GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS

We left Cherokee today at noon to drive through the Great Smoky Mountains to Pigeon Forge, 42 miles. I was impressed by the painted bears around Cherokee. This one was painted like an Eagle.
There is no entrance gate to pay to go through this National Park because it is all from private lands.

Since we were going a short distance today and it was going to be on steep curvy roads we didn't hook up. Larry is driving down the road in front of me. There was a lot of traffic and most of the overlooks were full.

This picture is taken from Newfound Gap at 5046 feet, the highest point on our drive. We are now in Tennessee.

After we parked at the campground we drove back to this welcome center. It had a very good film on the Smokies, and a nice museum.

Outside of the welcome center was a mile long nature trail. There was a side trail to this waterfall.

This cabin showed the signs left in the forest by early settlers, before they moved on.

This is the last stop on our tour. We now drive on to our NCT rally at Lebanon,TN.

This is the view of Gatlinburg from the by pass. We drove through the town with the RV on the way to the camp ground, not fun. Traffic was bumper to bumper with lots of people walking around and crossing the street.

Our campground is very nice. Especially the beautiful facilities, the nicest I have ever seen in a campground. We thought about staying another night, but they are already filled.