb, but as it was our last night in the South, we decided to get some southern bbq and eat on the cute patio at the Airbnb just soaking in the warm weather.
Time to start heading back north!
Tips:
Dogs are not allowed in most of the Smokies. We took our dogs on the only trail in our side of the park that allowed them.
The Smokies are free to visit! Because of this money saving, stop in the visitor center and make a donation
Note on Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. These are extremely touristy and not our taste and include dinner shows, kitschy "museums", amusement parks, etc. We avoided these areas as much as possible as our main focus was the park.
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