Experiencing Fall Colors at the Great Smoky Mountains

I’ve always wanted to experience the Great Smoky Mountains in the midst of the beautiful Fall season. This October, my wife Briana and I finally made that dream a reality. We packed our bags, booked a campsite in the Cades Cove Campground, and spent 4 wonderful days enjoying the outdoors.

When I say wonderful, I mean challenging, rewarding, difficult, breathtaking, and refreshing. A trip of this sort is not without its challenges, but we’re thankful we carved out the time and explored the most popular national park in the country!

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Since we entered the park on the Cades Cove side, we drove through the quaint town of Townsend. It was a rainy, dreary day and as we passed by the Dancing Bean Coffee shop, we were lured in by the warm, inviting glow. It was a delicious way to start our adventure.

This poster reminded me of my good friend David who used to fly fish in Tennessee. I miss you Dave!

The picture below of our campsite is misleading, because when we arrived it was raining steadily. We actually had to set up our entire campsite in the rain, which was not a pleasant experience. We managed to get everything set up without having a complete meltdown, but there were some tense moments. The next day when we met the sweet family next to us, we learned that we had provided quite the entertainment for their children!

So this photo is from our last day at the site, when it was nice and sunny and warm :).

Before we left on our trip, we had an entire itinerary planned out. However, the unexpected rain on the first night kind of threw a wrench into our plans. So we rolled with the punches and came up with a Plan B on the fly. That meant our first full day was spent hiking the trail to Gregory Bald, near Cades Cove. It’s a difficult 11 mile round trip hike, but rewarded us with beautiful fall colors along the way, and magnificent views of the Smoky Mountains at the top.

We made it to the top and enjoyed a late lunch in the sun. There was a whipping breeze that kept us from feeling completely comfortable while we ate. But thankfully Briana found a sheltered area with bushes that mostly kept the wind at bay.

The next day, we set out to hike the Alum Cave Trail, which is located between Cades Cove and Gatlinburg. The winding road that joins those two destinations has to be one of the prettiest roads in the country. It follows the river all the way and provides some spectacular views.

Ever since we first met, Briana has been telling me about her trip to Mt. Leconte several years ago. She went with a group of ladies from her church, and it was apparently a very meaningful experience. Because of this, she was adamant that we hike to Mt. Leconte ourselves during this trip.

But yet again, it seemed the weather would not allow. The temperatures were fairly cold for this time of year, and we got a late start on our second day of hiking. We decided it would be best if we only hiked to Alum Cave, instead of going all the way to the top of Mt. Leconte. Still, there were some stunning sites to be seen along this trail.

Much to our delight, we ended up making great time as we hiked to Alum Cave. On top of that, it wasn’t nearly as cold at higher elevations as we’d anticipated. So we decided to go for it, and hike to Mt. Leconte after all.

Boy are we glad we did. This breathtaking view from the top made the whole journey worth it.

We enjoyed another late lunch, this time at the Mt. Leconte Lodge. We also had the chance to read some history about the lodge and see some really old photos. It’s a neat operation.

As we descended back down, we were greeted by a beautiful blue sky backdrop at Alum Cave.

I’m thankful for my faithful trail sidekick :).

A winding creek meanders along the bottom portion of the Alum Cave Trail. It was looking exceptionally serene in the late afternoon sunlight.

As we drove back to Cades Cove, we noticed a gorgeous display of color across the valley, just after the sun had set.

The final day of our trip started bright and early. We had already driven the Cades Cove loop earlier in the week on our trek to Gregory Bald. However, I was eager to stop and enjoy some early morning photographic opportunities, and Briana was eager for another hike. So we set out on foot this time, which is actually a great way to enjoy the loop.

We walked straight past a huge line of cars that were waiting for the gates to open. Pedestrians are allowed in even before the gates open, and we suddenly found ourselves alone in Cades Cove!

Suddenly the sound of a stampede caught our attention, and we looked in the distance to see a team of horses rushing through the valley. It was a marvelous sight to behold.

We ended up hiking for a solid 2 hours and soaking up the morning mist around Cades Cove. Two separate times, we came upon creek crossings that were too high to simply walk across. Each time, I picked Briana up and carefully waded across some stones in my hiking boots. I truly felt like a prince rescuing his damsel in distress.

At last, it was time to head home, but not before stopping for a delicious lunch in Townsend. Afterwards, we let lunch settle in our stomachs while we browsed the local country store. I was particularly intrigued by a set of books I found. There was one for almost each year, and they chronicled many important events and milestones from that particular year. The idea was to find your year of birth, and see what our country was like at time.

I found the 1985 book, and was astonished at how things have changed since I was born. I especially found the the difference in cost of living hard to believe.

Before we left, I had to take a peek at the Smoky Mountains from the sky. So up went my trusty aerial camera for one last view of this beautiful landmark.