One of the most visited parks in the National Park System and we can see why. Over the years we have visited the park many times and it never disappoints. In 2021 a little over 14 million people visited the The Smoky Mountains National Park. That’s a lot peoples lives that have been affected by the beauty found there.

We spent a total of three nights dry camping in The Elkmont Campground. The facilities were very nice and well maintained; but the overall feel is very rustic. As anyone that has ever camped there knows, that’s the draw of Elkmont. If you want to “disconnect” from the world, this is your place. Cell service is non existent in the area but we had Starlink to get some signal.

Our time in the park was a wet and cold one; but we had a blast. You see, the thing about The Smoky Mountains National Park is that no matter what season or time you visit, it turns on the charm.
We drove and we hiked Cades Cove, Clingmans Dome and a couple of small trails.

Like Old Faithful in Yellowstone, Clingmans Dome is that must visit “attraction”. We parked and walked to the top of the observation tower and the vistas were nothing short of spectacular. The earliest of Americans, 1000’s of years ago, considered much of this land to be sacred and many of the traditions carry through to today. Cades Cove also is one of those must see places. The history that abounds will make your head spin. To think about what those early settlers must have thought when they laid eyes on “The Valley”; thoughts of “The Promise Land” must have danced in their heads. The beauty and fertility of the land was like no other.

As with the exploration of Clingmans Dome and Cades Cove the remainder of our time spent in The Smoky Mountains National Park was nothing short of awe inspiring. Even with the weather we got in a couple of small hikes, drove around a lot and visited a couple of visitor centers. Not to mention getting our Great Smoky Mountain National Park Stamps. Go out and visit our National Parks. They have been set aside for all of us to enjoy.

Below the pictures is our Smoky Mountain National Park video. Watch it on YouTube if you would like and it would be great if you could like and subscribe to our channel. We appreciate your time.