Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Players:  Jenny 

Date of Visit:  May 2009

Website:  www.nps.gov/grsm
Location:  North Carolina & Tennessee
Entrance Fee:  Free!
Type of Trip:  Weeklong camping trip
Park Passport Stamps Available:  10

Trip Report:  Great Smoky Mountain National Parks sits on the border between North Carolina and Tennessee, and is the most-visited park in the National Park System.  In addition to being a fabulous hiker's park (the great Appalachian Trail runs for nearly100 miles through the park), Great Smoky Mountain houses an amazing array of plant and animal life -- including black bears and the reclusive salamanders.  GRSM also houses hundreds of waterfalls, lofty mountain peaks, and an interesting feature known as the Appalachian Grassy Bald -- an open hilltop or mountainside whose origins are not really known.  There is also a human history to the area (not entirely pleasant as hundreds of people who had lived in the park for years were moved out upon the creation of the national park), and you can visit old settlements and cemeteries within the park boundaries.

Part of the reason it is home to such an abundance of wildlife is due to the climate in the Smokies.  Great Smoky Mountain receives a lot of rainfall every year, and my trip in May of 2009 was no exception to this.  It rained on me every day that I was there -- sometimes only at night and the sun did come out while I was there but it was rain nonetheless.  It is important for visitors to the Smokies to be prepared for all types of weather, and hikers/campers should plan on rain during at least part of their visit.

Classic View of the Smokies

 I did several hikes while I was in the park.  One of them was the Alum Cave Bluffs trail, which leads up the side of Mt. Le Comte.  Mt. Le Comte is actually a lodge on the top of a mountain that is accessible only by hiking -- I would totally love to stay here someday!  The Alum Cave Bluffs trail is quite popular, because it is a relatively short trail and the trailhead is only a few miles from the northern entrance on the main park road.  To Alum Cave Bluffs is only about a 5 mile round-trip hike, but it's STEEP like many of the trails in the Smokies.  The trail starts out near a river, providing plenty of nice views and opportunities for picnics; even a short hike along this trail would be nice if you just need to get out and stretch your legs.

Stream on the Alum Cave Bluffs Trail

Fallen log over the stream

From the streambed, the trail climbs quite steeply to the Alum Cave Bluffs area, providing some nice views of the surrounding valley.  There are several bridge crossings along the way, and the trail does get narrow in some places.

Bridge crossing on the Alum Caves Trail

Scenic Vista -- notice how green (wet) everything is

The Alum Caves area is a nice place to stop for a picnic lunch, and provides some shelter from the weather should you encounter rain like I did.  You will certainly not have this area (or the rest of the trail) to yourself.

One of the other interesting parts of visiting Great Smoky Mountain National Park is to see some of the human history of the area as well.  This is a place you can see some remnants of Appalachia, and it provides an interesting look into the lives of the people that inhabited this area not so very long ago.  By far the most popular area of the park to see human history is the Cades Cove area.  In Appalachian parlance, a "cove" is a open valley area in the mountains.  A loop road circles the Cades Cove area, and if you drive the road, you can stop and see several buildings, including churches, a working mill, barns, log houses and so on.  This area is also very congested at times and it can take several hours to drive the 11 mile road.  On certain mornings, the Park Service closes the road to traffic and visitors can bike the route instead.  There is a campground in the Cove, as well as several walking trails.

House in Cades Cove

Log house and split rail fence in Cades Cove

Working grist mill in Cades Cove

A broad view of the valley

Of course, there are less popular places to see old buildings as well.  One of the more interesting places I went was the Little Greenbrier School, located a few miles west of Gatlinburg.  To get there, you drive down a really old, narrow road, and find yourself in a small glade.  There's an old, old one-room school as well as a small cemetery.  I found this area really interesting...but I definitely wouldn't try the drive in an RV!

Schoolhouse

Interior of the schoolhouse

Old Cemetery

Another place that many people in the park visit is Clingman's Dome.  This is the highest peak in the park, and you can either drive to the top or hike to the top.  There is a lookout tower on top of Clingman's Dome which is supposed to provide really good views; unfortunately, it was completely cloudy and rainy the day I was there.

I did two other hikes in the park.  One hike took me out to Andrew's Bald, one of the famous Appalachian Balds that this area of the country is known for.  Basically, a bald is a big grassy area on top of a mountain.  Certain grasses and flowers grow in the balds that you can't find many other places; no one really knows why the balds even exist.  This hike is a relatively short and easy walk from the Clingman's Dome parking area.  The other hike I did in the park was the Charlie's Bunion hike, an 8 mile round trip hike to a rocky feature that is actually on the famous Appalachian Trail.  This hike would have been spectacular, except it was pouring down rain the entire time I was on the trail, and I ended up turning back early.

Andrew's Bald

Trail sign on the Charlie's Bunion Trail.  Katahdin, ME is the end of the AT, 1972 miles away.

The other things park visitors should definitely do is to drive the entire length of the Newfound Gap road, the road that bisects the park and travels from Gatlinburg in the north to Cherokee in the south.  The drive is spectacular, but don't plan on completing it quickly!

All in all, I enjoyed my trip to the Smokies, but I would have preferred a little less rain.  I'm told that the fall leaf season is just spectacular in Great Smoky Mountain, but it's important to reserve ahead.  I will return to this park again someday because there is just so much to do.

Two more notes about visiting GRSM:  First, outside of the Cades Cove campground store, there are no places within the park to get anything to eat.  There are plenty of places available for eating and/or grocery shopping in the gateway towns of Gatlinburg (ate in a great pancake restaurant here) and Cherokee.  There are also plenty of nice picnic areas in the park.   Secondly, due to a generous gift from John D. Rockefeller, entrance to the park is free.  This is great news for visitors, but it also means that this popular park suffers from a problem of thieves targeting unattended cars in popular parking lots.  Don't leave valuables in your car!


Campground Review

Campgrounds Stayed: Cosby Campground

Campground Run by:  NPS

Available to Reserve?:  Yes during certain parts of the year

Cost per night:  $14/night

Other notes:  There are flush toilets and water, but no showers.

Review:  This is the one campground I have stayed in that is run by the National Park Service that I didn't really like.  However, I was solo camping and this was one of the quietest and most deserted campgrounds I've ever stayed in.  It is on the far eastern edge of the park, well off the beaten path, and I was here midweek at the end of May.  There were maybe six other people camping in the campground, which made it feel kind of creepy.  It is very green and leafy, and I had a very private campsite at the end of a tent-only loop.  If I had had my family with me, I probably would have liked this campground.  However, it's kind of far from the main attractions in the park.  First-time visitors and solo campers might like the more popular Cades Cove, Smokemont, or Elkmont campgrounds.  If I go back, I will probably choose one of these campgrounds instead.