How to Spend 3 Days in Great Smoky Mountains National Park with Kids

Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited national park in the country with upwards of 14 million visitors per year. The Blue Ridge Mountains and part of the Appalachian trail run through the borders of Tennessee and North Carolina. We went in March as part of our Fourth Grade Pass tour.

History

According to the Tennessee State Museum,

The Smokies got their name from the Cherokee people. They called it “Shaconage” (shah-con-ah-jey) which means “place of the blue smoke.” The name comes from the blue mist that floats above the peaks of the mountains.

The museum at the Ocunaluftee visitor center has a great exhibit on the human history of the area. Farmers who settled in the mountains came on hard times when logging upset the area. Some resisted the creation of the National Park in 1926 and the fact they had to move, while others were glad for the payment offered.

I also learned that one of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps was turned into a camp for Conscientious Objectors (COs) during WWII. They continued to build trails and help upkeep the park instead of fighting in the war.

Read more on the NPS park history website.

Day 1

We arrived late afternoon, in time to visit the Gatlinburg Visitor Center. We also walked the Nature Trail that leaves from the visitor center down to Cataract Falls. A volunteer gave my 9yo a scavenger hunt paper which helped her identify plants, observe landmarks, and generally stay engaged.

I asked a volunteer the best place to see the sunset, and she recommended driving up Foothills Parkway. We went about 20 minutes and found a nice place to have a picnic dinner while we watched the sun go down.

Laurel Falls

This is a very popular route because it’s semi-paved, close to Gatlinburg, and very pretty. We had to drive a bit to find parking so it was about a 20-minute walk to the trailhead. One ambitious person even took a stroller up (I wouldn’t recommend it). There are number markers on the way up and we took breaks at those. There were a lot of opportunities to go slightly off-trail and climb, but I didn’t let my kiddo do that until the way down. My name means laurel-crowned so I enjoyed seeing the laurel trees and the waterfall named like me!

Cade’s Cove

This driving tour took roughly 4 hours. It’s a one-way loop, with a few opportunities to cut off early. I really enjoyed this part because of the opportunity to see historical cabins, mills, and churches. You can easily pull over and stop to get out and look around at several points. It’s more open fields with mountains in the background and lets you imagine what it was like to live there in the early 1900s. It’s also a good place to look for wildlife - we saw deer and wild turkeys.

Gatlinburg

We opted to stay here for location and because we got a good deal on a hotel with an indoor pool. Gatlinburg is kind of cheesy with a lot of “experiences” like an earthquake ride and Ripley’s stuff. We ate pizza at Gatlinburg brewery and breakfast at Donut Friar and just walked around for a bit.

Newfound Gap

On our third day, we drove through Newfound Gap. The chimney-shaped rocks are fun to see, especially when it seems like smoke is escaping from them. It was rainy and VERY foggy, so we only got out to explore on Chimney Top Trail (where we saw beautiful, rocky water). As we drove up Newfound Gap, it got colder, and there were frozen cataracts (small waterfalls) on the sides of the mountains. The peak offered zero views for us due to fog, but it was still a pretty drive. I loved the Ocunaluftee Museum, but wished we had saved time to see the Cherokee museum in Cherokee.

Mammoth Cave Adventures

The zip-lining course at Mammoth Cave Adventures is wonderful. It has 5 long zip lines through tree canopies, a bit of short hiking, some rope bridges, a ladder up a tree, and it ends with an ATV ride. It was gorgeous and adrenaline-fueling. With more time/money, we’d do horseback riding as well.

Junior Ranger

As usual, I recommend getting the junior ranger book. They were out of it in the Gatlinburg visitor center, but we found one in Cade’s Cove. She enjoyed telling us facts she learned about bears (sadly, we didn’t see one). And, I was proud of her when she told the ranger who swore her in that the park needed more wheelchair-accessible trails. The NPS is making a concerted effort to improve accessibility, but there is a long way to go.

Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited national park in the country with upwards of 14 million visitors per year. The Blue Ridge Mountains and part of the Appalachian trail run through the borders of Tennessee and North Carolina. We went in March