• about us
  • waterfalls
  • photography

where's your sense of adventure?

an eric and leandra production

  • international travel
  • usa travel
  • food & drink
  • street art

Travel USA Travel

NC Mountains, October 2020: Smoky Mountain National Park

We have planned trips to Smoky Mountain National Park multiple times over the years, and each time something has caused us to cancel the trip – sick dog, bad weather, etc. This time we did finally make it, but in the end we left a little dispirited by the sheer number of visitors, even on a weekday.

Starting in NC we drove north on 441 toward Tennessee. The start was quite pretty with lots of cascades and the small roadside Cliff Branch Falls.

cascades near MP 26 on Hwy 441

Roadside falls located near MP 26 on Hwy 441

Most of the scenic pullouts were on the left (south side) so we left these for the return drive.

The Tennessee side seemed drier, as evidenced by Cataract Falls. Not only was the waterflow rather sad, but this was one of the only times I’ve experienced large numbers of people smoking by a waterfall… yuck.

Cataract Falls

We continued down Fighting Creek Gap Road which was nearly overwhelmed with people parking on the side of the road to hike to Laurel Falls and several of the other hiking spots. We decided not stop here and continued further.

Mannis Branch Falls is rather hidden across the Little Gorge River – there isn’t an easy to notice sign or trail, just a wide parking area, but simple enough with GPS and just a few feet from the road. It doesn’t have an easily available dry crossing, and I didn’t bring water shoes, so I don’t have a great shot of it. It was a pleasant picnic spot though.

Mannis Branch Falls

lunch @ Mannis Branch Falls

The Sinks is a powerful cascade on Little River, but it was quite crowded, and we were done with people by this point so we photographed it and left quickly.

'The Sinks'

On the way back we stopped at several scenic lookouts.

NC | TN state line

mountain views from Hwy 441

We knew this was a popular park going into it, but we just couldn’t believe the numbers (and behavior) of people – we’ll have to try again in the future, perhaps post-covid. Thankfully we had plenty of non-crowded spots in NC left to explore, so we focused on that for the remainder of the trip.

For more waterfall photos, check out our waterfall photography page.

Related posts:

  1. NC Mountains, October 2020: Blue Ridge Parkway and nearby waterfalls
  2. NC Mountains, October 2020: Intro and Food
  3. NC Mountains, October 2020: waterfalls near Bryson City
  4. waterfalls and Rocky Mountain National Park


« NC Mountains, October 2020: Blue Ridge Parkway and nearby waterfalls
NC Mountains, October 2020: Lake Toxaway »

2022 Trips

Florida (Feb)
NC Mountains (Apr)
Valencia, Spain (May)
Pacific NW (Jun)
Long Island (Jul)

2021 Trips

Florida (Apr)
Outer Banks, NC (May)
Long Island (Jul)
NC Mountains (Aug)
Dundee, OR (Sept)
New England (Oct)
Florida (Dec)
Chicago, IL (Dec)

instagram

tlkativ

Wordpress designer/developer + mini schnauzer mama who travels the world. Chicago born, living in Durham, NC. Photos: my Pixel

tlkativ
1 second everyday: April 2022 1 second everyday: April 2022
Our week in the NC/TN mountains, one second at a t Our week in the NC/TN mountains, one second at a time.
1 second everyday: March 2022 1 second everyday: March 2022
1 second everyday: February 2022 1 second everyday: February 2022
1 second everyday: January 2022 1 second everyday: January 2022
Christmas Day was good. Homemade cinnamon rolls, a Christmas Day was good. Homemade cinnamon rolls, a walk at the NCMA, family FaceTimes and Christmas cookies. Merry Christmas to all! 🎄🥂
Southwest cancelled our flight on Tuesday and inst Southwest cancelled our flight on Tuesday and instead of scrapping our trip we decided to drive to New Hampshire. 800 miles and 13 hours (over two days) to get here and so far it has been absolutely worth it.
Watching the @littlegermanband (and dancers!) was Watching the @littlegermanband (and dancers!) 
was a great way to enjoy some awesome weather this afternoon. @laurabcowan
See More... Follow on Instagram

Archives

search our blog!

Copyright © 2022 · Divine theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2022 · Eric + Leandra Ganko