I had never been to the great smoky mountains before and that one time I do go, I went twice in a month. I spent the 4th of July weekend in the Smokies with my family celebrating my cousin and brother-in-law’s wedding anniversary and I spent the 3rd weekend of July in the Smokies with some of my closest friends for one of their 25th birthdays. Originally my friend and I were planning on flying into Nashville (BNA) and then drive (3 Hours) up to the Smokies but due to the pandemic, my friend and I ended up driving to Nashville, stayed a night there, and left the next morning for the Smokies.
- Before I begin taking you guys through the logistics, I want to make it clear that a weekend trip will not satisfy depending on where you’re coming from. For example, if you’re driving from Chicago like me then it’s a 10 hours drive including all the gas/food breaks. It does not logically make any sense to drive 10 hours Friday night, get there super late and then leave early Sunday morning in order to be back in Chicago late evening. You will be more tired of being in a car.
- You will need at least 3 nights and 4 days.
Today I will go through:
1) Cities I stayed in
2) Airbnbs that we booked
3) Activities you can do
4) Trails you can hike
5) Food
1. Cities to stay in
I stayed in two different cities while I was visiting the National Park
1) Gatlinburg, Tennessee (4th of July Weekend)
- Gatlinburg is that cute little town you would expect in the middle of a national park. A lot of mom and pops breakfast places, small outdoor restaurants, coffee shops, souvenir shops, and local food carts/shops with some of the most unheard things to eat such as fried Oreos. Yes, I’ve heard of fried Oreos before but wasn’t until the time I was in Gatlinburg, I got to try them.
- This is the town where you will see most of the things to do. From moonshine tasting to eating all sorts of fast food to souvenir shops. All the touristy things I would say.
- There are a couple of options you can choose from when staying in Gatlinburg. You can either stay on the strip (parkway) or a little bit secluded in the mountains. For the best experience, I would say, stay in the mountains for 2 nights and spend 1 night in the town/at one of the hotels on the strip.
2) Sevierville, Tennessee (3rd Weekend of July)
- Sevierville is actually very secluded. It has a small “shopping” center with an Aldi and some small locally owned restaurants but nothing sort of what Gatlinburg has to offer. I personally liked my stay at Sevierville a little bit more because of how secluded it was from the rest of the town.
- If you want to visit the main strip of Gatlinburg, not worry because it’s a quick 18-20 minute drive, which is what we did. We stayed up in the mountains but came down once a day to do some activities, grab food to go, grocery shopping, and other things.
2. Airbnbs we booked for our stay
1) For our stay in Gatlinburg, Tennessee: We stayed at “Mountain Top Retreat – 2 Bedroom at The Summit” here is a link to the exact Airbnb listing that we booked: link
- This was like an apartment complex at the top of the mountains and we had the ground floor unit to ourselves which was nice. We didn’t have to carry our luggage up the stairs. And since it was an apartment complex, there were other people living there in the same building which was not a problem at all but I wanted to make that clear so it’s not a surprise if you were to book this place. Since it’s a part of the homeowner’s association, it also had a small indoor and outdoor pool as well. We had a small balcony that looked out to the lush green mountains that the smokies are known for.
- Cell service was not so great up there but the BnB does have wifi
- This location is also great if you want to see the wildlife in its natural habitat and by wildlife, I mean bears. Every morning around 8/9 am we saw one to two bears just roaming around under our balcony.
- Attention: if you do stay at this location, it is completely against the law to feed these bears, I think it’s an $800 fine if they catch you.
- After talking to a couple of the locals around the complex, I learned that the reason why we aren’t allowed to throw them food is that then they get used to it and come looking for food every day which leads to the government coming in, catching the bear and moving it to another location.
2) When I was back 2 weeks after, for our stay in Sevierville, Tennessee: We stayed at “”Lost In the Clouds’ Cabin w/Private Pond + Views!” here is a link to the exact Airbnb listing that we booked: Link
- This was my favorite location. It was so secluded that we barely saw any people up there and since it’s so up in the mountains, you can see stars and the milky way with your bare eyes at night.
- Another great thing about it was that, even though it was really high up in the mountains, the cell service was really good. The cabin has wifi but we didn’t even end up using it since our phones were working completely fine. I even used it as a hotspot and connect my laptop when I had a presentation for work one of the days.
- The place was extremely secluded, cozy, and clean, giving you the ultimate homey feeling. There is no wildlife here so you won’t be able to see bears just roaming around. If you want that experience, I suggest you book the 1st place.
Gatlinburg, Tennessee 
Sevierville, Tennessee
3. Activities to do
There are a lot of things you can do besides hiking. Below are some of the ones my friends and I did and some that we didn’t get a chance to do and will be looking forward to when we’re back.
1. White Water Rafting (Upper River)
$41
– I didn’t know how huge this was in the Smokies until I went there. My cousin had initially booked it for my first trip and I liked it so much that I booked it again for when I was coming back with my friends 2 weeks later.
– Make sure to sign the wavers they send out before you get there. I know we didn’t sign ours and had to get back out of the check-in line.
– You can book your white water rafting experience here: Link
– When given an option between the upper river and lower river, pick upper. It’s way more fun and trust me, I don’t know how to swim so I had my doubts but it wasn’t scary at all.
– Address: 3299 Hartford Rd, Hartford, TN 37753
2. Moonshine Tasting at Sugarlands
$5
– Moonshine tasting is a big thing in Tennessee. It’s an alcoholic beverage so for my nondrinkers, this would not be your thing. (if you don’t drink, you can simply hang out with your party, you don’t have to pay the entrance fee/tasting fee. you can get in for free as long as you’re not drinking.
– There was a huge debate about if Ole Smoky is better than Sugarlands but after visiting both of them in a month, I would say sugar lands was way better.
– The reason why Ole Smoky is very famous is that it’s the oldest one and if I’m not wrong, it was the first one after legalization in the US.
– At Sugarlands, you will get to taste 13 different flavors of moonshine and at Ole Smoky, you will get to try 7 different flavors.
– Later, if you want to purchase a whole bottle, you can use the $5 entrance fee ticket as a $5 off coupon. You can stack them as well. So, if one of your group members does not want to buy it, you can use their entrance ticket and get $10 off.
– Get more details here: LInk
– Address: 805 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738
3. Wine tasting at Little Bear Winery
$5
– The entrance fee for this is also $5 and it works just like moonshine tasting. At the end of the tasting, if you want to purchase something, you can use the tasting ticket as a coupon.
– Sugarlands and Little Bear Winery are on the main strip so you can do both of them on the same day/time.
– You can get more information here: link
– Address: 631 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738
5. The Coaster at Goats on the Roof
$15 first and if you want to ride again, keep your ticket. It will be $5 for the re-ride.
– It’s like a roller coaster but one where up to 2 people can sit on there. You also control the speed so if you want to go slow or fast depending on where you are on the track, you can do so.
– This is located in another one of the Smoky mountain towns called Pigeon Forge. You can also stay here, they have an amusement park and all but, to be honest, you will feel a lot like a foreign tourist visiting and there is no fun in that.
– You can check out more information here: Link
– Address: 1341 Wears Valley Rd, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
6. Drive a slingshot
$113 for 3 hours
– I personally didn’t rent this because I do not know how to drive a manual but it was my friend Vishal’s 25th birthday and he really wanted to do it. He also knows how to drive manual, which is a foreign language to me.
– You will have to make sure to book well in advance as they do get filled up.
– If you know how to drive manual and really want to give this a shot, you can get more details here: Link
– Address: 544 East Pkwy, Gatlinburg, TN 37738
4. Trails you can hike
Hiking is honestly my favorite thing to do. it’s a great exercise. When I’m thinking about going hiking somewhere, the first place I look at is this website: Alltrails. It has all the trails logged in here with pictures and people’s comments from all AROUND THE WORLD.
1. Rainbow Falls
– Level: Hard, Distance: 6 miles round-trip
– We looked up this trail online and it said it was a moderate trail but I can assure you, it wasn’t. You’re constantly hiking on an incline and it does take forever to get to the falls
– I personally didn’t feel like the falls was that worth it so I wouldn’t recommend this but if you’re up for a challenge, then please tackle this one, it’ll be a great workout for the day.
2. Clingmans Dome Trail
– Level: Easy, Distance: 1.0 miles round-trip
– The reason why it’s such a short distance is that you can actually drive up really close to the trail and then it’s a quick 0.5 miles hike up.
– Check the weather before you go because, at the end of this trail, there is a huge tower that you can walk up to and see mountain ranges in all four directions. I think this is the highest peak at the Smokies. We went in the afternoon and didn’t check the weather. Guess what happened? The fog was slowly rolling in and it was just about to rain.
– Going a little bit early in the morning would also be really good.
3. Laurel Falls Trail
Level: Easy, Distance: 2.4 miles round-trip
– This trail was probably one of the easiest. It has asphalt and concrete pavement leading to the falls
4. Newfound Gap Road Drive
– This is not a trail, it’s more of a scenic drive. If you simply just put it on google maps, it will guide you there.
– There are a number of side stops that you can do and take pictures of.
5. Food
1) ThaiBasil (Lunch & Dinner Restaurant)
- After recently coming back from Asia, I was super excited to eat thai food and this restaurant does a really good job of making it. My friends got fried rice and also said it tasted really good. It’s cheap too. Since the Pandemic was/is still around, we got it to go and had it at our cabin.
- I got a Vegetarian Pad Thai with Tofu (Really recommend it)
- Menu: Link
Address: 530 Winfield Dunn Parkway Sevierville, TN 37862Tel: (865) 453 - 9339
2) Log Cabin Pancake House (Breakfast Restaurant)
- This is a really cozy breakfast place. It felt really homey inside and the service was really nice as well. We didn’t have to wait for our food and the price was also very reasonable.
- I got Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- Menu: Link
- Address: 327 Historic Nature Trail, Gatlinburg, TN 37738
- Tel: (865) 436-7894
3) Big Daddy’s Pizzeria (Dinner & Lunch Restaurant)
- This was a great quick stop for lunch. They also have parking in the back which makes it easier to pick up the food or even dine-in. Since the pandemic was/is still around, we got it to go and ate the pizza in the back of our truck.
- We got a Margarita Pizza (Really recommend it)
- Menu: Link
- Address: 714 River Rd, Gatlinburg, TN 37738
- Tel: (865)436-5455
4) Loco Burro Fresh Mexican Cantina
- This wasn’t the best place. The servers were really nice and polite but the food was okay. Some of our orders got mixed up and it took a little while for it to come to our table and it was pretty expensive. Wouldn’t really recommend it. You will also have to make reservations in advance. I remember when we went, we had to stand a line to put our name down, and then 30 minutes later, we were called for our table.
- I got Vegetarian Enchiladas with Rice and Beans
- Menu: Link
- Address: 735 Parkway #1, Gatlinburg, TN 37738
- Tel: (865) 430-5624
Below are some of the pictures I took while I was visiting the Smokies. Don’t forget to follow me on instagram @mrshutterup to follow my journey and for some more amazing pictures. Lastly, feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions!
