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Great Smoky Mountains National Park |
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View from the Newfound Gap Road |
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Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail |
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Paved trail through the woods |
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View from Morton Overlook |
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State line marker at Newfound Gap |
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The Appalachian Trail at Newfound Gap |
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Street signs in Cherokee, North Carolina |
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| On
a recent trip to the Southeast for a summertime conference,
Megan Edwards found herself with time on her hands and
a favorite road trip calling her name. She headed straight
for Great Smoky Mountains National Park, whose misty vistas
and rhododendron-covered hillsides attract more visitors
than any other national park in the country. Crowded?
Yes. But a day spent traveling the Newfound Gap Road,
even in high summer, offered nothing but beautiful, green
forest solitude. |
The Great Smoky Mountains have an irresistible
pull. When I realized I had a couple of days at the end of
a conference I was attending in Atlanta recently, I checked
a map to see what nearby routes seemed the most alluring for
a quick summer jaunt. I was thinking of covering some new
ground, but in the end, it was the good old Smokies
that called my name.
The Smokies don't have the sky-scraping peaks
of the Rockies or the thousand-foot waterfalls of Yosemite.
They don't boast gigantic sequoias or vast glacial ice fields.
In fact, their main claim on the record book is that they
attract more visitors than any other national park in the
United States. But what exactly is the attraction?
I think it's more than the park's convenient
location. The misty vistas and rhododendron-covered slopes
of the Smokies are quintessential, all-American scenes. These
are the mountains you go over to get to Grandma's house, the
ones "she'll be comin' 'round" when she comes. I've
never lived in the Smokies, but when I visit, I always feel
as though I've come home to the heartland.
Although you could easily spend a week in Great
Smoky Mountains National Park, a day is all you need to drive
the 29-mile Newfound
Gap Road, which cuts through the mountains in the middle
of the park. It's even enough time for a hike or a side trip.
I stayed overnight in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, which is just
north of Gatlinburg, the other tourist Mecca on the north
side of the park. These towns have enough tourist traps per
square foot to rival Orlando, Florida, but the stucco dinosaurs
and multistory water slides end abruptly at the park border.
(So do the restaurants and grocery stores, so if you go, eat
first or pack a picnic.)
Summer is peak tourist season in the Smokies,
and I was a little concerned about bumper-to-bumper traffic
and finding a place to park at the viewing points. Stopping
at the Sugarlands Visitor Center did nothing to allay my fears.
I did find a place to park, but the place was mobbed. Even
so, I bought a packet of maps and pamphlets about routes and
trails in the park without even waiting in line. The Smokies
may attract hordes of visitors, but the National Park Service
has learned to accommodate them.
After perusing my new maps, I decided I had time
to backtrack a bit and drive a scenic loop accessible from
Gatlinburg with the appealing name of "Roaring
Fork Motor Nature Trail." This narrow, one-way paved
road (no RVs!) winds through old-growth forests past old cabins,
grist mills, streams and waterfalls. It's only five miles
long, but I was glad I had plenty of time to take it slow.
It made the experience much more like a hike than a drive,
especially when red taillights in front of me forced me to
stop completely. At first I thought I'd had the misfortune
of being caught behind a breakdown on a one-lane road, but
the real reason for the stop was far more enchanting: A young
black bear was rummaging in the underbrush near the side of
the road.
Several parking areas along the road provide
access to old structures and trailheads. I stopped at Noah
"Bud" Ogle's farm, where it's possible to see how
the Roaring Fork loop has been cobbled together from old mountain
paths that once wormed their way through the forest to the
various homesteads and outbuildings.
Back on the Newfound Gap Road, I headed south
through Sugarlands Valley. The road follows the West Prong
of the Little Pigeon River, through a lush but young hardwood
forest that has grown up since the land was reclaimed from
farmland. "Quiet walkways" are marked by signs every
few miles, and there were plenty of places to park and enjoy
them. The Smokies are plenty big enough to absorb the summertime
crowds and give everyone a taste of green forest solitude.
At Campbell Overlook, I paused for a misty view
of Mount LeConte; at 6,593 feet, it is the third-highest peak
in the Smokies. Back in 1989, I hiked to the summit and now
I wished I had the time for a return trip. It's an all-day
hike, however, so I just spent some time remembering the climb
through the different life zones to the lodge at the top.
The road winds higher as it twists through the
mountains. A tunnel built in the 1930s disguises "The
Loop," the spot where the road crosses over itself to
ease the steep ascent. The altitude gain is reflected in the
foliage as the road rises. The rhododendron bloom on the lower
slopes ended months ago, but on the high banks of the river,
it was springtime in July. The white and light-pink flowers
were so spectacular that it was hard to believe they were
actually growing wild.
I pulled off the road at Morton Overlook. At
4,887 feet, it offers a panoramic view of the Little Pigeon
River; I could even see the road I had just traveled snaking
across the valley floor. The trees up here are spruce and
fir, and the air was noticeably cooler.
If you can stop at only one point along the Newfound
Gap Road, stop at the gap itself. At 5,048 feet, it's the
road's highest point and the lowest pass through the mountains.
It was named "Newfound Gap" because until its discovery
in the 1850s, everybody thought that Indian Gap, another pass
to the west, was the easiest route through the Smokies.
From Newfound Gap, which marks the border between
Tennessee and North Carolina, you can see for miles to both
the east and west. The Rockefeller Memorial, which straddles
the state line, is an impressive stone monument honoring the
$5 million donation from the Rockefeller Foundation that helped
purchase the land for the national park in the 1930s. The
other item of interest at the Newfound Gap viewing point is
the Appalachian Trail. Sixty-nine of the trail's 2,144 miles
lie within the boundaries of the Great Smoky Mountains National
Park. Now I can boast that I've walked on it, even though
I can claim only about a hundred yards.
It's all downhill from Newfound Gap. I had to
pass up another side trip that looked enticing. The seven-mile
road to Clingman's Dome rises to a parking area for a trail
to the highest point in Tennessee. From the observation tower,
you can see seven states on a clear day.
I moseyed on back down through the maples, oaks
and dogwoods, ending my day in the Smokies in Cherokee, North
Carolina. While reminiscent of Gatlinburg in terms of tourist
traps per square foot, the town also displays its American
Indian heritage. Street signs are written in both English
and Cherokee, and there are a number of American Indian art
and jewelry galleries.
The next time I'm in the South, perhaps another
route will beckon. I almost hope not, however, because a drive
through the Smokies is a road trip worth repeating. The Newfound
Gap Road is like your grandmother's peach cobbler: You can't
get it anywhere else, and it always makes you want to come
back for more.
Megan
Edwards
September 3, 2007
