From exploring the park to dining out to shopping, here are the things you can’t miss in the Smokies
The Smokies and surrounding regions are massive. You could spend decades exploring the region and still not see everything. I should know. I’ve been here more than 30 years and keep finding new surprises and places I haven’t yet explored.
But if you’re here for the first time or visiting on a limited basis and want to hit the absolute musts? It can be overwhelming with so much to do, see and experience.
That’s why we’re here to help with our top five things you can’t miss on your visit to the Smokies.
1. Drive one of the loops
The Great Smoky Mountain National Park has a pair of loop roads. Both take you deep into the mountains, past historic cabins and homesteads and offer stunning views of both the mountains and, potentially, wildlife.
Cades Cove
This is the more well known of the two and is the most visited spot in the park. It is located in a valley – or cove – up in mountains above Townsend. You will find spectacular views of rolling fields with a backdrop of the high mountains in the distance.
The Cove was first settled in 1820 and grew to a somewhat thriving community up into the early 1900s. People lived in the Cove much longer – even after the opening of the park. The NPS has returned the Cove to a more primitive state with log cabins, churches and homesteads that show what life was like in the earlier days. There are a variety of hikes that can be taken, including the trek to Abrams Falls. There are also the makings of an old village and mill that can be explored.
Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail
Less well known, but spectacular in its own right is the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. The road runs above Gatlinburg offers a couple of stunning views from high elevations. It also connects to several trailheads, including the one leading to Grotto Falls, the only waterfall in the park with a trail leading behind it where you can see the back side of water.
The trail also has several historic log cabins and homesteads. Running along the aptly named Roaring Fork – named for the sound it makes as the water tumbles down the mountainside at a stunning clip – it closes with the immaculate Place of a Thousand Drips. This series of tiny waterfalls and cascades– when the water is high – combine to form a stunning waterwork right at the exit of the Motor Nature Trail. Keep in mind, the Motor Nature Trail does close for the winter. So if you’re visiting in the off season and trying to choose between the two, the NPS may have already chosen for you.
2. Try the cinnamon bread at Dollywood
We don’t want to be basic of obvious. But after 40 years of growing success and top notch management, Dollywood is as much a part of the mountain experiences as pancakes and moonshine.
What was a kitschy, regional theme park back in 1986 when Dolly joined the team, it is now a top-tier amusement park. It offers an excellent combination of thrilling rides, quality shows and delicious food. In fact, Dollywood has been named America’s favorite theme park three years running. There are no signs of slowing as ambitious plans for new rides and expansion continue.
There are a lot of things we could have recommended for your visit to Dollywood. However, the one thing that nearly everyone agrees on is the cinnamon bread, a freshly made heavenly concoction of cinnamon and sugary goodness. You can eat it with icing, apple butter or soaking in the cinnamon – let’s say juice for lack of a better term – at the bottom of the pan, it is world renowned and wonderful. The British foodie YouTubers known as “Jolly” travel the world trying the best local foods. They were left nearly speechless at the quality of the Dollywood cinnamon bread.
3. Do something kitschy
The mountains became a popular tourist destination thanks to photographers and writers who visited the area. Before the opening of the National Park, they’d already painted a picture of the mountains and their people that have endured the test of time.
Mountain folk like the Walker Sisters – a group of unmarried sisters who lived on family land nears Wears Valley even after the park opened – became national sensations. But because writers like Horace Kephart built myths around certain kinds of mountain people, the national perception became somewhat skewed. Expectations were built around stereotypes that had some attachment to reality. However, they gave a less than full account of the people of the mountains.
But what did the locals do? They leaned into it and gave the people what they wanted. The early days of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg came with a certain amount of what we’ll call mountain kitsch. And while today you can find fairly sophisticated mountain activities, there’s a certain affection for the ways of the old.
How can you get in touch with the kitschy side of the mountains? There are plenty of gift shops that still trade in just these kinds of items. What would I suggest? It’s hard to go wrong with a good air-brushed T-shirt or some rock candy or maybe even clay moonshine jug emblazoned with a bold XXX.
4.Indulge in the mountain delicacies
In this instance I don’t mean high end mountain eateries like The Appalachian where they take classic mountain ingredients – and some less-than-classic ingredients – to create culinary art. I mean the four stanchions upon which the mountain culinary scene has been built – pancakes, barbecue, moonshine and candy.
There are dozens of worthy pancake houses in the region, but I recommend the originator, The Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg. Opened in 1960, the Pantry is said to be the first pancake house in Tennessee. It started a massive trend and today – with its faux European stylings – remains among the best.
Ultimately, it’s not a trip to the mountains if you don’t have some pancakes, some barbecue and pickup some homemade candy from one of the dozens of shops that specialize in mountain sweets. I would include moonshine in the “musts” list, but I am sensitive to the fact that alcohol isn’t for everyone. If you can indulge safely, then a sip of apple pie – especially the kind they sell in the stores – isn’t going to hurt anybody.
5. Set foot on the Appalachian Trail
There is something a little mystical to me about a foot path that travels thousands of miles from Georgia to Maine and up and down the Appalachian Mountains. Must of us either can’t or won’t be brave enough to tackle an overnight hike on the trail. But I firmly believe that everyone should set foot on it at least once, feel the surge of power in the possibility of being carried off on a grand adventure.
There are several good places where you can get to the trail fairly easily, two of my favorites are at the Newfound Gap – where you can also see the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial where FDR dedicated the park in 1940 – and Max Patch, a remote and beautiful Bald – a mountaintop pasture – in the high mountains in Cocke County near the Tennessee-North Carolina border. There are other places as well, such as the trail run up near Kuwohi. But any place you can walk, even a few feet on this massive, mystical trail is worth it.
What is your can’t miss in the mountains? Do you agree with our list? Let us know in the comments!