The "Classic" National Park Tour
Description
This trip begins as we pickup at our location in Gatlinburg, TN. We travel in comfortable and eco-friendly vans to our first stop at the remains of a long-gone resort town dating back more than 100 years. We'll learn about the history of logging in the Smokies, the lives of the early Appalachian pioneers, and the founding of the national park. From here we'll travel up the mountains on one of the most scenic roads in the southeast. Along the way we'll stop at scenic overlooks for pictures, questions, and interpretation of the area. Finally we arrive at Newfound Gap and the 5,000 foot-high boarder between Tennessee and North Carolina. Here we will learn about the 2,200 mile-long Appalachian Trail and the the site where President Franklin Roosevelt gave the park dedication in 1940.
Tour Options
Itinerary
We will have the opportunity to get out and explore one of the mightiest rivers in Great Smoky Mountains National Park as we learn about the history of the founding of the park and how the lives of loggers, CCC workers, pioneer farmers, and the earliest mountain recreational visitors intersected.
Newfound Gap Road is one of the most scenic drives in the southeast. We'll make the 13-mile long drive out of the Sugarlands Valley while we learn about the people, plants, animals, and history of the Great Smoky Mountains. Along the way we'll stop at several scenic overlooks for photos of the towering mountains and dark, shaded valleys.
Deep in the mountains at a height of more than 5,000 feet we'll stand on the state line while looking down the the Sugarland Valley to our north and the Oconaluftee Valley to the south. The famous 2,200 mile-long Appalachian Trail passes through this point next to the stone stage where President Franklin Roosevelt gave the Great Smoky Mountain National Park dedication.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(322)
Great experience mostly enjoy out driver /guide-Former Police Chief Adams He showed us the Smokies as a life long resident with an incredible amount of stories and details
We took the Smokey Mountain tour today and it was exceptional! Our tour guide Rick was the best. He was friendly, extremely knowledgeable about the park and its history and fun and entertaining! I would highly recommend both!
That is great to hear that you enjoyed your time in the national park with Rick. Can’t wait to have you back.
We had an absolutely fantastic Smoky Mountains tour with our guide, Kindel. Her knowledge of the Smokies was incredible, and her genuine enthusiasm for the area made the whole experience so enjoyable. We learned so much about the mountains, wildlife, history and local area along the way. The vehicle was spotlessly clean, comfortable and perfect for exploring the mountains. Kindel was friendly, engaging and happy to answer all of our questions. This was genuinely one of the highlights of our entire Tennessee trip and we would highly recommend the tour — especially with Kindel as your guide!
Rick was our tour guide and he did a great job. He was not only knowledgeable but accommodating and had a great personality. He is from the area and had some interesting history. I highly recommend this tour.
We are so glad you enjoyed this experience with Rick
Wes was an informative and funny tour guide. He was so good at interacting with every single person by name all through the trip. His love of nature is so evident based on his enthusiasm for what he does. Thanks for a great tour, Wes!
Names. They are important. We sure appreciate you noticing the little things Wes strives for.
We had an excellent time on this excursion. Rick, our driver was very knowledgeable and courteous. We learned a lot about the National Park, especially its history and development. We highly recommend this experience!
Rick rocks. Happy you enjoyed.
Our Tour Guide was “Wes”. He did a great job!! He was very knowledgeable about the park, accommodated the children, amazingly remembered all of our names (we were a group of 9), and was so very helpful, etc. We would highly recommend booking this tour!
We love this. Thank you so much for sharing.
Wes was great! Very patient with grandsons’ questions and interruptions. Knowledgeable about flora and fauna, history. Something for everyone in our 3 generation group. Well-paced. Everyone enjoyed this introduction to the Smokies.
Good stuff. We love the multi generation groups. Come back and see us soon.
Mark our guide was great. Very knowledgeable and pleasant.
We are so happy you enjoyed your tour and learned a lot along the way. Thank you for touring with us.
We really enjoyed this tour and guide. Because we are not from the area and first time seeing the smoky mountains, we selected this tour with a guide and are very pleased. Jay/tour guide was exceptional. He texted a day before with meet point details and his number. Lucky for us, we got to enjoy the tour with only Jay. Jay was very professional, courteous, kind, knowledgeable, and witty. He took us to many sites that we would not have known to see and educated us on the history of some events. Well worth taking and experiencing.
Thank you so much for touring with us. Jay gives a fun tour! So glad you enjoyed it.
