Want to explore Gatlinburg the way the locals do? Here are three suggestions
When I was young, my wife Leslie and I were lucky enough to go to France and England a couple of times. We’d go in late March and early April and hope to catch an unseasonably warm week. We were lucky more than we weren’t. But warm or cold, I loved walking the cobblestone streets approaching Notre Dame, walking in the footsteps of Jack the Ripper and doing all the touristy things I’d grown up reading about.
But I also loved the little things that made me feel like I belonged. For instance, I was thrilled to go into the French bakeries to get a loaf of bread and explore the local stores and markets. People didn’t automatically know I was an American until I opened my mouth. And so, when people ask me how to visit Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and the mountains as a local does, I understand. It’s harder here than in other places of the world. So much of what built Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg is tourism. It is part of the bedrock here. And, speaking for the locals, we like all the tourist stuff, too. So you want to explore Gatlinburg the way locals do? Here are my top suggestions:
1. Chase the history
About 150 yards behind Fannie Farkles and the Ole Smoky Distillery’s Barrelhouse, you can find the history of Gatlinburg on stark display. Welcome to White Oaks Flats Cemetery. Now, I’m not here to tell you that the locals flock to the cemetery right next to the Village Shoppes parking lot. But, if you want to find some locals, that’s where they are.
Gatlinburg began – at least for European settlers – at the end of the 18th and in the early 19th century. William Ogle, a South Carolinian, decided to move his family up into the mountains. He picked the spot and began the work of building a cabin. He returned to South Carolina to get his family, bring in another crop and get supplies. But he passed away in 1803 before he could make it back. His widow Martha Ogle with her brother Peter Huskey and his family finished the job William Ogle began, creating the White Oak Flats Community. The White Oak Flats Cemetery – founded around 1830 – has markers for many of that first generation of settlers. A lot of Ogles, and Maples and Huskeys are buried there.
You can also tour the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail and visit some of the homesteads of the second and third-generation settlers. Also, if you park in the garage right down on the end of the strip, you can visit Martha’s cabin – the one William started before he passed. It’s been moved a couple of times, was a hospital, a school. But the history of Gatlinburg starts in that little cabin. Oh, how did White Oak Flats become Gatlinburg? Read more about that here.
2. Get into the mountains
Look, the 17 Ripley’s attractions and Bubba Gump are nice options, truly. But if you want to visit like a local, you’ve got to get into the mountains. The Chimney Rock picnic area is a good start as is a visit over to Elkmont. The Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail is a must as is following 321 as it winds its way into the North Carolina mountains. That is where you can see elk and other wonders of the mountains. Of course, locals like to go to the shops, the games and the aquarium. My money is on the aquarium if you want to know what the locals visit the most. However, the mountains are where we go for peace, to commune with nature and to feel like locals ourselves.
3. Go above the Highway 321 split
Some people visit Gatlinburg every year and never get off the main strip. They never travel up the Eastern Parkway where Gatlinburg is slightly less of a tourism spectacle and more of an actual community. That’s where you’ll find the banks, grocery stores and the high school. Yes, Gatlinburg has a high school. Some people are shocked.
Above the split – which is right there at the aforementioned Martha Ogle Cabin – there are still plenty of tourist things like the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum. Of course, there are plenty of hotels and cabins. But you’ll also find Estrella Hondumex, the Honduran/Mexican restaurant that does good business with local workers. You’ll also find the Greenbrier – one of the best restaurants in Tennessee – and Delauder’s BBQ – also one of the best restaurants in Tennessee. So you want to live like a Gatlinburgian? Get off the strip and get onto the East Parkway and beyond.
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The writer is correct. And if you’re heading east along 321 as suggested, it may sound odd but stop at the library, which is near the high school. There you’ll find a charming reading room, which includes a fireplace. It’s well worth a look, if nothing else for the ambience.