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LOVE AT FIRST VISIT
My love affair with the Great Smoky Mountains began at an early
age, when my family loaded up our pea-green Chevy pickup and
headed northward. As if an invisible chalk line dissected these
chains of layered peaks, crossing state lines into North Carolina
immediately produced cooler air.
It’s been many years since that first journey into the Smokies,
but I still feel a sense of wonder as I drive through Cherokee, North
Carolina, rapidly approaching entry into the park. Once past
Cherokee, the southern entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway veers
northeast, but I continue into the Oconaluftee Visitor Center for a
stamp in my national parks passport. Adjacent is the Mountain
Farm Museum and a collection of assembled historical structures
gathered from the park, which speak to an earlier time of moun-
taineering. A half-mile north, on its original site, is Mingus Mill, where
in 1886 a miller ground corn for his community.
This valley signals entry into the Great Smoky Mountains National
Park. Attracting between 8 and 10 million visitors annually, Great
Smoky Mountains is America’s most-visited national park, where more
than 500,000 acres are decorated ridges of hardwoods, red spruce,
pines, and Fraser firs. Named for the blue mist that hovers around
peaks and valleys, the mountains were called
shaconage
(place
of blue smoke) by the Cherokee. A UNESCO World Heritage site,
its relatively untouched forest is home to flora, plus many animal
species, including elk and the American black bear.
And if the timing is perfect, elk will be roaming the
Farm Museum’s flatlands, munching on grasses, and
farther along the route, a bear will make a roadside sprint
in search of food. Rest assured, traffic will snarl, people
will grab cameras, and making it the next 30 miles over
the mountain before sunset will be forgotten.
THE ULTIMATE SELFIE
Nearing the top where North Carolina and Tennessee
state lines intersect, I detour about 7 miles in search of
Clingmans Dome, the highest point in Tennessee, on
the Appalachian Trail, and in Great Smoky Mountains
National Park. From the parking area, it’s a steep half-
mile hike to the observation tower perched at 6,643 feet.
As I ascend the paved pathway, the temperature drops
a good 15 degrees. At the summit, a spiral walkway
leads to the top of the 54-foot tower, and my push is
rewarded with breathtaking views. For many, it’s one of
those bucket-list moments well worth the sweat.
Back on the main road, a must-stop is Newfound
Gap, where the highway crests the mountain and begins
its descent. It is the park’s largest overlook area, where
travelers from around the world pose for the ultimate
selfie with the Smokies as the backdrop. Unobstructed
Henryk Sadura/Glow Images; Judy Garrison; Judy Garrison
Water streams down a millrace, powering
the turbine at historic Mingus Mill.
Sugarlands Distilling Company
offers free distillery tours
and tastings of its nine
varieties of moonshine.