Help me plot a course...Smokey Mountains

[Guest]

As the title states.  I'm looking to ramble for a couple, maybe 3 weeks, and i want your guys' oppinions on the best and most scenic routes to take.   after seeing spin180's thread, it seems like ya'll seem to know about the region.  sooo..

What are some good routes?  say headed towards florida eventually?

anything one must see to get the whole southern experience?  pitstops along the way?

When to leave?  when do things start to bloom down thataways?? i want to see GREEN

Tell me what ya think i need to know.  i plan on making this one a memorable trip.

[TarpleyG]

Where are you starting from?

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

If it were me, I'd make sure to come down the BACK side through Gatlinburg; instead of coming down through Pigeon Forge and Sevierville, go through Townsend.  Less commercially built up, still very beautiful.  Others can tell you more once you tell us your starting point.

[Guest]

oh duh.   that would definatly be helpful.  coshocton, ohio  ( Canton, for a close big city reference)

no end destination in particular.  i'm trying to get a list of places i want to see together so i can make up something of a rough draft of an itinerary.

[mtnbkr]

What Fig said...

Also check out the Pisgah Forest area of Western NC.    

Chris

[Guest]

could you tell me some of the actual road numbers or names associated with the places you mention


any suggestions on traveling/living out of a vehicle would be nice too....

[French G.]

Try to see less populated sides of the park. Staying a night in Bryson City Tenn is not bad, a lot slower than Gatlinburg. There are some little roads into the park back there that are quiet. Check out Cataloochee valley. It is getting a little too popular since they brought in the elk herd, but still you get to see remaining pre-park structures with less tourist disaster than Cade's cove. Take the back road out of Cataloochee, no one else does, 17 miles of gravel, some trailheads.  Gatlinburg can be fun despite the fact that I despise tourists. Take the Roaring fork motor trail after dark, kinda neat.  That is just what I remember. Try to find an old copy of Charlotte Magazine, Article title "The Smokies you haven't seen". I highly recommend the travel writer, in fact I married her. She has all the good spots staked out.

[Guest]

French G,

could you ask that particular travel writer when the best time to go thru the smokies is (in spring?)  i'm figuring march is when i'll go.

[spinr]

Locally, most of the foliage starts greening up around April.  Most wildflowers will have bloomed by May.  Mind you, though, the higher elevations take a little longer to change.

US 441 that runs through the Smokies from Gatlinburg to Cherokee is a nice drive.  There's a good overlook near the top at the TN/NC state line.

The other must-drive road is the Cherohala Skyway that runs from Tellico Plains, TN to Robbinsville, NC.  Nothing but you, the road, and lots of nature.  The exact road number is NC 143 whilst in NC and TN 165 in The Volunteer State.

Another fun drive is US 129 along Deals Gap at the TN/NC border.  It's known as The Tail of The Dragon; they say because it resembles a dragon's tail.  And, that it has 318 curves in its' 11 mile length.  Fun drive might not describe it properly, though... helluva drive is probably more correct.

There's a good number of things to see.  The Great Smoky Mountains Railway, Cataloochee Valley as French G. mentioned, the Cherokee Indian Reservation, Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest with its' 400 year old stands of trees, Fontana Lake & Dam, and so on.

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

I'll give you a when NOT to go:
Between the end of May/first of June when schools get out and September 1 when they get back in.
Between Oct 1 and Nov 15th when the leaves are in full glory and all the retirees move in.
Between Nov 25-ish (Thanksgiving) and New Years when everyone drives the traffic jam to see the lights.
Between Jan 1 and Feb 28 when the mountain passes are still very capable of being covered with black ice 24/7
Whenever Spring Break is...

That leaves you a GOOD 2-3 weeks during the year when it's NOT a total tourist nightmare in Gat/Sev/PF.

Re: Cades Cove -- 15 years ago, it was probably the most pristine and beautiful place left in North America east of the Mississippi.  Now, it's nothing BUT a traffic jam.  Might as well be on your commute.

We locals (including this ex-pat local) have a name for all the out-of-towners who queue up to drive 4 hours and get 10 miles in the Smokies:  Tourons.  It's a hybrid of Tourist and Moron.  

Sorry if I sound a little down on the area, but its original beauty has been largely lost to neon signs, early bird buffets and waterparks.

[Smith]

Good Lord Felonious Fig, you'd swear that you thought that the only nice part of the area was the touristy spots.  Every look at a map and wonder where "that road" goes?  There are lots of good drives in your area.

[mtnbkr]

Good Lord Felonious Fig, you'd swear that you thought that the only nice part of the area was the touristy spots.  Every look at a map and wonder where "that road" goes?  There are lots of good drives in your area.

There's a neat forest road that connects the Cades Cove loop to a nearby highway.  It's several miles long, crosses the mountain, and has many great scenes and other pretty views.  It's not recommended for cars, but you could creep along in a car as long as it isn't too low.

Chris

[French G.]

That is the big problem, too many people. I still love to go for the scenery, but I accept that we will deal with far more people than I would at home. I have never been to Sevierville or PF, did have fun in Gatlinburg. The Smokies only work for me because you can still find ways to get away from the crowd. My original honeymoon we stopped in Cherokee, now I don't recognize the place, another big hotel/casino sprouts every time.
 
  The worst part of it is the Smokies could be a lot more. One reason it is not is the Fed gov's original agreement with Tennessee to not charge a fee, I guess they were afraid North Carolina Jed wouldn't be able to cross the mountain to visit Tennessee Ellie Mae and massive inbreeding would ensue if they charged a fee back when the park was built. Now, it is a little outmoded. I think 20 million people a year stick their head in there, a use fee like pretty much every other national park charges would cut some traffic out and provide some actual funds to develop trails, research, preserve history, and protect the wild critters. This of course assumes we had a gov't that made sense and park use fees stayed in the park that generated them instead of hitting some general fund.

 A real option from Ohio is to just make the Smokies one stop. Catch the Blue Ridge Parkway in VA or northern NC and meander, lots of good little side trips can be had.

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

+1 on the Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge Parkway.  It's what the GSMNP SHOULD be.

[garrettwc]

f it were me, I'd make sure to come down the BACK side through Gatlinburg; instead of coming down through Pigeon Forge and Sevierville, go through Townsend.  Less commercially built up, still very beautiful.

+1 on this. I went to G'burg back in Sept for daughter's wedding, which happened to be the same weekend as the big Hot Rod car event. Took a couple of hours to get through. When it was time to leave I asked the guy at the hotel the back way out of there. Much easier drive.

[SADShooter]

My wife and I honeymooned in Townsend. Very nice.

[Guest]

French G and the rest of ya'll who've provided insight-  All your advice is really appriciated,  I plan on taking as much of it as possible.  Meandering all the way down is the plan.  its looking like savanah, ga will be the end point of this big ol' ride, unless i can find some other interesting thing down thataways to go see.

Thanks!  anything else that ya'll can think of would be great too,  thanks again.


PS-  on the roads that aren't car friendly,  not too worried about it,  i'm gona drive my big ol' pickup truck.

[Guest]

I've never met anyone from Coshocton before. That's a cute little town. Roscoe Village, etc.

I'd do one of the rafting trips. What a blast. Gatlinburg is nice if very commercial. Pigeon Forge is commercial without being nice. Sevierville is ok if you can figure out where that starts and Pigeon Forge ends.

The drive on 441 between TN and NC is beautiful. The whole area is.

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

If you're going as far as Savannah, a little-known gem in the NE Georgia mountains is Brasstown Valley resort http://www.brasstownvalley.com
When I was a Mfr's Rep, we stayed ALOT of nice places for sales meetings.  This was the nicest of the nice, IMO. I can still taste that Pecan Crusted Trout...and there's a 72 foot stone fireplace in the great room.

[French G.]

Save some cash for Savannah, I ate until it hurt, really great restaurants there. Stay away from the riverfront, there is a lot of touristy food there, not as good quality. Tybee Island can be pretty entertaining as long as it is not kid season, things move pretty slowly out there. Stayed in a nice B&B there. Do us all a favor and try to hit a SCAD student with that ugly pick-up of yours. Overall, really great city, I enjoyed it as much as Charleston, SC, a lot of the same attractions, antebellum architecture, good food, and not near as many idiots as say, New Orleans. If you make it to Savannah, meander two more hours and hit St. Augustine. A1A brewery and restaurant, they have some beer and cheese base soup you will slap your momma for. Good beer too.

[Waitone]

Blue Ridge Parkway is the way it ought to be.  Get into NC and stay at the Pisgah Inn--incredible view of the valley.  Pisgah National Forest has Looking Glass Fall and Slidding Rock.  Fish Hatchery is nice.  Cradle of Forestry is a great side trip.

[mtnbkr]

Tell me more about the Pisgah Inn.  I've never heard of it and we're considering a fall vacation to that region...

Chris

[Guest]

French G said

Do us all a favor and try to hit a SCAD student with that ugly pick-up of yours.

(he laughs manicaly......)  muahahahaha

[mtnbkr]

Ramblin Man, if you hit the Cades Cove loop, do yerself a favor and find that forest road.  It's on the maps and the entrance is quite notceable.  It's worth the drive and your truck will have no trouble at all.  At least when we drove it, there was nobody else on the road.  We stopped frequently to explore the area a bit and just enjoy being there.

Chris

[Stand_watie]

I can't remember the date of when they bloom, but when we lived in western North Carolina (winston salem), dogwoods in the spring were as pretty as can be. I want to say late March or early April.