Gatllinburg and the Smokie Mountians

We headed East and wound our way to Gatlinburg at the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

We drove from Gatlinburg to Cades Cove through the park. One hour and 24 miles later we were rewarded with Buildings dating from the early 1800's This is a church that served the community living there at that time.

The village at the end of the loop consisted of buildings from the 1800's Here a water wheel was still functioning, grinding wheat into flour. It's the best one I have ever seen.




Bears are prevalent in the mountains and we saw three sets of Mom and cubs on our 11mile loop.






A three mile round trip hike to Laurel falls completed the day. Once again it was back home and a dip in the pool.






Friday we headed up to Clingmans Dome at the top of the park. It's a 20 mile drive up and ends at 6600 feet with a spectacular view.





At the top there is a observation tower with a great 360 degree view of the park. What a beautiful place.

Another view on the way down and then off to another three mile hike to the Grotto.

We completed our visit in the park and spent the next day wandering around Gatlinburg. It's a crazy town and not the quaint little village we had hoped for. Off to Asheville on Sunday to visit the Biltmore Mansion. More from there.