SW USA 2024: The Canadian Coddiwomplers*
Gatlinburg and The Great Smoky Mountains National Park
When we decided to stay put for a few weeks, we choose Gatlinburg because it was very close to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, not too far from the Hangin’ with the Hanks rally location and people said there was lots to do there. We found what looked like a nice campground on the Internet, Twin Creeks RV Park, and made reservations.
If we have time on a moving day (i.e. the drive is not overly long), we sometimes choose a route that is not the Interstate or a major highway. It is usually a more interesting drive and less stressful. When our old GPS gave up the ghost, we purchased a fancy schmancy RV version that allows you to input information about your trailer and chooses appropriate routes for a car and trailer. It also allows you a vehicle only option to use when you are not pulling the trailer. If we are sitting somewhere for a few days, we switch over to this option.
We choose the less travelled route for our drive to Gatlinburg on Mother’s Day. It was a perfect day and a lovely drive. The route took us through Townsend and through the national park following a lovely racing creek. It was absolutely beautiful. The road was quite narrow, no shoulders at all, lots of curves and surprisingly very busy. We thought it must be because it was such a beautiful day, it was Sunday and Mother’s Day.
We saw many lovely creeks and rapids on our drive through the park.
Jerry was challenged in many places driving our 54’ rig of trailer and truck with the bike rack on the front. He was surprised that the GPS took us on this road. Which is when I checked the settings. I’d forgotten to put it back to the truck and trailer option – Yikes! Jerry handled it all very well, he is such a great driver.
We eventually left the park and approached Gatlinburg. I can’t tell you just how surprised we were on entering the city. It is nothing like what we expected. I was gob smacked! To imagine Gatlinburg, think of the shopping areas at the base of Mount Tremblant or Blue Mountain, then add in Clifton Street from Niagara Falls, the mid-way from the CNE, two chair lifts, bumper to bumper traffic, pancake houses every block, hotels and motels galore and roller coasters – lots of roller coasters right in the town and several mini-golf parks. There is a Ripley’s Believe it or Not and a Ripley’s Aquarium. One of the ski lifts takes you to a Canada’s Wonderland type park at the top of a mountain and the other one to a place where you can cross the longest swinging bridge in the US. Gatlinburg is a zoo. Like Disney Land/World on steroids.
There is a Trump store! It sells “American Patriot” goods. We were afraid to go in.
We didn’t expect any of this and were a mite concerned about the campground we’d booked. Fortunately, the campground was just like the pictures on their website. There are lots of trees, the sites are spacious, there’s a pool that opened on Memorial Day weekend and a trolley stop right at the entrance. Gatlinburg, Pidgeon Forge and Sevierville have free trolleys that take you in and around the area – I’m sure they are meant to cut back on congestion. We had a great site backing onto a creek. The staff and owners were friendly and very helpful. The only drawback is the location. Thankfully, we were north of town but the campground is right on Highway 321 – so it’s noisy when we’re sitting outside.
Our Campsite at Twin Creeks
When we checked in, Barbara gave us a 2-inch stack of brochures about the area, the park and all there is to do in the three towns. It took some time to wade through all the information and we found that there were some things to do there that appealed to our sensibilities. We made some plans. We had hoped to bicycle in the park but being a mountain park, it is very hilly and more importantly the roads are narrow without any shoulders. However, there is a loop around Cades Cove that is closed to automobiles on Wednesdays and we biked that loop. We actually biked it three Wednesdays in a row!
My nifty Merlin app told me the bird I heard in the mornings was this guy - a Carolina Wren.
We visited two of the Welcome Centers, took a tour with a 7th Generation Hill Billy (his description), checked out the Arts and Crafts Community, did some chores, visited Pidgeon Forge (OMG it is even more like the CNE midway) and entertained a Black Bear on our patio. He/she scooted over a tree that fell across the creek.
We celebrated Misty’s 19th birthday at Twin Creeks.
We also experienced a severe thunderstorm while staying at Twin Creeks. The creek that ran behind our site swelled dramatically during the storm.
After the Storm
After letting the dye set for a day of two, we rinsed and washed our Tie Die shirts started at the Spacious Skies Park. Here are the results.
Jerry's
Elizabeth's ... Misty didn't make one.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP)
Some stuff we discovered about this magnificent park. The mountains are very old – among the oldest in the world formed around 300 million years ago. The Smokies are part of the Appalachians, their tops are worn and rounded and for the most part completely tree covered. The range is from the east coast of the US, up through Newfoundland and over to Scotland. I wonder if this very old mountain range is found in South America?
The name Smokey Mountains comes from the bluish haze that covers the mountains. This haze or fog comes from the moisture released by the lush vegetation.
The area is considered a temperate rainforest and is second only to Washington State for the highest precipitation in the country. The moist warm air from the Gulf hits the mountain range and then it rains here … a lot. We fortunately had some lovely days. An expression I heard often from the locals was “a pretty day.” I like that, we had many pretty days here.
The park is lush and green with fast flowing rivers, cold clear water, rocks and rapids, lots of burbling creeks, waterfalls and plentiful wildlife. It is a sanctuary for salamanders – many different kinds. We heard that the wild turkey population exploded this year. We also encountered bears and elk in the park and heard about a rare sighting of a bobcat crossing the road in Cades Cove.
There are more species of trees in the national park (180) than there are in all of Europe (86) and over 1,400 species of flowering plans. We saw so many kinds of Rhododendrons throughout the park. When we first arrived, the lovely Mountain Laurel was in bloom and at the end of our visit, a few Rhododendrons were blossoming.
Mountain Laurel
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, established in 1934, is the most visited national park in the whole of the US, with over 14 million recreational visits in 2021. That’s more than Yosemite, Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon combined. This is a quiet time of year for them. We don’t want to think of what it’s like in July and August and the Autumn.
This park is unusual because it was put together piecemeal by a citizen-led park commission. Many of the wealthier people in the Knoxville area purchased land and summered in the Smokies. Some foresighted people felt the area should be preserved and started buying parcels of land, which were later donated to create the park for the enjoyment of all people. In the 1920s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pledged a matching grant of $5 million dollars to buy land for the park. Because of its origins, the GSMN has never charged admission to visit. However, recently they have begun charging a parking fee of $5/day.
Not everyone was happy about the creation of the park – many people who lived in the area did not want to sell or leave their land. Special accommodations were made to allow land owners to live in the park until they died but their descendants could not. However, many families did not stay as life was just too difficult in the mountains after the park was created. The park rules severely limited their activities.
There is so much history in this area. Who knows how long ago the first nations people first came here. There is evidence that the Cherokees and their ancestors were hunting and living in the Cades Cove area for thousands of years – since 8000 BC. The first nations peoples lived in the Smokies until they were driven out of Tennessee to Arkansas and the Indian Territories (now Oklahoma) along the Trail of Tears. Just outside the park in North Carolina there is a reserve and a town called Cherokee.
Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC)
The original park infrastructure was built by the Civilian Conservation Corp, much of which is still functional. The CCC was a federal program during the depression. Young unmarried, unemployed men could sign-up to work for $30/month. Twenty-five dollars of their pay was sent home to their families and they could spend the remaining $5 on themselves.
We have been to many places/parks that were built by the men of the CCC – national parks like Acadia, White Sands, and others in Arizona park.
In the GSMNP, the CCC built the roads, trails and scenic lookouts. The various tunnels throughout the park were built by the CCC. When the tunnels needed to be taller for more modern traffic, the road was lowered to preserve the original tunnel construction.
Canada had a similar program and work was done in many Canadian national parks – like the Fortress in Louisburg, Nova Scotia. I am impressed that our governments’ attempts to alleviate the hardships of the depression choose to use the program to preserve amazing wild spaces and significant historical sites across the continent.
We enjoyed our time spent in the GSMNP and we’ll tell you about those adventures in upcoming blogs.
So long for now.
Love from,
Jerry, Elizabeth, Misty*, FJ (Flat Jesus), the Guys, Miss Adventure Too and Clifford the Big Red Truck
* At the time of publishing we are actually at home. We recently said goodbye to our beloved Misty, a remarkable cat who lived a life full of adventure and travel. Misty reached the age of 19 in May, while we were camping near Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Unfortunately, due to age and illness, we had to bid her farewell shortly after returning home. Misty was an exceptional feline, having visited every province and territory in Canada except Nunavut, many American states and had placed her paws in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans. Of Course, she was with us throughout this trip and will be signing off while we catch-up with the upcoming blogs.
We will miss her dearly.
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