We had such a great trip last year in our camper, so we planned another trip to a national park – the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We were in the Cades Cove camping ground for the first 4 days, then in a KOA in Townsend for 2 more days before we headed back towards home.
Traveling with our camper always takes longer than we expect, so a 7 hr 45 min trip in Google Maps really ends up being almost 11 hrs with stops for both lunch and dinner. But as soon as we arrived in the Cades Cove park campground, we put up our new hammock. Loved it!
Our campsite was really nice and private too! What a deal for 25 bucks a night, right? Well, it is a primitive campsite, but we were able to boondock for 4 nights just fine with our camper.
Day 1 hiking: 6.5 miles (3 hrs), 3.25 miles (1.5 hrs) Biking 4.7 miles
I was supposed to have planned out our first day of hiking, but frankly, I was just completely overwhelmed with the trail map I had bought! I ended up buying a few more and one of them pointed out the most popular trails to hike. We started with the Cucumber Gap trail, which was a loop hike. One of the most interesting parts of the hike was the abandoned “Daisy Town” at the trail head. It used to be vacation cabins and a private club back in the 1920’s.
This place would be pretty spooky at night!!
The hike was challenging going up the mountain, and a bit easier going down of course 🙂 Then we finally made it over to the “xxxx” part of the trail which was a peaceful hike along a rambling river. Ahhhh
After exploring the visitors center, we hiked over to Laurel Falls. I dipped my feet in the water when I got there. My feet were tired!!
We also got to enjoy an evening ride around part of Cades Cove. This place is so beautiful!
Day 2 hiking: 6.5 miles (3.75 hrs)
On our 2nd day, I went for a run through Cades Cove and saw some turkey. They proudly showed me their feathers.
We started out with a hearty breakfast and headed over to hike Grotto Falls. Much to our surprise, the trail to get there was closed for repair!! Doh. So we went to Rainbow Falls instead. The “second choice” was not bad at all. We got to see some pretty bridges along the way.
When we reached Rainbow Falls, we had lunch on the rocks. A beautiful place for lunch.
These hiking poles from Zion have been a lifesafer a few times now by stopping us from falling down!
Along the path we met this guy…. look at the size of him! He was a pretty gutsy snake, crossing the road right in front of us.
We finished off with a scenic drive on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.
Before heading back to our campsite we drove around the Cades Cove loop, in search of bears. Boy did we find them! There was a huge “bear jam” (car back up) which lasted a really long time.
Finally I decided to jump out of the car and see what was holding everyone up. There was a mama bear on one side of the road, and three little cubs on the other side of the road climbing up a tree. OMG, how adorable!!!
We watched them for a long time until finally people decided to get the traffic moving. By the time our truck caught back up to that area, the bears were gone. But we did luck out and see two more bears in another area of the loop.
Day 3 hiking: 1.4 miles (45 mins), 8.5 (5 hrs 25 mins)
Our 3rd day in the Smokies started out with a visit to Clingmans Dome. It was quite a foggy (smoky!) day, so we didn’t see much at all, but it was cool to walk through the fog.
The next stop was our big hike on the Appalachian trail. We started out at the Newfound Gap.
The first part of our hike a some serious uphill challenge!
The trail then leveled out and we had our lunch along the way.
We finally reached our destination: Charlies Bunion. Wow, what a view!!!
We talked to several hikers along the way who were accomplishing their goal of hiking the whole AT, but in sections. We learned quite a bit about the logistics involved in planning a multiday hike like that. It was very interesting! They also told us that their backpacks were considered light – around 30 lbs.
Day 4: biking 11 miles
On Saturday and Wednesday mornings, the Cades Cove loop is closed to cars and you can enjoy a stress free bike ride around. We stopped at the historic buildings and checked everything out. And yes, we saw bears!
The area has some pretty big hills, so it was a challenging ride up the hills, and a fast ride down the hills! I hit almost 26 mph on the biggest hill!
The rest of the day was spent packing up our camper and moving on to the next campground. We switched over to a KOA campground so we could enjoy some amenities (showers & electricity!). We cleaned up, and took a drive over to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinberg. The towns were a bit too crowded and commercial for my liking, but it was a good rest for my legs and feet.
Day 5: hiking 6.25 miles (3 hrs), hiking 4.5 miles (1.75 hrs)
Despite the sprinkling rain, we still had one more hike to do at the park. We hiked to Abrams Falls. It was a moderate hike and the falls were quite big.
The final hike in the Smoky Mountains was on the Schoolhouse Gap. It was an easy hike, but still rainy.
My best advice if you are visiting the Great Smoky Mountains is to stop by the visitors center as soon as you get to the park. They have several maps which will help you plan your visit. You can pick trails by points of interest like “waterfalls”, “great views” and also pick a difficulty level that you are comfortable with. Hiking takes a long time, so make sure you have water, snacks and comfortable shoes and clothes on! Warning: your shoes will get wet and stinky!!
Also, make sure you celebrate your accomplishments of hiking with a fire and some s’mores.
I really loved the Cades Cove area, and even though it was not centrally located to all of the other hikes in the park, it was a big plus to have the Cades Cove loop area easily accessible for biking and running in the morning.
Q: Have you been on any of these hikes at the Great Smoky National Park?
Q: What other national parks can you recommend to us?
Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado is a good place for hiking and Estes Park near the entrance to the park is home to the Stanley Hotel which was Stephen King’s inspiration for The Shining. Last year we ran a race in Jackson Hole and were able to hike in Grand Teton National Park but we didn’t have time for Yellowstone which is close by. This year we are going to Missoula for a race and then hike in Glacier National Park.