Adam Hay/Flickr Creative Commons
We spent a fair bit of time last week talking about some of the most remote drives and locations in the continental United States. Today I thought we’d try a little bit of the opposite and head through Great Smokey Mountains National Park. The park has on average 9,000,000 visitors a year making it the most visited National Park in the country! So sharpen up those elbows because it’s about to get crowded around here!
Great Smokey Mountains National Park is located in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, and is best accessed by coming into the park on Hwy 441 either through Gatlinburg, TN or Cherokee, NC. It was founded in 1934 but not officially opened until 1940. As you would expect it is home to spectacular scenic views, hiking, back country camping, sight-seeing, fishing (regular and fly), horseback riding, and bicycling. There are quite a few historic buildings scattered throughout the park as well, ranging from old pioneer cabins to a Baptist church, old school house, barns, and other outbuildings like smokehouses and corn cribs.
Numerous hiking trails criss-cross the park with campsites and even shelters available along the trails. If you feel like you might need to sleep in a shelter on your hike, check availability before you depart form home as these shelters only sleep 12-14 people a night and reservations may be required. Cades Cove is the most popular bicycling and self guided automobile tour area. The Park Service has preserved many of the historic buildings here and you can catch a glimpse of what that old school Appalachian lifestyle might have looked like back in the frontier days.
Another popular spot in the Park is Mount Le Conte which is in the Tennesse side of the park. Mount Le Conte is the highest peak in the Appalachian range at over 5300 feet in height from it’s base to it’s peak. The LeConte Lodge is near the peak and was opened in 1925…but you have to hike in as there is no road to the lodge!
And remember, before you hit the road swing by our website for any RV Parts and Accessories you may need!