Carolinas, Georgia & South Trips (Lonely Planet, 1st Edition) - Alex Leviton [40]
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In the Pisgah National Forest, one hour southeast of Cherokee, you’ll find Sliding Rock, a 60ft-long natural waterslide. In summertime visitors wait their turn to swoosh down the slick rock face into the 7ft-deep pool below. The ride can be painful on the tailbone and the water is freezing, but you’ll line up to do it again anyway. Nearby Brevard is a cute mountain town of B&Bs and candy shops.
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Doubling back to Little River Rd, you’ll find the Elkmont Campground. The 220 wooded sites can fill up quickly in high season. Back at the juncture of Little River and Newfound Gap Rds is the Sugarlands Visitor Center, park headquarters. There’s a bookstore, exhibits on plant and animal life, and seasonal ranger-led talks and tours.
Driving out of the park on the Tennessee side is a bit disconcerting. All at once you pop out of the tranquil green tunnel of trees and into a blinking, shrieking welter of cars, motels and mini-golf courses, all blaring Christmas music and smelling of fried dough. Welcome to Gatlinburg. It’s Heidi meets Hillbilly in this vaguely Bavarian-themed tourist wonderland, catering to Smokies visitors since the 1930s. Turn off your cynical side and let the kitsch work its magic. Most of the tourist attractions are within the compact, hilly little downtown.
Pancakes are to Gatlinburg what pizza is to New York. Though there’s a different pancake house on every corner proclaiming itself the best in town, Pancake Pantry is the granddaddy of them all. Chow down on 24 varieties of pancake, cheese-swollen omelets or whipped cream–smothered waffles in a building that looks like an overgrown Smurf house.
The Ripley’s franchise operates seven shock-and-awe-style attractions in town. The gargantuan Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies features sea turtles, piranhas and stingrays far, far from their homes. A 340ft-long moving sidewalk shunts you through the clear tunnel on the floor of the Shark Lagoon, where you can watch long, sinister shapes glide by overhead. Though the original Ripley’s Believe It or Not! burned down in 1992, taking with it nearly all the exhibits, the popular odditorium rose from the ashes twice as large. Join the crowds to gawk at the shrunken heads, the 6583½ft-long gum-wrapper chain and the 1840s vampire killing kit.
The Gatlinburg Sky Lift, a repurposed ski resort chair lift, whisks you high over the Smokies. You’ll fill up your camera’s entire memory card with panoramic snapshots. At night, take your pick of a plethora of Appalachian-themed motels and lodges. Buckhorn Inn is a tasteful bed and breakfast with views of Mt LeConte, and a flagstone terrace with rocking chairs.
A few miles north of Gatlinburg is the dismal stretch of chain motels, ye olde kountry shoppes and discount cigarette warehouses known as Pigeon Forge. This town exists for one reason only: the worship of that big-haired, big-busted angel of East Tennessee, Dolly Parton. Dolly was born in a one-room shack in the nearby hamlet of Locust Ridge, started performing on Knoxville radio at the age of 11 and moved to Nashville at 18 with all her worldly belongings in a cardboard suitcase. She’s made millions singing about her Smoky Mountain roots and continues to be a huge presence in her hometown, donating money to local causes and riding a glittery float in the annual Dolly Parade.
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WATERFALLS OF THE SMOKIES
The Smokies are full of waterfalls, from icy trickles to roaring cascades. Here are a few of the best:
• Grotto Falls: you can walk behind these 25ft-high falls, off Trillium Gap Trail
• Laurel Falls: this popular 80ft fall is located down an easy 2.6-mile paved trail
• Mingo Falls: at 120ft, this is one of the highest waterfalls in the Appalachians
• Rainbow Falls: on sunny days, the mist here produces a rainbow
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The Dollywood theme park is an enormous, gushy love