Our Visit to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Yesterday, Chris and I visited our second National Park since hitting the road, The Great Smoky Mountains. It is the #1 most visited National Park in the U.S.  They estimated there were 10.7 million visitors in 2015. Just to compare the Grand Canyon which is the second most popular National Park only had 5.5 million visitors last year. 

We are currently staying in Pidgeon Forge, Tennessee which is less than a 30 minute drive to the park. We got up bright and early to avoid the crowds.

We came in through the Gatlinburg entrance and when we first arrived we stopped at the Sugarlands Visitor Center to load up on some maps. The maps were all .50 to a $1 but there was no charge to get into the park which is pretty cool.

Our first stop to admire the river on the way to Cades Cove

We decided to head to Cades Cove which is a valley surrounded by the beautiful mountains and it is the most popular destination in the park. It is about a 30 minute drive from the visitor center. It is an 11 mile one-way loop. You can normally see a variety of wildlife including black bears, deer, coyotes, etc. 

They have riding stables at Cades Cove and you can stop and visit the horses. 

Blue tailed skink 

Out of all the cool wildlife we saw....a turkey

Along the road there are many places to pull over and admire the mountainous views. There are also a lot of old log cabin houses and churches to get out and walk around. We enjoyed the John P. Gable Mill which was built in the 1800's and is still a working mill. They even sell the corn meal in the gift shop. 

Lovely view of the mountains

John Oliver House

Mountains and lots of wildflowers

John P. Gable Grist Mill

Our drive around the cove probably took about two hours. There wasn't much traffic when we first got to the park but it did continue to get more crowded through out the day.

After our visit to Cades Cove we headed over to the Elkmont area so we could hike the Little River Trail. 

Why did the deer cross the road? I've got nothing.

Elkmont is a ghost town and has 74 historic structures which you can walk around but you are not permitted to enter. Of course, once we got there it started raining but it didn't rain too long. Chris got a nice little nap in before we got out and hiked.

Haha Sorry Chris had to do it

Spence Cabin part of "Millionaire Row" in Elkmont- you can actually rent out the cabin

Beautiful view of the  river from the Spence Cabin patio

One of the run down old houses on the trail

We enjoyed our hike. It is an easy and peaceful hike down a paved trail with the river on the side. There were some people fishing and playing in the water. 

Little River trail- nice wide paved trail 

We had a lot more things we were planning to do but by this time we had to get back home to the dogs. It was a long day of driving and walking around and we were tired. 

We would definitely recommend visiting the park. We already picked out what we will do if we are able to come back this week. Plus, it is free to visit which is always nice.