Yesterday I took the dogs on a drive through Great Smoky Mountains National Park. My mission: to just drive and enjoy the landscape. This is the first time since moving here that I went into the park with the sole focus of just taking in the beauty instead of searching for a trailhead and hiking to a summit.
It was a perfect day because it was cloudy and raining – and a Monday! Traffic was light and the sun came out a few times. Once in the park I decided to follow the signs to Townsend.
With the rain, the multicolored leaves were on prime display.
Dogs are not allowed on trails in the park but they can be in the car and get out along the roadside. We got out of the car a few times to sniff and take some pictures.
We arrived in Townsend and discovered that it has more open land and less stores/attraction than Gatlinburg. It is definitely the quiet side of the park. We drove through town, turned around and came home. The only wildlife we saw was a few turkeys on the side of the road.
While I didn’t check off any trails on the GSMNP900 list, I became more familiar with the roads and place names like Metcalf Bottoms. I really did feel like I was in the middle of a wilderness. The trailheads along the way had very little cars. What a peaceful beautiful place to recreate.
