Gatlinburg Tennessee

I am leaving next week for a few days in the Smokies. Has any one been this time of year and could offer some good

advice to great placed to get some great pictures. I will be in a cabin for about 4 days. If you have any good info or

just some neat places to see and photograph, please fill me in..... Thanks LInda

If you want to get some great colorful action and high speed excitment shooting, you will be very close to the Tail of the Dragon, Rt 129 in Marysville Tennessee. It's 11 miles and 318 turns through the Smokey Mountains.

 

The motorcycle enthusiasts come from all over the USA and the world to ride this road.

 

Some great photo opportunities.

 

http://www.tailofthedragon.com/

I was there a little over a week ago, and the foliage is beginning to turn. It's rather nice right now. JR

Thank you both. I had a hard time getting a cabin bacause i guess it is quite the hot spot when the leaves change. I will check into the trail of the dragon... Sounds neat... Thanks. Linda

What about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park? Lots of great photo ops there.

A must see http://discoverthesmokeymountains.com/ Roaring Fork Motor Trail Water falls and just great scenery.

Linda... You'll be going at a very near to peak time (historically), but the color can vary significantly from one part of the park to the other, and especially by altitude.

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Cades Cove is a beautiful area, but is almost impassible in the Fall with so many visitors. If you go there it would be best in the very early morning or late afternoon when the windshield tourist haven't gotten up or are on their way to dinner. I recommend the Tremont area, the Elkmont (Little River) area and some of the trails off the Roaring Fork Motorway. Now all these areas are on the Tennessee side and many years we have found more color and more vivid color on the North Carolina side of the park. Up and down the Newfound Gap Road can have good color on that side.

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One of the best places, if the color is still hanging on up high, is the Blue Ridge Parkway on the southeast side of the park. Take the Parkway from just outside the Oconaluftee Visitor Center and go all the way to Waterrock Knob (and even further if the color is good). While on the NC side, you won't regret going to Cataloochee on the east side and see the color and the elk (well, the elk are a thrill to us here in the southeast anyway).

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I guess you can tell, by the flip flopping around, that you may have to just go to where the peak color is best. The Rangers do a good job at the Centers, but are deskbound and you may find the best color by just getting out and driving!

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I have a collection of Smoky pictures in my portfolio that may give you some ideas; I believe each is location specific so that you will know where I took them. Have a wonderful trip and do try "The Best Italian Restaurant" in Gatlinburg... it's very good! Mike

Cades Cove is an excellent suggestion - but you really need to avoid the weekend, especially if UT has a home game that weekend. But midweek is much different and the earlier the better for light and fewer people.

 

The town of Gatlinburg will also be filled to overflowing on the weekend if UT has a home game - they play at night in Knoxville and the faithful like to spend the day as Smoky Mtn tourists in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge before heading for the stadium.

WOW, these are some great ideas. Mike, thanks for the details. I will get out and check on the color. I am lucky that im not going on a weekend. It will be mid week and im thinking that their won't be lot of people. I prefer to shoot early am or evening. So that is better for me anyway. Well, thanks alot for all the great places to choos from. Keep posted week after next for the great pictures i will take..... LOL.... Thanks Linda

I like Townsend. It is also close to Cades Cove (if that is the name (?) of the community that was evacuated when the

Smokies Park took over some extra area in its creation. Great photo potential of the remaining old buildings there, the deer in the meadows

and the occasional predatory wolf from the pack that they have been restoring back to the park. When in Townsend we prefer to rent in

some of the excellent old square-log cottages there, or in nearby area, rather than book into hotels/motels.

Linda... Not much of a view today... but you can see some color already in the live camera from Purchase Knob.

Also on that site is a button for a camera at Look Rock. These two cameras are on opposite ends of the park; Look

Rock on the west and Purchase Knob on the east. The second link is to a camera on top of the Highlands Condos

(an excellent place to stay, by the way) and looking across Gatlinburg to Mt. LeConte. Enjoy... :-) Mike

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http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/WebCams/parks/grsmpkcam/grsmpkcam.cfm

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http://www.wbir.com/weather/conditions/skycams/timelapse/smokyMountain.aspx

I have gone to every site and link that you have all provided me, i just want to thank each and everyone for all of your great ideas. Thank you very much. LInda

Im not sure if i broke any law, but here is a picture from the web cam that mike gave me. So this is what it looks like in Gatlinburg today... Pretty don't you think. Linda<div></div>

If you go to Cades Cove, why not walk. The circuit road is only 12 miles with modest hills. I've ridden it on a bicycle many times, but when traffic backs up there's no room to pass so you walk anyway. On foot you can stop anywhere you wish, and will probably pass lines of cars. Cades Cove is closest to the Townsend entrance, which is seldom backed up.

 

Gatlinburg is very congested and gets most of the Knoxville and out of town traffic. There is a visitor's center just before you get to Gatlinburg on Rt 441 which I believe has tour buses - tempting at times. Also most casual tourists don't get on the road until after 9am, so you can have your pick of the trail head parking if you get up early. I like to stay in Gatlinburg, enjoy the evening walking around town, then get a really early start in the mountains with breakfast in the Chimney Tops picnic grounds.

 

I particularly like the Alum Bluff Cave trail - you see a lot of varied terrain and vegetation with a good view at the top. On the backside of the park just North of Gatlinburg is the Roaring Fork Motor Trail - a one-way road with many good photo ops. The trail head for Rainbow Falls is nearby - a good 6 mile hike (each way) with lots of scenery. Halfway around the Cades Cove loop is the trail head for Abrams Falls - a long but fairly easy hike with one of the largest waterfalls in the park at the end.

Skim through these for photo opp possibilities. Sevierville is next to Gatlinburg:

(there may be repeats)

 

http://www.alamy.com/stock-photography-search-results.asp?

st=0&lic=6&lic=1&ns=1&qt=Greenberg+Sevierville&go=1&a=-1&archive=1&size=0xFF&ot=0&adv=0

 

http://www.alamy.com/stock-photography-search-results.asp?

st=0&lic=6&lic=1&ns=1&qt=Greenberg+Gatlinburg&go=1&a=-1&archive=1&size=0xFF&ot=0&adv=0

 

http://www.alamy.com/stock-photography-search-results.asp?

st=0&lic=6&lic=1&ns=1&qt=Greenberg+Smoky&go=1&a=-1&archive=1&size=0xFF&ot=0&adv=0