Some of the best views in the Smokies don’t require a hike at all — just a full tank of gas and a couple of hours. These two routes are the ones worth planning a whole afternoon around.
Cades Cove Loop Road
An 11-mile, one-way loop through a wide, historic mountain valley — genuinely one of the most scenic drives in the entire national park, and a near-guaranteed spot for wildlife. Keep an eye out for deer, wild turkeys, and black bears grazing in the open fields, especially early morning or near dusk. Go early on weekends; it’s the single most popular spot in the park and traffic backs up fast once the day gets going.
Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail
A 5.5-mile, one-way drive through dense old-growth forest right along the rushing Roaring Fork stream, passing preserved historic homesteads and cabins along the way. It’s also how you reach Rainbow Falls and Grotto Falls without a long hike in — worth knowing if the name Rainbow Falls Lodge sounds familiar, since our cabin borrows its name from the very waterfall this road leads to.
When to go for fall color
Peak color usually hits mid-to-late October at the mid-elevations both of these drives pass through — sugar maples, scarlet oaks, and hickories lighting up the whole valley. Both routes start just outside Gatlinburg, a short drive from every Bright Sky Lodges cabin in Sevierville.
