Great Smokys National Park

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was the primary reason we decided on visiting Tennessee. Last year, we toured some of the Utah National Parks, and the Great Smoky Mountains just made sense.

What I overlooked was the fact that the Great Smokys is the most visited National Park.  I thought going in the spring would avoid crowds. Such was not to be. It was very crowded. Often crowded isn't a big deal in National Parks as there are frequent buses to the main sights. But in the Smokys, there aren't any buses.

It is a wide vista

It is also a main roadway between North Carolina and Tennessee, so the car traffic is pretty horrible. We visited a few spots, but the roads were pretty bumper to bumper. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful, but just very busy. And busy is not what you are looking for in a restful National Park visit.

However, there were a few spots that we enjoyed.

I thought one of the funniest was the "Cataract Waterfall." It is a nice little walk from the visitor center, and we all know how I love a waterfall. They should have set some expectations before naming this a waterfall. Here are the pictures.

Someone left the hose on.

On the other hand, Kuwohi's outlook was pretty damn neat.

Kuwohi Lookout used to be called Clingman's Dome. It is a lookout from the crest of the Appalachians where you can see both North Carolina and Tennessee. It is a great view.

The lookout at Kuwohi

It is a slog to get to, but a great view. You have to climb a 1/2-mile trail that rises 330 feet (100 meters in 0.8 km). It doesn't sound like that much, but it really is.  Luckily, Lynn was us and she had to rest a lot. That way, we all got to rest. Lynn was worried, but we were like "No. Take your time. We're all good." When, in fact, we all needed the sit-downs.

After the steepass trail, you had a final winding of the ramp to the top.