Little River Road
Little River Road runs from the Sugarland Visitors Center to Cades Cove. This 18 mile stretch of road runs along the Little River and is actually built on the former railroad bed that the Little River Lumber Company used in its heyday. This is a very popular route through the National Park. Passing by many […]
Greenbrier Auto Tour
A lesser visited area of the Park, the Greenbrier section is one of our favorites. Besides the Ramsay Cascades, the visitor has the opportunity to view large stands of virgin growth such as northern red oak, eastern hemlock, and red maple. When the Park was created in 1934, old-growth forests were saved from the lumber […]
Blue Ridge Parkway
This route follows the Appalachian Mountain chain from the Shenendoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park-a distance of 469 miles. There are frequent turnouts for mountain vistas, waterfalls, picnic areas, and visitor centers. Much of the Parkway is closed in winter. The speed limit is strictly limited to 45 miles per hour […]
Cataloochee
Cataloochee is a lesser known auto tour in the GSMNP. Much like Cades Cove, it was a valley community in the mountains that was self-sufficient with churches, farms and clusters of mountain homes. When the park service came in and started to establish the Great Smoky Mountains National Park they people were forced to leave […]
Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail
Above Gatlinburg is yet another entrance into part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the auto known as Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. This auto tour takes you through the Roaring Fork area of the GSMNP and gives you access to hiking, a several tremendous views of the Smokies and Gatlinburg itself. Roaring Fork […]
Lakeview Drive
The Road to Nowhere This six-mile drive is also known as “the Road to Nowhere” and affords great views of Fontana Lake. Lakeview Drive ends one mile beyond a viaduct at the mouth of a tunnel. Work on the road stopped in 1943 and was never continued. “The Road to Nowhere” actually takes you to […]
Cades Cove
Cades Cove is the most popular auto tour and the most popular spot in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As an auto tour, Cades Cove is second to none. As a place just to go experience the beauty of the Smokies and hang out in nature, there might not be a better place in […]
Parsons Branch Road
Have you ever wondered where the two roads that branch out of Cades Cove go? Here is where you can find these two roads in Cades Cove: Rich Mountain Road – Before the halfway point around Cades Cove, and the entrance is across from the Cades Cove Missionary Baptist Church. Parsons Branch Road – At the […]
Newfound Gap Road
Sugarlands to Oconoluftee The 33-mile drive from Gatlinburg, Tennessee to Cherokee, North Carolina along Newfound Gap Road (US 441) is the only route that completely traverses the Great Smokies National Park (GSMNP). The drive offers a unique opportunity to enjoy an abbreviated experience of everything the Park has to offer, without necessarily trekking far from […]
Rich Mountain Road
Have you ever wondered where the two roads that branch out of Cades Cove go? Here is where you can find these two roads in Cades Cove: Rich Mountain Road – Before the halfway point around Cades Cove, and the entrance is across from the Cades Cove Missionary Baptist Church. Parsons Branch Road – At […]