It Feels Like Home
Before you read through this one, please look up the song “Feels Like Home” sung by Drew Holcomb. Go ahead and press play and begin reading this post. When you walk the trails in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GSMNP), you can’t help but feel like you’re home. Sun beams peaking through the trees, wide open skies, and room to just breathe. Redwood National Park made my problems feel small due to the massive trees and thick canopy. It provided quietness I have yet to find elsewhere. GSMNP has water flowing throughout the park, which calms me in an instant. But because the trees aren’t as thick, you get more sunbeams peaking through, which brings warmth.
“Sounds just like the wind is singing your name, feels like home.”
I close my eyes when I listen to this song and allow my GSMNP memories to flood my brain.
Great Smoke Mountain National Park in all its Glory
The Great Smoky Mountain National Park is truly a gem. In our time in Tennessee, we have been able to visit on two different occasions. Our first visit was late November, while we were headed to the East Coast for Thanksgiving. The fall colors were gone, and most of the trees were bare, but the leaves covered the ground. There were so many leaves scattered on the ground that I couldn’t help but imagine what it must look like during the summer. We only had a day to explore the park due to our travel timeline, so we got into the park early and immediately stopped at the Visitor Center.
If you’ve read any of the other Guide to Park blogs, you should know that I strongly encourage visitors to stop at the Visitors Center because the Park Rangers have a plethora of knowledge and will advise you on trails that will be perfect for your group.
Our ranger told us to check out the Laurel Falls trail. It’s a 2.4-mile hike that was great for our boys. Parking can be hard to find if you wait too late in the day, plus the trail is popular, so if you’re looking for a quieter hike, I’d recommend visiting some of the other ones. After we finished hiking Laurel Falls, we hopped in the car and continued down the road. We ended up at the Little River Trail and actually enjoyed it more than the Laurel Falls trail. This hike went along a stream and was relatively flat the whole way. The boys got to catch salamanders and frogs along the bank while I enjoyed the peaceful sounds of water and leaves falling. If you only have time for a quick stop, I would recommend going to this hike over Laurel Falls. Unfortunately, due to high winds and a fire, we ended up getting pushed out of the park by 1pm that day.
Our second visit was early October, and we got a healthy mix of fall colors while also seeing how beautifully full the trees were. If you ever claim to be an outdoor enthusiast, you’d best be planning a trip to hike through the GSMNP. For this trip, we drove all the way over just to explore GSMNP. We ended up having about 3 days to hike and explore the park. We enjoyed some really great spots!
Trillium Gap Trail
The first hike we drove to was the Trillium Gap Trail. We only hiked to the Grotto Falls, which was just over a mile from the trailhead. I will give a warning, parking is tricky. There is a parking lot right BEFORE the trailhead. If you miss it, you will be parking downhill (which means you are hiking up to your trailhead before you begin your uphill hike—this is what we did). It is a one-way road to the trailhead, and you’ll lose service. Our maps were struggling. I recommend getting a map from the visitor center and having a ranger circle or highlight your path because it was a little confusing on the way up. The hike itself was fantastic! We got to cross over a few streams (no wet feet, unless you choose to get in the water), lots of fun boulders for the kids to climb on, and the grotto falls were magical. It was a busier hike, and the falls had quite a few spectators. So don’t expect to be alone on this one. We spent a ton of time on this hike because we wanted to stop and look for critters every time we crossed the stream or the trail was close enough to the water. After this hike, we chose to drive around the park and enjoy the scenery.
Cades Cove
On our second full day in the park, we woke up early, got into the park as soon as we could, and made our way to Cades Cove. This was the highlight of the trip for me. I LOVED driving through Cades Cove. 10/10 recommend downloading the car audio tour on the National Park Service app. I ended up just reading pieces of each stop to the car instead of playing it for everyone to hear. Cades Cove is an 11-mile one-way road that takes you past the old log homes/buildings from the residents back in the 1800s. We pulled over a handful of times to stop and walk around. The majority of the loop, we were in the car, driving very slowly in a caravan that was probably the full length of the loop. My favorite stop was the Elijah Oliver Cabin. This cabin was tucked in the woods, so we parked and walked maybe .5-.75 miles to the cabin. It wasn’t busy, and we toured the whole house/property alone. It wasn’t until we were headed out that another couple hiked in. The history was just unbelievable, and our favorite part was hearing that back in the day, people had “stranger rooms” instead of a “guest room”. At the end of the loop, there is a little visitor center that has a tasty little café, a gift shop, and restrooms. I recommend packing lots of snacks and water into the park because there aren’t many places to fill up.
Why I love Great Smoky Mountain National Park
Great Smoky Mountain National Park is definitely one of my favorites just because of what it made me feel.
It feels like home.
I loved the history in the park, the warmth (although I may not like the summer humidity), and all the opportunities to walk along streams and waterfalls. Whether you’re an avid hiker or enjoy a leisurely stroll through the woods, GSMNP has so many hikes to choose from. Our family loved being able to turn over countless rocks to catch salamanders, see bears climbing trees, and parkour off some pretty great boulders.
