Exploring the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 24 Hours

February 1, 2021

Travel, Travel Guides

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a vast area in the states of Tennessee and North Carolina. This park of beautiful forests and mountains has a lot to explore. In fact, I’d say it’s too much to explore in just one day. However, on my November mountain road trip, I had only 24 hours to explore as much of the Smokies as possible, so I tried my best to hit the highlights.

I hope this photo diary (with a few helpful tips mixed in) inspires you to visit this gorgeous area of the country. All of the photos here were taken in one day on our trip through Cade’s Cove and the rest of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park!

Great Smoky Mountain National Park sign at entrance in fall

When to Visit the Smokies

The Smokies are beautiful any time of year, but we visited in the late fall. In mid-November, the fall leaves were still at their peak and the weather was perfect.

As far as time of day, I highly recommend heading out first thing in the morning. We wanted to start the day at Cade’s Cove, one of the most popular places in the park. While Cade’s Cove doesn’t open til 8 AM, the park is open 24 hours. It’s worth getting an early start to see the trees in the morning sunshine.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Entrance in the morning

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - morning golden rays on the fall leaves

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Entrance in the morning

Things to Do in Cade’s Cove

Another advantage to getting to Cade’s Cove when it opens is you’re more likely to see animals out and about early in the morning. Cade’s Cove is one of the best places in the Smokies for seeing wildlife such as white-tailed deer and black bears.

Unfortunately for us, we didn’t have much luck seeing any animals. We did see a couple of deer, but they were too concealed by the brush to get a good photo. However, most people see plenty of animals, so don’t let our experience deter you.

Besides, there are plenty of gorgeous views to see on the Cade’s Cove loop!

 

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Cade's Cove mountain views in fall

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Mountains in the Fall

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Cade's Cove

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Cade's Cove - horseback riding in the mountains

You have the option to take a horseback ride through the Smokies.

Stops on the Cade’s Cove Loop

In addition to the beautiful scenery, there are some interesting stops. We saw several of these little white chapels along the loop that you can go inside.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Cade's Cove white church

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Cade's Cove white church steeple

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Cade's Cove white church interior

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Cade's Cove white church cemetery

While they may look similar to each other on the outside, the interiors are very different.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Cade's Cove white church

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Cade's Cove white church interior

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Cade's Cove white church interior and old piano

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Cade's Cove white church old piano

There are several good lookout points where you can stop to take photos and get great views of the mountains.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Cade's Cove mountain views in fall

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Cade's Cove mountain views in fall

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Cade's Cove mountain views in fall

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Cade's Cove mountain views in fall

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Cade's Cove mountain views in fall

The mountains aren’t visible from everywhere on the loop. Some of the trail takes you through some beautiful wooded areas. This is especially gorgeous in the fall.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - forest trees in fall with light rays

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - forest trees in fall

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - forest trees in fall

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - forest trees in fall with light rays

This wooded area is where we saw the two deer lying down in the bushes. We would’ve driven right by and not seen them if it weren’t for the several cars stopped ahead of us looking at them.

Driving through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We enjoyed Cade’s Cove even though we didn’t see many animals, and after we picked up some lunch we continued our drive through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

We decided to take the quickest path to the highest point of the park: Clingman’s Dome. Even though it was the quickest path, it took us a long time since we kept stopping to take photos.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - winding fall road

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - red and yellow forest trees in fall

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - forest trees in fall along road

As you can see, the fall colors were really vibrant along the winding roads of the park. And just like in Cade’s Cove, there were some interesting stops along the way.

Favorite Stops in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

One of our first stops (the first of many times we pulled over for a picture) was this tunnel.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Tunnel

There are several tunnels in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This is one of the smaller ones, but it was my favorite because of the surrounding area, and because it was so cute for pictures!

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Tunnel and stream

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - photo spot - tunnel

Remember, if you’re going to take photos on the road, please be careful! We were very careful to make sure no cars were coming either way and we didn’t stand too close to sharp turns where a car could come around any second.

Once you make it to the Gatlinburg Scenic Overlook, you’ll probably see many people pulled over to take photos of the view. This is a great stop to get a good view of the city and the mountains near it.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - City of Gatlinburg, Mountain views in fall

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Mountain views in fall

Chimneys Picnic Area is a great place to stop and explore. This creek makes a great photo spot!

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Chimneys Picnic area creek

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Chimneys Picnic area creek

The Chimneys Picnic Area used to be a campground, but now it’s just a good place to stop for a break. You can step in the creek or hop on the rocks, but be careful! The rocks can be slippery!

Another of my favorite stops was this creek, and I’m sure you can see why!

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Creek with fall leaves

There were several other photographers here capturing the running water and the bright leaves fluttering down. The creek ran down the hill creating this waterfall:

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - creek waterfall in fall

We took more photos than I can count of the fall colors, not just at the creek but everywhere in the park.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Red and Yellow trees

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Mountain with bright yellow trees

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Portrait in front of bright orange fall tree

If you’re considering a trip to the Smokies, fall is an amazing time to go.

However, the fall colors seem to disappear once you get higher up the mountains. Once you get high enough, all that surrounds you is the evergreen pines.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - views at the top of the mountain

The last of my favorite stops was another tunnel, but this one was much bigger.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - dark tunnel at the top of the mountain

I liked taking photos here because of the dark and mysterious feeling. I believe this was the last tunnel we went through before reaching the top of the mountain.
Great Smoky Mountain National Park - dark tunnel at the top of the mountain

Reaching Clingman’s Dome

As we approached the top of the mountain, the weather started getting worse. It was only about 5 PM, but it was getting darker because of the rain clouds.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Top of the mountains covered in clouds

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Top of the mountains covered in clouds

It was pretty scary driving on those winding mountain roads in the rain and fog, but we couldn’t turn back when we were so close to the top!

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Top of the mountains covered in clouds - moody road

Once we finally reached Clingman’s Dome, we saw this:

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Top of the mountains covered in clouds and moody trees

Yeah, not very exciting. What was supposed to be an incredible overlook was nothing but foggy trees. After all, they are called the Smoky Mountains! We slowly made our way back down the mountain until we got out of the rain.


I guess it’s pretty cheesy to say that it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. But that was true in our case! Even though we didn’t get a great view from the top and we didn’t many animals, we still had an amazing day with some gorgeous scenery.

I hope you enjoyed reading this photo diary, and if you want to know more tips for visiting the Smokies, check out this blog post for things to do in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge!

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Wondering how you can see the best parts of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in only one day? This guide from Life Full of Light will show you how we explored the park in less than 24 hours. See wildlife in Cade's Cove, incredible views at the overlooks, and interesting hidden stops along the winding mountain roads. #thingstodogatlinburg #gatlinburg #tennessee #pigeonforge

  1. […] See more photos and read about how I saw the best parts of the park in just one day in this blog post: Exploring the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 24 Hours. […]

  2. […] you’re exploring the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, you can’t miss Cades Cove! This scenic drive loops through a valley surrounded by the […]

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