Great Smoky Mountains
Thinking about the upcoming Memorial Day weekend during quarantine, I figured I would reminisce on our road trip from last year. We made our way through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from the Asheville side (NC) by Cherokee to the Gatlinburg side (TN). It was a perfect long weekend getaway from the DC area. We were able to do some hiking, see some beautiful scenery and explore downtown Asheville.
Asheville, NC
Asheville is known for being an artsy city. There’s a cute walkable downtown with the mountains in the background. If you’re looking for a unique coffee experience, I recommend checking out Double D’s Coffee & Desserts. It’s situated inside a double decker bus. There is also street art to walk around and find. From a previous trip, I can also recommend Tupelo Honey for breakfast or brunch – just be prepared to wait if you don’t get there early.
Oconaluftee Visitor Center
This visitor center has a huge parking lot and a nice trail around a large field. We found tons of elk grazing in this area and turkies! There were quite a few onlookers who brought pop-up chairs and their long lenses to relax, enjoy the sunset and take pictures here. Plus, we had to get our national park passport stamp for Addy’s book!
Chimney Tops
This was a fun and challenging trail in the Smokies. Distance wise it’s only about 2 miles, but there is quite a stair climb and general incline to the trail to make it to the overlook. Carrying Addy (our 7 month old), made it a bit more exhausting, especially with the warm and humid weather. The view from the overlook was beautiful and we saw many people eating their picnic lunch. On the way down, we were lucky someone pointed out the sleeping black bear to us! We didn’t get the best shot, but we could definitely see him as he tried to camouflage in.
Mingo Falls
We found a parking spot in the very small lot. We loaded up with sunscreen and started our walk up the stairs. This is a beautiful waterfall to hike to and we find it’s always most rewarding to hike to a point of interest.
Clingman’s Dome
Clingman’s Dome was a nice paved path, albeit a little steep. We took in lovely rolling hills from the top and popped into the cute bookstore at the bottom.
Newfound Gap Road
Great place for a quick pop out to get a picture with the state line sign! There are a lot of different areas in this park to explore! You could definitely return again and again for a good time here!
While you’re here, feel free to check out some other recaps like AZ Much As We Could (Arizona National Parks) and Cascading through Washington National Parks.
Treat Yourself to Travel 