We spent 2 nights in Pigeon Forge and 3 nights in Great Smoky Mountains Smokemont campground.
Pigeon Forge was a bit crazy. We weren’t expecting all the touristy places at all. We went in the morning to the National Park. We visited the Sugarlands Visitor Center, hiked a short hike to Cataract Falls, and drove about half way to Cades Cove, stopping along the way to see waterfalls and other sights. We also picnicked at Chimney Tops right along a stream.
Once we were staying in the park, we were better positioned to visit the North Carolina side of the park. We attempted to visit Clingman’s Dome but some low clouds completely obscured the view. Andrew went for a hike around the campground right as the rain started coming down. The kids and I stayed dry and warm in the trailer.
The next morning we tried again at Clingman’s Dome and were rewarded with a beautiful view of the mountains. The hike to the observation tower is a very steep (and 6000ft altitude) 1/2 mile. Thankfully there are strategically placed benches for resting along the way. The top of the Dome had tons of ice in the trees and ice on the observation tower. We ran back down. We stopped at some more overlooks on the way back to look at the beautiful fall leaves.
We feel like we unlocked some sort of accomplishment. We spent 3 nights with no electrical hookups, no generators allowed, very little solar generation due to shade, overnights in the mid 30s (and 28 on our last night), and still had enough battery to run the heater a bit. Our neighbors packed up and left at 5am. 😆
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