Spring break road trip (part VII): the Great Smoky Mountains
The Great Smoky Mountains were the last destination of our road trip. From wildlife viewing to camping under the stars, learn all there is to do here!
Ridge upon ridge of forest straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. World renowned for its diversity of plant and animal life, the beauty of its ancient mountains, and the quality of its remnants of Southern Appalachian mountain culture, this is America‘s most visited national park.
Below you will find a table with the distances between all the locations mentioned in this post.
| DISTANCES (TAKING THE FASTEST ROUTE) |
|---|
| From Nashville to Gatlinburg (TN): 3h30, 221 miles (356 km) |
| From Gatlinburg to Kingston (TN): 1h50, 104 miles (167 km) |
| From Kingston (TN) to Washington DC: 6h15, 397 miles (639 km) |
What to do in the Great Smoky Mountains
After leaving Nashville, we drove to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and entered through Gatlinburg.
A vintage car at a gas station 
A service area near Gatlinburg
Surprisingly, the park was empty and the vegetation wasn’t at its best given it had snowed recently. However, we passed the Carlos C. Campbell overlook and then drove to the top. Up there you’ll find another viewpoint indicating the North Carolina-Tennessee state line at an elevation of 5,046 ft.
There was still some snow on the side of the road 
This was the first viewpoint we stopped at 
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is located between North Carolina and Tennessee 
The forest was quite dull in this time of the year
From wildlife viewing (there are black bears here!), to exploring historic mills or camping under stars, there are plenty of activities you can do in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Hiking is another option, with the Appalachian Trail, which runs parallel to the Tennessee-North Carolina border, being the most popular.
After picking up burgers and milkshakes from a drive-thru (we couldn’t get more American), we slept in Kingsport (Tennessee). On the next day, we drove back to Washington DC and ate at a diner (Southern Kitchen in New Market, Virginia) along the way.
It’s finally a wrap! I truly hope you enjoyed all the destinations during this epic road trip, during which we drove almost 3,000 miles (about 5,000 km), crossed nine States and visited seven cities.
In case you’d like to read all the road trip posts featured in this adventure, here’s the full list:
Feel free to leave a comment below!
