Great Smoky Mountains National Park

National Park #7

In June 2019, my parents rented a cabin in Pigeon Forge for a family vacation. The 12 of us spent a few days exploring the area. Caleb, Isaac, Zoe and I spent the majority of our time Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Day 1 – Caleb needed to stay behind to work so Isaac, Zoe, and I decided to check out the Sugarlands Visitors Center. After grabbing Junior Ranger Books, we hiked the mile roundtrip Cataract Falls Trail.

Cataract Falls

Day 2 – The entire family decided tackle the Laurel Halls Trail. I was surprised how busy the popular trail was at 9:00 a.m. in the morning. The falls were worth a little congestion on the trail, though.

Part of our group on the hike to the falls

I had hoped to get the entire family in a picture in front of the falls but I guess I should have gotten everyone on board before we started the hike.

At least Zoe played along

On the way back down, Caleb and Zoe very briefly spied a black bear cub. The were in the right place at the right time because no one else from our group got lucky.

I’d highly recommend Laurel Falls Trail but I’d definitely hike it early in the morning to avoid the crowds.

On the way back to the cabin, we stopped at Sugarlands Visitors Center so Isaac and Zoe could finish up their Junior Ranger Books and get their badges.

Getting our books checked by a park ranger

Day 3

The four of us headed out early to check out Clingman’s Dome.

Not the view that we had hoped for but it still made for a good picture

Family selfie from the top of the dome

Obligatory state line picture.

And since we were already here, we decided to hike a bit on the Appalachian Trail.

It was cold and damp and the fog made it a little bit spooky. Zoe was not a fan and since we wanted to hike another trail, we didn’t venture far

We thought we would attempt the Alum Cave Trail but by the time we arrived at the parking lot it was full so we scraped that idea and decided to check out Road Prong Trail.

Road Prong Trail is a lesser traveled trail that spurs off of the Chimney Tops Trail. We didn’t make it the entire distance of the trail but what we did hike was quiet and peacefully.

Road Prong Trail

At the end of our hike, we let the kids do some rock scrambling and play in the water.

The water was cold but at least the weather had improved

I’m probably going to take some flack for this but the Great Smoky Mountains has not been my favorite. I can’t really put my finger on why , though. I suspect it had at least a bit to do with the crowds and probably a bit to do with the weather, too. And while I’m not itching to return, I am glad we spent a few days exploring.