Locations
Crash Course: Gatlinburg and The Smokey Mountains
Preamble
National Parks (all parks, really) are easily the best thing about this beautiful country. Any time I’m traveling to visit friends or family; planning a trip or vacation of any kind, I’m generally looking to see if I can incorporate a National Park. In this instance we were all heading out of state to visit Jake (who lives in TN), so including the Smokey Mountains was a bit of a no-brainer.
As a group of “late 20’s and early 30’s” somethings, we’re looking for an even mix; a little bit of hiking and climbing, a little bit for fun on the town. The great thing about many National Parks is that there tends to be a bit of a tourist town closely connected, an emergent property that probably materializes as a product of the park being there. I understand that not everyone loves this sort of thing, but I always get a kick out of a local beer, burger, and some random knick-knacks. Bonus points go to every destination with a Life Is Good store.
If you’re familiar with Upstate New York, but not the phenomenon I’m describing, think of a much bigger version of Lake Placid or Lake George. Much in the same way that you’ll likely want to see the olympic center in Placid, you’ll want to see the Sky Bridge and Distilleries in Gatlinburg. There’s always something like this in each “Park Town,” some are more interesting than others.
For our trip we grabbed a hotel room from the Timber Ridge Lodge. The amenities here were good, the prices were decent and the walk to the main strip was pretty short. There was a very brief and somewhat pointless debate about camping that we all dismissed pretty quickly. I’m sure we would have had a lot of fun going that way, but a night out on the town was also a big goal for the trip.
Gatlinburg, TN
Gatlinburg is the town of the Smokey Mountains, the tourist destination to the National Park, and probably the place where most people stay when they say they’re going to the Smokies. Most of the real estate here is either hotels, restaurants or attractions. So what’s the main appeal, where did we go? Well, as certified alcoholics, the first thing we did was hit up both Old Smokey and Sugar Lands Moonshine Distillers.
If I had to pick one I would go with Sugarlands, but honestly, you should just do both, you won’t regret it. These distillery locations have constant tastings going on, where you can try different flavors of their signature moonshines. This experience will itself get most people drunk, so be smart about doing too many little shots. We did them consecutively, but also gave ourselves an hour or so in-between.
We also did the Sky Bridge, a short tram lift that takes you up to a bridge overlooking the town, with buildings on both sides. The views here are really great, encompassing the entire town and large sections of the Smokey Mountains Ridge Line. This one is definitely worth seeing if you never have before. After getting off the little ski tram that takes you up to the bridge, you can go into the main building where they have food, drinks and random souvenirs. The small building on the other side of the bridge just has drinks and some more space to stand and enjoy the views.
Just like other park towns, a lot of the stuff available is touristy, kitschy stuff that probably appeals more to little kids than most adults. These kinds of things are pretty much everywhere and for me, pretty easily ignored. Things like the skybridge are bit more interesting and more unique to the area, you can always go mini-golfing at home.
Those other scenic activities include a tram that goes up to a lookout and a cool space needle, neither of which we had done during our time there. If I ever make it down to Gatlinburg again, those will be on my list. The strip is also jam packed with restaurants, gift shops, goofy little weed and beer stops and the normal “carnival-esqu” stuff you might expect.
The only other thing we did besides Climb and Sight See was eat and drink. Everything we did was pretty solid and mostly pre-selected by our buddy Jake, a Nashville resident who was far more familiar with the place than the rest of us. Places we dined at include: Calhoun’s, Cherokee Grill and Burg Steakhouse. All of these were pretty fantastic. I particularly loved the steakhouse.
Smokey Mountains National Park
Gatlinburg was very cool and everything, but we never would have planned a trip for that alone, it was really all about the Smokey Mountains. If you’re an experienced hiker I honestly think you’ll breeze through a lot of these trails, but for the inexperienced, I would suggest you not underestimate it. We took the Alum Cave Trail to Le Conte, which was only 11 miles, but did have quite a bit of elevation gain.
Like all National Parks, this one is vast, and we really only saw a fraction of it. Over the course of the -perhaps- 12 hour day, we saw a tons of great lookouts and explored quite a bit of the ridge including the Cliff Top and the mountain top Lodge. In a different set of circumstances, staying at this lodge would have been incredible.
There are plenty of other great climbs and lookouts that we didn’t have time for while we were there, be sure to check out AllTrails before you pick your final treks! This one was great but some may prefer options that are more or less challenging.
I don’t have nearly as much experience with National Park trails as I do with Adirondack ones, but I enjoyed this quite a bit. In addition to actual switchbacks, these trails are also very well maintained. Inclines are generally pretty mild, questionable areas have handrails, plenty of cool little things to see along the way too. Highly recommended!
