Our recent spring break trip took us through many wonderful places. One of these was Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We spent two nights at the hotel called The Park Vista – a DoubleTree by Hilton in Gatlinburg, Tennessee and took time exploring the beautiful park.
Now, there are many folks who have spent quite a lot of time in Great Smoky Mountains National Park: it is far and away the most visited national park in the country! In our case, we were really just passing through on a larger vacation, so I do not feel qualified to make broad recommendations about Great Smoky Mountains National Park nor Gatlinburg Tennessee. Rather I am creating a post to share our experiences and observations. I am hoping our perspective will help you in planning your own travels.
I wish we had done enough hiking for me to share tips about the best waterfall views or good hikes for families or other hiking information like that. Unfortunately, we just were not there long enough for me to feel confident sharing that kind of advice. I will say that everything we saw was beautiful and worth the visit. Here are some more general observations and tips from our time at Great Smoky Mountains National Park…
Be Aware That Great Smokey Mountains National Park is POPULAR
Oh my is Great Smokey Mountains National Park popular! Before we visited, I knew it was the most visited national park in the United States. I also knew that the most popular seasons were supposed to be summer and fall, so I was hoping for the best during our spring visit. It was very busy. We visited right in the heart of spring break season, so I am sure that probably increased crowds, but the park was stuffed!
I noticed on the National Park Service app that many of the pages for recommended hikes came with warnings that parking at the trailhead could be full. We noticed this at both trailhead parking lots and visitor center parking lots.
So what can you do to handle the crowds?
Rise with the Sun
We headed to Great Smoky Mountains National Park when the sun rose, and we were sure glad that we did. We enjoyed a few easy and quiet hours before the trails, roads and visitor centers got busy.
I think this also helped us spot some wildlife (mostly deer), and I certainly enjoyed listening to the bird songs. I did notice however that butterflies were easier to find later in the morning.
Get Your Parking Pass in Advance for Great Smoky Mountains National Park
At the time of writing, Great Smoky Mountains National Park does not charge an entrance fee, but it does require visitors who plan to park anywhere for more than fifteen minutes to purchase a parking pass.
We grabbed our parking pass from a kiosk outside the Sugarlands Visitor Center. The visitor center itself was not open yet when we stopped by, and there was ample parking at the time. When we returned to the same visitor center around mid-morning, there were lines at the kiosks, lines for the service desks and lines of cars to find a parking spot!
The good news is that you have the option of purchasing and printing your parking pass before you ever get to the park. We would do this the next time around. Here is the page on the NPS site about parking: https://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/fees.
Get to a Trail Early and Go Exploring (or Get a Shuttle)
The other thing we would do on our next visit is pick a hiking trail we wanted to explore, park early and plan on a long hike. Parking became much more difficult as the day went on, and it was not really practical to drive from spot to spot.
I also learned that you can take shuttles into the park rather than drive and park yourself. I thought this seemed like a very attractive option. You would not need to worry about finding a parking spot. Additionally, you could just enjoy the views and not worry about focusing on the narrow winding mountain roads.
On the other hand, some folks seem to really enjoy the scenic drives of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and you could conceivably visit without ever leaving your car. In fact, on our way into Gatlinburg to check-in to our hotel, we happened to take the beautiful Foothills Parkway.
Download the Free Merlin App
This is a tip we would share with anyone traveling or staying at home, but we found that it especially enhanced our visit to the Smoky Mountains: download the free Merlin Bird ID app to your mobile device.
This powerful little app helps you identify birds you see or hear on your journeys. If you spot a bird, the app walks you through a series of questions to help you identify it (size, color, location, etc), but you can also snap a photo and have the app analyze it for you. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised about this is the era of AI, but this function is surprisingly effective even from a great distance.
Merlin Bird ID and Great Smoky Mountains National Park
One of my favorite features is the one I used in Great Smoky Mountains National Park: you can record bird songs and have the app analyze those to identify the birds. This is so cool! As the Merlin Bird ID app identifies the sounds it will show you possible bird matches. You can select these birds and see if the photos match birds you are seeing in the area. Or, you can play recordings of bird calls from the app to determine if they match what you are hearing.
As we walked along a trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I used the app to help me identify some birds I am not used to seeing or hearing at home. While I find that apps and mobile devices usually take me away from truly experiencing a vacation, this time my phone helped me be more present. Having help identify birds helps me better appreciate their individual characteristics and why they would call Great Smoky Mountains National Park home. As I was able to name the bird making each call, I also found myself better able to differentiate bird songs from one another.
This is something I enjoy doing both at home and while I am traveling. Plus, as you positively identify each bird, the Merlin Bird ID app adds them to your “life list.” I can look back after my trip and review the birds I spotted during my travels. This is like a neat little souvenir or travel journal.
We are not sponsored by the Merlin Bird ID app or anything, we just think it is really that great: merlin.allaboutbirds.org
Gatlinburg is Busy (and Twisty)
One thing that surprised me on our trip was the general busyness and “tourist” vibe of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I have spent some time in Estes Park, Colorado outside of Rocky Mountains National Park. I was mistakenly expecting something more in line with Estes Park, and what I encountered reminded me instead of the area around Niagara Falls or places like Pier 39 in San Francisco.
Where Estes Park has shops and restaurants with local flavor and lots of green in-between, Gatlinburg seemed to feature a lot more high-impact amusements and national chains you might recognize like Margaritaville or Ripley’s Believe It or Not. Plus, these offerings are very closely packed together.
Certainly there were shops and restaurants specific to Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains, but the general vibe was more lively city with nightlife and entertainment rather than quaint mountain town. Everywhere we looked we saw bright signs and payed parking lots: this is a busy place with a beautiful mountain backdrop.
If you are looking for a nature-focused vacation, you too might be surprised by Gatlinburg. If you are looking for a little bit of everything and lots of options for dining and entertainment—many not immediately recognizable as related to Great Smoky Mountains National Park—Gatlinburg might be a great stop for you. I can imagine it working well for folks looking to please a group with varying personalities and needs. Gatlinburg also has a vast slate of lodging options, which is how we ended up booking there rather than the reportedly quieter Townsend or other options.
Our Experience at the Park Vista DoubleTree in Gatlinburg by Great Smoky Mountains National Park
After watching lodging prices for several months and snagging a good deal, we ended up at The Park Vista – a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
This hotel is notable for having great views of the mountains (and occasional black bears) as well as a pretty great indoor pool with two waterslides. Apparently the Park Vista was a tower hotel built in the seventies and acquired by Hilton several decades later, and the “DoubleTree” was appended to the name. Our family really enjoyed the beautiful surroundings, the Arts and Crafts style lobby and the fun pool. The hotel has a few dining options and regularly hosts live music nights. The Park Vista DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel also seems to be a busy event venue.
Enjoy the common areas.
Our room was pretty straightforward with two queen beds and a small bathroom. As the seating in our guest room was minimal (a desk chair), we used the busy lobby fairly often for lounging and playing games. With live music, lovely wood details and checker board tables, we thought the lobby was one of the liveliest we have encountered at a chain hotel.
If you want suggestions for good travel games, check-out this post: Travel Fun for Kids on the Road and in the Sky, Travel Essentials
The pool area is also a highlight (more on that in a bit) and there were opportunities for lounging or playing games outside the building too. The glass elevators that went all the way to the fifteenth floor were a big hit with our kids and seemingly most of the kids staying at the Park Vista DoubleTree Hotel.
The balcony for our room had a nice view and no furniture (again, limited seating for our standard room). If you chose to sit on the floor of the balcony, you had no view, because the railing (not the right word for it, but I am not sure what to call it) was solid concrete and quite high. The balcony was best for standing and enjoying the view. We were excited to spot a black bear from ours on our second night.
The pool area was very fun and exciting for the kids. It was also busy.
In our short visit, we found that the evenings were the busiest time at the pool. It started to attract crowds after check-in time and these seemed to grow as the evening progressed.
The kids playing at the pool also got older and rowdier as it got later. There are no lifeguards at this large pool area, and we saw staff in the adjoining small restaurant but not around the pool itself. We saw not staff responsible for enforcing safety rules. If you have smaller children or would like a generally more peaceful experience at the pool, we would recommend visiting before 4pm.
Again, this come from our short stay during the spring break season, so take that tip within context, but we do think it is helpful to know that this area is not being regulated by staff and is, unsurprisingly, popular with people of all ages. Our children would also like me to point out that the pools are shallow and generally better for splashing around than for actually swimming.
The driveway up to the Park Vista DoubleTree is long and steep. Plan in advance or take the trolley.
If you are interested in exploring Gatlinburg on foot, keep in mind that it would be challenging to do so from the Park Vista DoubleTree. There is a long steep driveway that takes you up the hill to the hotel. There is no sidewalk or walking trail along this driveway, and there are multiple blind curves. I would not be comfortable walking this driveway out of concern for the safety of my family.
If you want to explore downtown Gatlinburg from the Park Vista DoubleTree, I would instead suggest that you take the free “trolley” that stops at the hotel on its loop through Gatlinburg. This trolley has a website and app which allows you to do things like plan your route or track the trolley’s progress. If you do not feel like driving down the driveway and finding parking at your destination in Gatlinburg, this is the way to go.
In a similar vein, if you need to pick up supplies or otherwise have errands to do during your stay (for us, this meant picking up groceries) consider doing these on your way to the hotel. Between the long driveway, congested roads and indirect routes, there are really no quick errands from the Park Vista DoubleTree into Gatlinburg. We wished we had grabbed groceries on our way into town.
And keep in mind, while the hotel is very near Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the roads to get there will still wind you through downtown Gatlinburg.
We enjoyed our visit to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Thank you for reading this post with observations from our visit to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
If you are planning your own road trip, we recommend exploring Kids’ Travel Essentials: What to Pack For Your Family Trip and Travel Fun for Kids on the Road and in the Sky, Travel Essentials. Thanks again for reading!