One of the biggest concerns for those traveling to the Smoky Mountain area is cost. Let's be honest, it's easy to drop hundreds on all of the unique tourist attractions. We love spending our time there, but I always recommend having a plan to avoid over spending. Below I'm going to organize by a few different categories to help make it easier to navigate!
Downtown Gatlinburg Strip
We could spend a couple of hours just exploring the Gatlinburg strip and we've done it hundreds of times. For first timers. expect to spend even longer. The Gatlinburg Strip is filled with tourist traps and good smelling food so BEWARE! Only kidding of course, but this is a free things to do post. One of our favorite things to do is going to the Ole Smoky Moonshine Holler. They have multiple talented bluegrass performances throughout the day. This is an outside environment so keep that in mind during inclement weather. Although, my husband did make me sit out there in 4 inches of snow last year.
Some may think I'm crazy, but I'm a samples girl. One of my favorite things is getting to sample all of the goodies at the jerky stores and Byrd Cookie Company! Other businesses that offer free samples include multiple winerys, Pepper Palace, Ole Smoky Candy Kitchen, and popcorn at Pop Culture Popcorn. These are so fun for me and helps with the cravings after smelling all the street food!
Hiking/Park Things
This is a generally free/cheap thing to do. Recently the park made a requirement that you get a paid parking pass if you park for longer than 15 minutes. This can be purchased at the Visitors Center at the beginning of the park! There are so many gorgeous trails, depending on the person some may be out of the question for the average visitor. I will link a website that shows all available hikes in the park rated by difficulty. Although, my favorite thing to do is the simple easy sight seeing from the comfort of my front seat. There are many pull off spots along the road that make for beautiful photo ops. Some of these places are Newfound Gap, Morton Overlook, and Campbell Overlook. There are many more, although these are some of our favorites. If you'd like to find more you can always look up "scenic overlooks smoky mountains" or do what I love and just come across things. Be prepared though, once entering the park you're pretty much going to lose service. Make sure you have plenty of gas, snacks, and water for the ride.
An easy but fun drive is Roaring Forks Motor Trail. This is a pretty easy drive right off the strip. It takes maybe 45 minutes to get through the ride depending on traffic. There are a couple of pull of spots for hiking or small exploring off the road way.
One of my favorite places is Cades Cove. This is probably the most popular drive in the area. Cades Cove could take anywhere from 1.5 hours to about 4 hours depending on traffic and how much you pull over. I love exploring the old churches and cemeteries. I actually found a tombstone once from the 1700's!! It was so exciting for me. This is where a lot of people see wildlife, but keep in mind animals don't like to be out in the heat of the day. Mornings or evenings are typically the best time to go. Wednesdays is no cars day, you can only go through the loop on a bicycle.
