I’ve decided to take a trip to the Smoky Mountains in September and I was wondering if anyone on here has been there and if you have then where did you stay? We are trying to choose which campground to stay at and so far these are what we have narrowed it down to; Deep Creek Campground, Balsam Mountain Campground or hang with the Black Bears at Cades Cove Campground.
Mountain Biking, Kayaking and hiking to waterfalls is what we will be doing and Deep Creek seems to be a good place for that and so does Balsam Mountain. Cades Cove would be a great choice if we weren’t taking our Pug and if they didnt supply us with cables to hang our food 10 feet up in the trees on top of that my wife to keen on hanging with the Black Bears.
Any ideas or info on this area will be helpful.
Thanks
TR
[quote]MODOK wrote:
I’m from the Smokey Mountain area, so I can’t really tell you were the best place to stay is. Cades Cove is going to be COVERED UP with tourists though, and I mean covered. Its also 20 miles or so away from the other tourist sites, so thats something to take into consideration. You will love your trip…its my favorite place on earth. One thing…if you do nothing else on your trip, listen to this piece of advice…one morning drive to Pigeon Forge and eat breakfast at the “Applewood Farmhouse”… words can’t describe how good it is. But make sure its the Farmhouse, there are other pretender “Apple” named restaurants, but they can’t compare. Have fun…I’m jealous.[/quote]
Keeping all the good camping spots to yourself huh? I see how it is… haha… we will be driving through Pigeon Forge on the way to Center Hill Lake in Tennessee so we will be sure to stop at the Applewood Farmhouse. Thanks for the tip.
I cant wait to get there, it should be an amazing trip.
[quote]MODOK wrote:
I’m from the Smokey Mountain area, so I can’t really tell you were the best place to stay is. Cades Cove is going to be COVERED UP with tourists though, and I mean covered. Its also 20 miles or so away from the other tourist sites, so thats something to take into consideration. You will love your trip…its my favorite place on earth. One thing…if you do nothing else on your trip, listen to this piece of advice…one morning drive to Pigeon Forge and eat breakfast at the “Applewood Farmhouse”… words can’t describe how good it is. But make sure its the Farmhouse, there are other pretender “Apple” named restaurants, but they can’t compare. Have fun…I’m jealous.[/quote]
The Applewood Farmhouse changed owners a while back, and it is not as good as it used to be, in my opinion. Everything else is great advice.
I live three miles from Deep Creek Campground and it is a great place to camp. The hiking is excellent and there is easy access to kayaking and mountain biking. Plus no bear problem to speak of. It would definitely be my choice.
[quote]tomsutton58 wrote:
I live three miles from Deep Creek Campground and it is a great place to camp. The hiking is excellent and there is easy access to kayaking and mountain biking. Plus no bear problem to speak of. It would definitely be my choice.[/quote]
Awesome man… That really helped with my decision. There are som many places to choose from I want to make sure we are shoosing the best place to be because I’m not really sure when we will be able to have a chnace to do something like this again.
[quote]tomsutton58 wrote:
I live three miles from Deep Creek Campground and it is a great place to camp. The hiking is excellent and there is easy access to kayaking and mountain biking. Plus no bear problem to speak of. It would definitely be my choice.[/quote]
You were right on. Deep Creek Campground was perfect. We kayaked the creek, hiked the waterfalls but unfortunately I lost my bike rack keys when we were in Charlotte and I was able to mountain bike at all. The drive in from Asheville was interesting. I have never seen such steep twisting roads (i think this was the road coming in before we got to Cherokee). I think the “oh Shit” handles in our 4 runner has permanent imprints from my wife grabbing on so hard.
[quote]MODOK wrote:
I’m from the Smokey Mountain area, so I can’t really tell you were the best place to stay is. Cades Cove is going to be COVERED UP with tourists though, and I mean covered. Its also 20 miles or so away from the other tourist sites, so thats something to take into consideration. You will love your trip…its my favorite place on earth. One thing…if you do nothing else on your trip, listen to this piece of advice…one morning drive to Pigeon Forge and eat breakfast at the “Applewood Farmhouse”… words can’t describe how good it is. But make sure its the Farmhouse, there are other pretender “Apple” named restaurants, but they can’t compare. Have fun…I’m jealous.[/quote]
We didnt stay in Cades Cove but it was a weekday and we decided to check it out. What a cool place. We also stopped at the Mingus mill and picked up some good cornmeal. And the Applewood Farmhouse kicked ass.
