Today I am talking about Gatlinburg town, why it is so popular among the tourists and you will find today is it worth visiting or not…
I went to Gatlinburg in the fall to admire t
he Great Smoky Mountains
and visit the
famous local moonshine distillery.
Gatlinburg is a purely tourist town.
Something like a small Las Vegas , but is mostly a holiday for the whole family. It is trapped in a gorge between mountains.
It is unique in its location – right at the foot of the Smoky Mountains.
Thousands and thousands of tourists tend to look at these mountains and the national park .
And then, satisfied and tired, they go to cozy hotels in Gatlinburg, eat in its restaurants and spend money on all sorts of tinsel in its stores.
Therefore, in a city with a population of
3,466 people
(according to 2022), there are 9 million tourists a year!
Is Gatlinburg Worth Visiting?
Yes.
Because of The Great Smoky Mountains(
National Park
) and a Davy Crockett’s moonshine distillery.
The Main Attractions In Gatlinburg:
The Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited national park in the US, with 9. 5 million people a year, the same number as the second and third most visited Grand Canyon and Yosemite combined.
Another tourist attraction in Gatlinburg is
the Gatlinburg Barrelhouse
, a Davy Crocketts moonshine distillery that takes place right in front of you.
Any tourist who finds himself/herself in Gatlinburg can go for a moonshine tasting at one of the city’s distilleries.
Like any American tourist town, Gatlinburg has a main street lined with shops, restaurants and entertainment venues.
In the center of the city is the Gatlinburg Space Needle observation tower, where you can take an elevator to see the city more closely.
Is Gatlinburg Worth Visiting?
A cable car was laid to another observation deck. If you suddenly want to tickle your nerves, you can walk over the abyss along the Skybridge suspension bridge😁…
I walked. I won’t say, of course, that it was such an extreme, but my friend, who is afraid of suspension bridges (and heights in general) , categorically refused to walk along the bridge😅…
He went to a nearby bar, got himself a beer, and had a time as good as me, enjoying the surroundings from a safe position.
Gatlinburg is famous for its barbecue throughout the country.
In Gatlinburg a three-day championship is held annually among chefs who specialize in it.
Tennessee state nerve stops cooking delicious barbecue.
Therefore, to be in Tennessee and not eat this specialty is a real culinary crime😛 .
How Many Days Should You Spend in Gatlinburg?
2 Days will be enough.
One day is for walking around and the second day is for the National Park
.
What is the Best Month to Visit Gatlinburg Tennessee?
May is the best time to come when there are not so many tourists.
Before coming,you might be interested to know what the Great Smoking Mountains park looks like right now.
For this, there are millions of webcams installed in the park and available
on the official website.
Why is Gatlinburg so Popular?
Because of its Mountains.
The main treasure of the town is the mountains. Gatlinburg is considered the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Forest, at the foot of which it lies.
The state of Tennessee is considered outback, and Tennessee with its hard working farmers – are called “hillbillies” by arrogant inhabitants of the industrial East Coast of the USA.
Enterprising Gatlinburgers decided not to be offended by this nickname, but to benefit from it, and make the rustic flavor their “trick”.
They decorated the streets with agricultural motifs, and once again proved that hard work, imagination and careful calculation can turn even a bad situation into a full house…
What is the Number One Thing To Do in Gatlinburg?
Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Looking ahead, I’ll say that although I spent two wonderful days in the park and had great walks, I was left with a slight disappointment – well, the parks of the east coast of the USA do not have a share of the beauties of the parks of the west coast.
High attendance in this case is due to the extremely convenient location of the park, transport accessibility and the absence of entry fees.
First of all, I went to the observation deck Clingmans Dome.
The Clingmans Dome Road leads to the site (it closes for the winter, but was already open in early April), and from the parking lot you need to walk another mile along the footpath.
At the end of the route, a giant platform was built, along which you can climb to the observation deck and admire the surroundings.
The Appalachian Trail walking route
passes through this observation deck, the length of which is 2175 miles.
The highest point of the route falls just at Clingmans Dome.
One girl told me that she had been walking along this path for three weeks😥
A fun fact is that if you walk this trail from start to finish, the total height gained will be the equivalent of 16 Everest climbs.
Rivers, forests and waterfalls are a typical landscape of the park.
After I drove to the city of Gatlinburg, the place of my next overnight stay.
For the sake of interest, I chose not Highway 40, but a parallel dirt road.
At the exit from the valley, I took a little walk through the forest (the Caldwell Fork Trail), though I didn’t go far – at some point I had to naturally cross a rather deep and stormy-looking river.
Is Gatlinburg Worth Visiting?
In fairness, at the beginning of the trail there was a warning about this, but I did not see that sign when I walked… In other places of the park, some logs with railings are thrown across the rivers.
On the internet I came across videos of how people met herds of wild deer and bear families .
I hoped for something like this, but at first we were not lucky: only wild turkeys came across. So I was completely desperate. I saw just a huge snake close to my car.
I wanted to hike the Laurel Falls Trail.
But There were quite a lot of people, because this hike is popular.
Quite difficult to find a place and park. And it also turned out to be an embarrassment in general – I simply could not find a place to park, neither on the side of the road, nor anywhere.
So I didn’t go there.
But it’s not even the season yet and I’m afraid to imagine what will happen here a few months later.
I hope, after my article, you will find some time to come to this amazing town- Gatlinburg!