Exploring the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 24 Hours

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!

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.

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!

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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!

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:

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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!

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

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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