July 2021

First stop on the way to the mountains is at the Gateway to the Big South Fork visitor center. It’s where you can get info on Big South Fork, which is located in north central Tennessee and southeastern Kentucky in some of the most rugged terrain of the Cumberland Plateau. You can do horse riding, whitewater rafting, climb overlooks, and see wildflowers all the way up to the Daniel Boone National Forest.

Next was the Obed Wild and Scenic River center:

And also a Manhattan Project site is here!

A word about this visitor center: it’s actually located inside the Oak Ridge Museum for Children. And if you want to see the National Park part of it, you will have to pay a fee. But the stamps section is free!

Off to the one of many entrances to the Great Smoky Mountains, America’s number one visited National Park. Encompassing Tennessee and North Carolina, it’s 500,000 acres of preserved wilderness. I came in through the Gatlinburg side, and was shocked at how busy the traffic was on the 2 way streets inside the park. It made it difficult if you got lost or turned around, or even to stop and pull off to take a look at the waterfalls and trees.

There’s 4 visitor centers, but the one I went to had a bear in a box!

A marker for the Appalachian Trail and the UNESCO World Heritage Site is here:

Along with the state line divider between North Carolina and Tennessee that you can set foot on:

Clingman’s Dome had great views too:

And at the end of the day, we went into the woods to see fireflies as it turned into dusk:

I enjoyed the Park very much but my only disappointment was just how super crowded it really was. I guess I’m used to parks in Texas and more rural areas where it isn’t swamped with cars zooming by me unless I hiked into the backcountry.

The night ended with exploring the very touristy town of Gatlinburg, which has heavy Bavarian influences and lots of amenities and fun things for families to do, such as sky lifts, an aquarium, resorts, roller coasters, everything! A bear was even seen walking in the streets amongst the shops about 2 weeks after my visit.

The next stop: a Tennessee favorite theme park!