A Perfect Day In The Smoky Mountains

After getting quite a bit of rain yesterday, we woke up to a beautiful, sunny day. We decided to spend another day here and set out to explore Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. When we were here a few years ago, we spent most of our time in the park and didn't get to see much of these two towns. It didn't take long to realize that they were kind of tacky and touristy so we headed back into the park. That was a great decision.

 
We found a nature trail loop near Gatlinburg that we weren't able to do last time in the van. It was narrow and windy and perfect for the Jeep today. Most of the pictures tonight are from that loop: the Roaring Forks Motor Nature Trail.

I took about twenty photos of the Roaring Forks River today. It was running along beside the entire trail and was just beautiful...

 There were a number of old cabins and homesteads along this loop, similar to the ones in Cade's Cove. This was my favorite...

 

 Saw this mountain man coming down from the hills and snapped his picture. He didn't mind...

 We spent hours exploring this trail and it was a wonderful day. We met a nice couple from Mississippi who said we were going to love the Natchez Trace so I am even more excited to get there. We head to Nashville tomorrow and will pick up the trace there.

Back in town, I took this picture just in case you thought I was being too harsh when I said Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg were kind of tacky...

We stopped by the old Sevierville Courthouse and saw the Dolly Parton statue. She has done a lot for this area. For example, she set up a program for every child in Sevierville County to receive a free, age-appropriate book each month until they enter kindergarten. I like Dolly...

 

This area goes all out for Christmas and we saw light displays everywhere. I snapped this picture as we left a restaurant tonight. It is just one of about a hundred light displays we saw lining the highway as we drove back to our campsite...

 I hope you enjoyed these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them. Next stop...Nashville.