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Smoky Mountains Knoxville/Gatlinburg/Asheville

NIUHuskies

By NIUHuskies
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Marshall_Lucky

Marshall_Lucky 624

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No experience at Dollywood or Twitty City or any of that shit.

Asheville: Thirsty Monk downtown for brews https://monkpub.com/downtown-asheville/

Admiral for vittles: https://www.theadmiralasheville.com

“They” ( stinky hippies)used to have a sweet drum circle right around the corner from the Monk. In case one is seeking a mind-altering night-cap.

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Dontshootrude

Dontshootrude 374

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On 10/11/2020 at 9:07 PM, SimonBolivar said:

Hike SMNP and then get out of Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg to Asheville as fast as possible.

Lock thread. Unless you can count your teeth on one hand Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge is a shit hole.  Asheville is awesome and Pisgah national forest is amazing. Concentrate your efforts there.

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Pato del Muerto

Pato del Muerto 52485

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Traffic in Asheville suuuuucks but if you’re used to dealing with traffic I guess it’s no different. 

the Estes-Winn car museum is a little place in Asheville that could always use some patronage. 
 

down in Brevard, there’s a bunch of waterfalls in the pisgah National Forest area, I’m sure there’s trails to be found there. 

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jdhorn92

jdhorn92 1545

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Did that scene couple Spring Breaks ago. Grove Park Inn is great, stayed there two nights; there is a "newish" area and the old Inn.  My crew of 6 (had MIL with us) wouldn't fit in the older part so we opted for adjoining rooms in the new tower; awesome place, though they got rid of the dueling wood-burning fire places in lieu of gas burning, just not the same, but still cool.

 

The Biltmore is worth the hassel of walking through a mega mansion.  Pay a little more for the valet, and drive right up to the sombitch, also get the audio tour thingamajig.

Dollywood is actually a pretty good themepark if you're in to that, my kids were.  Its clean and has some sweet rides. 

Grotto Falls is a great little hike, probably about 2-3 mile round trip, watch out for the scat.  Also watch out for the llama brigade; they use them for pack mules to stock a cafe or something at top of the trail, kind of a pain to let them pass, slows the whole trail down, otherwise great; the drive down (one way thankfully) provides many stops for scenic pictures, meadows , historic cabins and shit. 

The town of Gatlinburg is Panama City minus the beach, so take that for what its worth.

 

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midtown

midtown 3345

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When I moved from NYC to Texas the wife and I drove.  Stopped in DC/Annapolis down through the smokies, into Alabama, NOLA, and home.  Spent one night at the inn on the AT in the Shenandoah National Park then we stayed and a great little B&B in Sevierville.   It was close enough to the Smokies National Park but far enough not to be jammed up with the tourists.   Seriously one of the most beautiful places in the USA.  I'm embarrassed that I have not been back with my kids.

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9429

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On 12/19/2020 at 6:12 PM, midtown said:

When I moved from NYC to Texas the wife and I drove.  Stopped in DC/Annapolis down through the smokies, into Alabama, NOLA, and home.  Spent one night at the inn on the AT in the Shenandoah National Park then we stayed and a great little B&B in Sevierville.   It was close enough to the Smokies National Park but far enough not to be jammed up with the tourists.   Seriously one of the most beautiful places in the USA.  I'm embarrassed that I have not been back with my kids.

I knew as soon as I saw this thread was bumped I was going to regret clicking it...

we had an Airbnb lined up in Sevierville this week.

called it off a couple of weeks ago. Just decided it wasn’t worth the drive from Austin with an 8 and 6 yo (they did a road trip with their mom to Colorado for thanksgiving...my girlfriend and I did a road trip to Montana in july, so we’ve all had our share of road tripping this year)...and while the idea of kicking back and laying low and doing a whole lot of nothing sounded appealing, we’ve been kicking back, laying low and doing a whole lot of nothing for 9 months now so decided to pass on the 26 hrs round trip.

but maybe I’ll get serious and re-schedule for the fall next year to see the leaves turn

Edited by UTexasFight
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Walden Ponderer

Walden Ponderer 12639

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I love Stone Mountain here in NC, but if you do decide to visit during the pandemic, you gotta show up early. The park is extremely serious about social distancing, all the moreso since the locals are (ahem!) hillbilly dumbasses.

There are a ton of really great cafes all up and down the Blue Ridge Parkway, but again, be prepared for the locals to have questionable hygiene. We're not eating out up in the mountains again until the Rona is over, because we don't have a death wish.

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Knoxtnhorn

Knoxtnhorn 5971

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When we lived in Knoxville, we did a yearly cabin trip with 6-8 other families.  Nicer cabins can turn pretty cheap when you start splitting the cost by family.

A nicer, one-room cabin will run you about $200-$300.  A nicer, eight-room cabin ran us about $200 for the entire weekend.

Anyway, Gatlinburg is kind of like a cruise.  The scenery is nice, it's fun with the right people, the food can be good, the excursions can be fun BUT... as soon as you get around the crowds, it goes downhill rather quickly. Getting in and out can be a disaster if you don't time it correctly.  Visiting the actual city is also somewhat of a clusterF.  Imagine a large, open-air Wal-Mart.  

The best thing to do is give yourself plenty of time to get there, then plan your trip around the vicinity of the cabin.  Relax.  Hike.  Drink.  Head down to the city ONCE.  Do not plan your trip around the city proper.

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Al_4_ISU

Al_4_ISU 12451

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I've never been through this area, but have always had a lot of interest.

What's the best time to be out there?  Mid April - late May and mid September - Thanksgiving are out for unavailable for me due to work.  I generally like to go to heavily wooded areas when there is less foliage, but I'm not sure what the sweet spot between winter and "full bush" would be.  Or is the summer a great time to go?

I love hiking, mountain biking, and craft beer, so the Asheville/Smokies area seems like a slam dunk given my interests.  The hang up has always been that Colorado is closer, and assumedly less crowded.  At least it was.

Edited by Al_4_ISU
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BBQ2Bayou

BBQ2Bayou 807

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I'm in this thread, too. Trying to find a place in the Smokies for this summer. I'll have my elderly folks who will want to drive around the mountains and check out little shopping places and restaurants. The other 7 of us will want to hike, fish, fuck around in general. Nothing specific. 

Maybe a cabin or a couple cabins close to each other. It can't be too off the grid, but Gatlinburg sounds not what we want, either. 

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KYHorn

KYHorn 17014

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On 10/15/2020 at 11:44 PM, Dontshootrude said:

Lock thread. Unless you can count your teeth on one hand Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge is a shit hole.  Asheville is awesome and Pisgah national forest is amazing. Concentrate your efforts there.

Any recs on hikes and or sights in Pisgah? Going there next week. 

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CleverNickname

CleverNickname 1308

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Just did a few days at GSM. Weather: rain every day. In the park: get up early for for Falls / Abrams Falls / Grotto Falls. Parking limited. My fav thing after a sweaty summer hike was swimming in the Little River between the Sinks and the Wye (near Meigs Creek).

We did rafting on the Upper Pigeon Rover one afternoon- prettt fun. Near Pisgah you must definitely do Sliding Rock. We also hiked in Dupont Forest. Excellent waterfall hikes, do Triple & High Falls, then over to Hooker Falls where you can swim..

So yeah... basically every day we swam in the afternoon... because it's summer and it gets hot (mayne Clingman Dome is still cool later morning). The rivers aren't Rockies snowmelt cold, they are refreshing. 

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Gale Snoats

Gale Snoats 242

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The area around brevard cashiers and highlands is awesome. Highlands is a cool little town with a few nice hotels and some good restaurants. There are a ton of great hikes very close to town. Beautiful drive from Asheville. Tons of great golf courses. Very green and lush. Highlands is 4500 ft. High of low 70s in the summer.

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CleverNickname

CleverNickname 1308

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We saw a baby beaver in Sapphire. It was so damn cute I peed a little.

I'd never really spent time in the Appalachia mountains aside from Maine, but one thing I noticed is that holy shit people are so fucking fat. In Colorado and Washington/Oregon, people look ready and able to hike. Up in the GSM, people look 'bout to die 100 yards from the trailhead. Some look like stepping out of the car was a struggle. Clingman Dome was paved in the bloated corpses of its victims, red faced and panting. So many people on the way down stopped us to give us a pep talk. Like dude, this is a paved nothing burger. We got this. (of course National parks skew to the olds, but still).

Also, we saw a ton of black bears. And I think my kids could have taken one when they were three. Now the pitties being hauled up the hikes in the national forest... those are some fucking beasts. 

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Dontshootrude

Dontshootrude 374

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On 7/19/2024 at 11:37 PM, KYHorn said:

Any recs on hikes and or sights in Pisgah? Going there next week. 

Sorry just now seeing this.

We did Ivestor Gap Trail, Tennent Mountain, and Black Balsam Knob Loop.  It wasn't very difficult and it was beautiful.  

Edited by Dontshootrude
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KYHorn

KYHorn 17014

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1 minute ago, Dontshootrude said:

Sorry just now seeing this.

We did Ivestor Gap Trail, Tennent Mountain, and Black Balsam Knob Loop that wasn't very difficult but beautiful.  

We ended up doing the Cat Gap Trail to John Rock Loop hike. It was about 6 miles but not too strenuous and overall excellent.

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lonestarsooner

lonestarsooner 121

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12 year old son and I are looking at a boys trip in September. We were thinking Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg but that has changed to Asheville after reading this thread. Any recs for cabins on the mountain for lodging in that area. Seems like there are a ton of them when I look online. Anyone have a favorite or one they had a great experience with? 

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Baboontyme

Baboontyme 2809

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3 hours ago, lonestarsooner said:

12 year old son and I are looking at a boys trip in September. We were thinking Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg but that has changed to Asheville after reading this thread. Any recs for cabins on the mountain for lodging in that area. Seems like there are a ton of them when I look online. Anyone have a favorite or one they had a great experience with? 

Not sure what your kid is like or what you have planned but Asheville is more adult/hipster/bar/foodie scene. If you're planning on spending most of your time on the trails that doesn't really matter I guess. If your 12 year old likes 12 year old stuff you may want to look at a cabin above Gatlinburg. Still plenty of hiking and outdoorsy stuff in the area plus go carts, mountain coasters, pizza joints, etc. 

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Baboontyme

Baboontyme 2809

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I would look at the West side of Gatlinburg up Ski Mountain road. Really cool up there and bears galore. Plus you can easily hit the bypass without going into town to get around traffic and go into Pigeon Forge and back. Also if you are willing to drive an hour or so, there is ww rafting near the NC border.

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Updawg

Updawg 2266

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I would look at the West side of Gatlinburg up Ski Mountain road. Really cool up there and bears galore. Plus you can easily hit the bypass without going into town to get around traffic and go into Pigeon Forge and back. Also if you are willing to drive an hour or so, there is ww rafting near the NC border.

We stayed up the mountain where the gondola goes two summers ago. At the top is a place with fun stuff for kids. Right by the park entrance etc. so it was easy to get to. you don’t want to mess with staying in gatlinburg or pigeon ford unless you like tourist hell. We had a vrbo and it was good. There are tons

Asheville is like they said above

We did river rafting at a place in between which I think was mentioned above. It was fun and your kid would like.
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Baboontyme

Baboontyme 2809

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37 minutes ago, Updawg said:


We stayed up the mountain where the gondola goes two summers ago. At the top is a place with fun stuff for kids. Right by the park entrance etc. so it was easy to get to. you don’t want to mess with staying in gatlinburg or pigeon ford unless you like tourist hell. We had a vrbo and it was good. There are tons

Asheville is like they said above

We did river rafting at a place in between which I think was mentioned above. It was fun and your kid would like.

Ober. Yeah the place I have stayed at a few times is just down the road from there and the gondola goes directly over the property. 

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