The tourist trap nature of it is its redeeming quality. That’s what people who choose Gatlinburg (as opposed to the GSMNP) as a destination go there for. Well, and also pancakes. Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg must be the pancake house capital of the world.
So no advantage except you're moving instead of sitting in traffic?
Nice car!! (want to trade?*LOL*)
No, the park is just that, drive through area with some areas you can pull to the side. Some trails and such. Its purpose is to view the wildlife. Not much seeking out needed with a bear in a tree near the road.
Nothing to seek out
Yeah, I agree but when traveling I like the crowds of tourists once in a while. It's vibrant and fun. I would not want to live in it but it fun to be part of it on vacation for a couple days.
My Dad had a brother who re-located to Tennessee from the south in the 1950s. He lived about an hour west of the Smokies National Park. Every summer for many years my Dad drove us up there. A van or station wagon full of kids & grand parents on a long ride (1400miles) to spend two weeks. After the week at their place , we all drove out into the Smokies National Park for a week of camping , hiking and fishing. Awesome times. Once my two sons were old enough , wife and I took them up there to Tennessee 2-3 times a year. Visited with Uncle and the grown cousins and their kids and we all did the National Park thing each year. Every time we had to spend a good 1/2 day or more in and around Cade's Cove. Always seemed to be deer , wild turkey and bears roaming around that area.
“Normal” times are bad enough in PF these days… don’t EVER head to spend time in PF/GB any time there is a car show scheduled during your stay. Last time I went with my wife in 2021 (note the past tense), there was a car show.
Yeah that experience would've definitely ruined me for life for PF, haha. It's disappointing to me things are the way they are in that area but it won't kill me if we never go, we see a lot of other places. I have to add I've seen about as many 'car shows' as I can stomach in this lifetime. they seem to be EVERYWHERE these days.“Normal” times are bad enough in PF these days… don’t EVER head to spend time in PF/GB any time there is a car show scheduled during your stay. Last time I went with my wife in 2021 (note the past tense), there was a car show.
Literally every usable parking spot in PF was filled by some guy, his wife and 3 neighbors with their lawn chairs embedded near his “unique” ‘55 Bel Air with some version of the crying/trapped kid doll against the bumper or hanging out from under the trunk lid, and out of what seemed like 250,000 cars in the “show” and 7 million cars that turned all 4 lanes on the only road thru town into the world slowest moving parkway, maybe 3 of those Chevies weren’t carbon-copies save the exterior color.
It took us an hour and 13 minutes to travel the roughly 8.75 miles from the 3rd northernmost house in GB to a spot in the middle of PF. Worse traffic than I ever encountered in my first 25 years living in the Chicago greater metro. Needless to say, I was not a paragon of grace that day. But, just like I had been secretly praying for in my head, we have not been back to the area since.
The only “car show” I like any more these days are the ones where tires turn into smoke for a few seconds, the driver’s razor-sharp reaction times are tested, then the car hurtles down the next 1,320 feet down a 2-lane, burning every possible hydrocarbon that it can, on a nice, smooth flat chunk of concrete or well-maintained asphalt. Then, you hit the return road, collect your time slip, and cool down for the next pass. It’s our little part in ensuring we don’t suffer CO2 starvation.
