In our modern world, there are precious few places that entertain and enrich the psyche in a way that satisfies wholly, despite whatever wild expectations or seeming familiarity one may have. Places static, though still offering continually different experiences. Places wild, mysterious, and at times, magical.  Places that achieve everything already described, even though they are among the most loved and most visited of their kind. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of those places, and I’ll soon share how best to enjoy it with kiddos in tow.

My family has now made two trips to the Smokies, and we’ve invested a lot of time on those to exploring a wide variety of what the Park has to offer (especially within the capabilities of most youngsters- ours are 3 and 6). Collectively, we’ve hiked over 30 miles of trails, and though that’s just a scratch at the trail mileage that the Park contains, we’ve used our time to experience much of the Park’s abundant variety (of altitudes, terrain, sites of awe, history, culture and challenges available). We are stoked to share this here, and hope that it will be a launching off point for some other family’s next (or first) visit.

WHERE TO STAY

fun with headlamps or lanterns, crazy kids and long exposures

For both of our trips, we stayed at an AirBnb site called, Camp Grits. Camp Grits is owned, managed, and in fact, lived on by two artists, Jim and Rosie. Both owners are the most fabulous and hospitable hosts. They are also wonderful people and dear friends, and their son, Kes has become our boys’ best loved, distant companion (every evening and every morning, our boys looked for Kes to follow him on a quest through the vast, surrounding trees).

Kes and Harper

The complex offers two vintage campers, a tipi alongside a gently rolling creek, and the black cabin. All of the sites are strategically tucked away among lots of trees, so there is a preserved sense of privacy and isolation. The tipi and cabin both offer Scandinavian wood burning stoves, and the yellow camper and cabin both offer private, vault-style outhouses (the tipi and red camper share one, but it was never a problem for us, and in either scenario, the bathrooms were kept exceptionally clean and not smelly).

photo by Mandi

The property is blissfully off-grid, so there is little-to-no cell reception, no electricity and any available non-wood burning stoves are all propane-powered. Drinking water is provided via an onsite well, while dishwashing/bathing/handwashing water is all from cistern captured rain water. For bathing, all sites share a solar-powered shower and “hobo hot tub” (a cast iron tub with a firebox underneath- take our word for it, this is worth experiencing). Each morning, Rosie or Jim deliver to your doorstep, eggs harvested on the grounds from a brood of wandering hens and a container of cold almond milk (I believe other types of milk are available upon request).

While this all may sound a bit too rustic for some, it is certainly more comfortable than tent camping, safe, and convenient (20 minutes to Gatlinburg and 25 minutes to the main Sugarlands Entrance to GSMNP). If you have kids, they will absolutely love it, and it will be an experience that they will treasure fondly.

WHERE TO HIKE (Easiest to Most Difficult)

Of course, where you choose to hike is completely subjective, and there are certainly other hikes that you might select to tackle in the Smokies that will be just as wonderful as what we may recommend (there are a ton of options). However, we’ve done these, we had fun and our kids had fun, available photography is everywhere along them, and so we can personally attest that these will offer great experiences. These hikes also give you a pretty well-rounded glimpse of the Park.

CLINGMAN’S DOME

It would be a shame to visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and not check out Clingman’s Dome. Not only is it the highest point in the Park at 6,643 feet, but there is only a short 1 mile round trip “hike” to get there (the trail is paved, but steep enough that you’ll feel it going up). On the way up, the surrounding forest is all coniferous, which gives off a lovely pine smell that envelops as you ascend. At the top, a viewing platform offers 360-degree views, and is easily the most spectacular place to witness a sunset in the Smokies. It will definitely be packed with people and temps will be cool to cold, no matter the time of year, so be prepared.

What it generally looks like.

Once, when I got lucky.