Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the United States. What’s funny is that we had lived in Memphis Tennessee for over three years and not once had ventured any further east than Nashville. We’d always heard great things about the Smokies and had the desire to go see them. But, like always, when you live close to something you always put off seeing it. I guess better late than never; we are glad we finally took the time to visit the park on this trip.

From Asheville we took the Great Smoky Mountain Expressway to the south entrance of the park. Surprisingly there was no entrance fee to enter the park. We planned to stay two nights to allow for ample hiking time, so we picked the Smokemont Campground, located inside the park, less than ten miles from the entrance. The camping was only $17 a night, but came with no hook-ups, which meant that it was up to our travel trailer battery to keep our heater running to keep us warm at night. The campground was located right next to the Bradley Fork Creek and was situated pretty much right in the middle of the forest. At night we could fall asleep to the sound of the water bubbling in the creek.

Bradley Fork Creek at the Smokemont Campground

Fishermen at the Smokemont Campground

We arrived late on the first day (with limited day light hours now, 1 in the afternoon is late), so we decided to hike a trail right from our campground. We hiked along the Bradley Fork Creek on the Bradley Fork trail. The trail ran next to the Bradley Fork Creek for 1.7 miles. Then we crossed a wooden, hand built bridge over the creek and hiked the 3.9 mile Smokemont Loop trail back to our campground. The surroundings reminded us a lot of hiking in the Ozark Mountains back home. It was really peaceful; we hiked mostly in silence, lost in our own thoughts.

Hiking on the Bradley Fork trail 

Bradley Fork Creek

Skyler crossing the wooden bridge over Bradley Fork Creek 

Hiking on the Smokemont Loop trail

The next day we woke up earlier. We drove through the park to the Newfound Gap overlook where we found an intersection with the Appalachian Trail. Seventy miles of the Appalachian Trail bisect the park, following the Tennessee/North Carolina border for the majority of the time. We picked up at the trail from the parking lot and hiked eastbound 4 miles out to Charlie’s Bunion, a 5,565 foot rock outcropping. Portions of the park had been covered in over 3 feet of snow during the hurricane Sandy storm that came through two weeks before. By the time we were hiking on the trail most of the snow had melted off, but there were remaining slick spots in the shade.

Frost on the trees at Newfound Gap 

Hiking the Appalachian Trail

Enjoying the views off of the Appalachian Trail

We encountered few people on the trail, which was not surprising since it was the middle of the week and the outside temperatures were bitterly cold. About 2.5 miles into the hike we came across one of the AT overnight shelters for hikers. We explored the rock shelter and mused on how someone could possibly stay warm when the nightly temperatures dropped to below freezing.

The overnight shelter on the Appalachian Trail

A mile later we came across another hiker and I stopped to ask him if he was a through-hiker, meaning was he hiking the full length of the AT? Indeed he was! I then proceeded to pepper him with all kinds of questions; I was star stricken. He was 4.5 months into his hike, southbound from Maine to Georgia. He had less than two weeks to go until he completed the trail, and he hiked an average of 25-30 miles a day.  This was his second time to do the trail, last year he’d lost 35 pounds and this year he’d lost 30 so far. He enjoys eating candy while hiking, so he keeps a large stash at all times, along with a toothbrush. WOW! I really enjoy meeting people like him, it is so inspirational! I can hardly imagine hiking 25 miles in one day, let alone doing it EVERYDAY for over 5 months straight! And to do it TWICE! Wow.

The through-hiker we met on the Appalachian Trail 

We made it to Charlie’s Bunion and sat down to eat our picnic lunch on the large boulder overlooking the Tennessee valley. We were in the sun, so it was mostly warm and we stayed a while. Then we hiked the four miles back, ran into a few other hiking couples, and were happy to be back at our car. Psh, we’d only gone eight miles and we were tired. Imagine how we would have felt had we done 25 miles…and then slept on the cold rock surface in the overnight shelter for the night, only to pick back up the next day and hike 25 miles again? We were thankful we had a warm home to go to where we could put on warm clothes, settle on our comfy couch and enjoy a hot, homemade meal. We made a huge batch of Thai Masaman Curry and spent the rest of the evening reading under a blanket.

On Charlie's Bunion!

Overall we were really pleased with the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The surrounding valley views in the park were astounding and really lived up to the smoky mountain name. In the early morning a thick fog would roll into the valley floors, creating a carpet of clouds amidst the blue and gray ridgelines. There are over 800 miles of hiking in the park, and the 14 miles we hiked were really enjoyable. I can only imagine what the park is like in peak season, when the weather is nice and the trees are covered with leaves. Oh, and there are over 1,500 black bears in the park! That fact alone makes the park worth visiting. :o)

Views in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park

We will be back.

To see more pictures of the park, click here.

Happy Smoky Mountain Hiking,

M.

P.S. One downfall of the park is that dogs are not allowed on the park trails. They are allowed in the campgrounds. This was a bit sad since we’d looked forward to hiking with Sam and Chloe in the park, especially near the Bradley Fork Creek.