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Great Smoky Mountains National Park - The Most Visited
- Kayla Marker
- Apr 26, 2022
- 6 min read
Gosh, where to begin on the Smokies. Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GSMNP) has a special place in mine and Dakota’s hearts. This was our first experience with a national park back in July of 2018, when we went to celebrate Dakota’s 21st birthday. It’s one of those things that is hard to explain with words. The Smokies are just… the Smokies. It is a magnificent park, boosting with wildlife, and great mountain views every twist and turn you take. It is a place I wish to consider home someday, maybe in my retirement. It is just so peaceful. There are so many superlatives that could be given to the Smokies, too, however I think this one says it all. The Smokies are the most visited national park, at a whopping 14.1 million visitors annually (this is an increase from past years), compared to the next most visited, Yellowstone at 4.8 million visitors. There is just no comparison! I think this goes to show many of us agree that the Smokies are like no other.
The Smokies are located on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina and were established in 1934. There were interactions in the Smokies dating all the way back to 1540 when Hernando De Soto was exploring the southern Appalachian Mountains. This led to his discovery of the Cherokee Indians who had lived in this region for centuries before. GSMNP has a beautifully laid out timeline on their website that describes the events after this discovery.
There is no entry fee to get into GSMNP. Actually, there is a reason for this, other than the graciousness of the park, that I just discovered recently. In 1951, the state of Tennessee transferred Newfound Gap Road, otherwise known as Highway 441, a main road in the Smokies, along with Little River Road to the park. In this transfer, was a restriction outlined by the state that prevented tolls on these roads, most likely due to Tennessee wanting to ensure free access to interstate travel. Years later, a federal law was passed that prohibited the National Park Service from charging entrance fees where tolls are prohibited on primary park roads, which would include Highway 441 and Little River Road. So, because of all this, is why the Smokies do not have an entrance fee.
The Smokies are known for the famous ‘smoke’ which is really fog that surrounds the tree lines of the mountainous region. This phenomenon is due to the native vegetation. The plants soak up all the water, release it through their leaves, and thus become the blue ‘smoke’ (really fog) that the park is known for. The Native Cherokee Indians called the mountains ‘Shaconage’ meaning a place of blue smoke. The Smokies are also the most biodiverse national park. There are over 19,000 species in the park, and scientists believe there are 80,000-100,000 more undiscovered species living in the park.
We’ve been to the Smokies a few different times, so we’ll be able to tell you our favorites of the park. Number one would definitely have to be Cades Cove. Cades Cove is a 11-mile one way loop that tours through where native Cherokee hunted, and where European settlers lived in the 1800s. It is a prime spot for wildlife. Such as BEARS! I love bears, okay. I think they are so cute, and if I’m ever reincarnated, I want to be one. Sleep half of the time, eat a bunch of berries and walk around looking for food - sign me up! I’m not one of the people that want to hug them though, don’t worry. Of the times we have been to Cades Cove, (roughly 5 or so), we have only seen black bears on one occasion (I believe we saw three that day). I’m being serious when I say I cried! The first few times we went we left discouraged because we didn’t see any, so that day is one I will always remember.
Now, with good, there is always some bad. That day we had just entered Cades Cove. There was a bunch of ruckus, cars were stopped, and people were walking erratically. Come to find out, there was a bear walking up the hillside - so cute! But there was this woman, who insisted on getting her picture for Instagram, and was walking up the hill, closer to the bear. I mean seriously? So now’s the time I’m going to get on my typical tangent. We are in their home! We are not in Disney, or in some amusement park. This is where they live. Just leave them the heck alone! GSMNP has a rule that you should be 50 yards away from wildlife. You should be far away enough where you do not disrupt their normal pattern. If they stop to look at you, you are too close. If you can hold your thumb up and completely cover the animal, you’re good!
Anyways, Cades Cove has great mountain views, along with various pullouts where you can set up a camp chair and hang out for a while, along with a visitor center halfway through the loop, and some hiking trails. Cades Cove is open from dusk to dawn every day. It is also open to pedestrians and bicyclists. However, every Wednesday from May 4th to September 28th, 2022, the road is closed to vehicles to allow pedestrians and bicyclists to have full access to the road.
Our next favorite part of the Smokies is Clingmans Dome. Clingmans Dome is the highest point in the park at 6,643 feet and is also the highest point in Tennessee. This observation tower allows for a full 360-degree view of the park, up to 100 miles, however oftentimes air pollution limits this view to only 20 miles. Due to the elevation, Clingmans Dome is oftentimes 10-20 degrees cooler than other parts of the park, and the road is only open seasonally from April to December (unless Mother Nature says otherwise). Now, the walk to the top of the Dome is a tough one! It is paved; however, it is extremely steep, and therefore not wheelchair accessible. There is also a visitors center at this part of the park.
The day we went to Clingmans Dome we drove along parts of US-441 until we reached the North Carolina border. That’s all that our time allowed. However, there were lots of beautiful pull-offs to enjoy.
More recently, we visited the park in late December 2021 to early January 2022. We rang in the New Year in downtown Gatlinburg (the gateway town to the Smokies), watching fireworks and the ball drop. During this trip we hiked to Laurel Falls. It was a moderate hike, with great views of the falls.
During this visit, we also toured Elkmont. I can’t believe we had never visited this part of the park before! It was so different from what you would expect to see in the Smokies. Elkmont is an old ghost town (when you hear this, you typically think of the wild west), that was inhabited by homesteaders, hunters, squatters, and small-scale loggers back in the 1800s. They established cabins and barns, making it the Little River community. There is a lot of history that comes from this part of the park, and now you can even enter some of the old cabins. We were surprised at how big they were at the time. Back in the day, it was popular to take a day trip from Knoxville on a train to visit Elkmont to picnic for the day (it was only $1.95 each way!). A frequent lodger of Elkmont, David Chapman, was a big voice in making the Smokies a national park. Eventually, he succeeded, and the park had to purchase 1,100 residential properties, some in Elkmont, that were either bought outright, or were given lifetime or 2-year leases. If you haven’t been, I would definitely recommend checking it out. It is Dakota’s favorite spot in GSMNP!
We recently booked a 3-night stay at Elkmont campground in October. Ever since seeing the Smokies, it has been our dream to visit them in the fall. We are finally getting our chance and we are so excited. Although we can’t talk much about them now, here are our plans for this fall and what you can expect to read about in the future:
● Elkmont Campground
● US-441 past the North Carolina border
● Roaring Fork Motor Trail
● Alum Cave Bluffs
● Oconaluftee
● And probably more!
Thank you for reading, and if you can’t find us at home, you can find us in the parks!
With safe travels and love,
Dakota & Kayla
All information presented in this blog has been taken directly from the National Park’s website. All opinions are my own and I do not receive any payment for them. This information and more can be found in the link below.
www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm
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