Newfound Gap Great Smoky Mountains National Park

A few years ago, Anita and I spent a few days in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We spent a day driving around Cades Cove, and really, really enjoyed it. We so recommend it (specially on days when the park isn't busy). We went the week before Labor Day, and the park was quite pleasantly empty.

This year, we decided to stop in Gatlinburg on the way to my parent's home in Georgia. Instead of going back to the interstate to finish our trip, we decided to drive through the park and up to Newfound Gap. It was the Monday of the week of Thanksgiving. I counted only 10 or so cars on the road, making this another great trip. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is so worth visiting.

The trip up to Newfound Gap from Gatlinburg is not as steep as the trip down the other side into North Carolina. Both sides are equally fantastic, with lots of places (mostly on the Tennessee side) to pull off and enjoy the view. The Newfound Gap is really worth the stop. There was a fog bank down in the valley below us that made for some great photos. Next time, we'll pack a lunch and enjoy an afternoon at the peak.

Cades Cove Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We just got back today from a long weekend trip to Gatlinburg. Neither of us had ever been there before and we had a great time. We went to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and took the Cades Cove tour which is an 11 mile self-guided drive. We drove into the park and followed a winding river for several miles before we got to Cades Cove. We pulled over several times to enjoy the river view.

The first sign of wildlife we saw was this little deer beside the road.

We first stopped at the John & Lucretia Oliver place, the first Euro-American settlers in Cades Cove arriving in 1818.

There were several other buildings along the way including churches, barns and log homes. Our next stop was at the grist mill which is still in use today grinding corn. It was reminiscent of the Metamora grist mill.

When we got to the old smokehouse, there was a sign that warned you that there were snakes in the area and I spotted these guys.

We saw a bunch of cars stopped in front of us and everyone was going into the woods. We got out and followed the herd. There was a momma bear and two little bears, but we could not get a good picture because she was hiding behind a log with her cubs. Later on our journey, we saw this little guy. He was pretty close to the car, but these are the best shots I could come up with as I was excited to see a bear in the wild and couldn't get the camera on.

We will definitely go back. We'll post more from our trip soon.