Great Smoky Mountains National Park June 2026

6/23/26
Originally, we reserved a campsite (D38 for Wednesday through Sunday), but since we weren’t doing anything, we decided to go up on Tuesday and camp at D40 for one night. We left around 9 am and arrived at 12:30. We unhooked the camper but didn’t set up the Clam since we would only be at that site for one night. We stopped at the Oconoluftee Visitor Center and stayed for the 3 pm talk about the Elk. Then we went to Dairy Queen for a late lunch and then relaxed at the campsite for the rest of the evening. For some reason, our battery didn’t get charged, and none of our lights worked in the camper. We were able to use flashlights, so everything was okay. After we went to bed, we heard something like a pop, but didn’t hear anything else, so we went to sleep.


6/24/26
We had breakfast at Waffle House, and I had to drink coffee because they ran out of ice. After breakfast, we drove up to Clingman’s Dome and hiked on the Spruce Fir Nature Trail. Then we came back and moved to site D38. We had sandwiches for lunch and relaxed. Then we decided to hike the Oconoluftee River Trail from the visitor’s center to Cherokee. For dinner, we had more sandwiches and sat around the campfire. When the propane ran out, we swapped the propane canister with one from the camper (the camper has two). After we were almost asleep, we heard another pop, but nothing else, so we went to sleep. Don had leg cramps in the night

6/25/26
After breakfast at Waffle House, we went to Food Lion and got some ice for the coolers. When we returned to the campground, we hiked the nature trail and part of the Smokemont Loop Trail. Then we drove up to the visitor’s center to sign up for the night hike (even though the notice in the paper didn’t say you had to sign up). The park ranger at the campground told us we had to sign up.) Before returning to the campground, we went to Arby’s for lunch. When we got back to the campground, we walked to the old amphitheater, which is no longer used. For dinner, we sat in the Clam and ate cantaloupe. Don noticed we had 2 small pieces of a tree limb on the roof of our camper. We think some kid probably tossed it there as a prank, and we didn’t fall for it. Don had more cantaloupe, which seemed to help the leg cramps.

6/26/26
It is our 44th wedding anniversary! We had another wonderful breakfast at Waffle House. Then we drove to Bryson City and walked around town. At 10:30, we watched the steam engine leave for the Nantahala Gorge. Next, we drove through Deep Creek Campground and saw that there were only about 4 sites that we would feel comfortable parking our camper on. After the campground, we drove to the “Road to Nowhere” and saw the “Tunnel to Nowhere.” We talked to a couple of backpackers who were waiting for their ride. For lunch, we stopped at an Ingles Deli, and I had fried chicken, and Don had catfish. Next, we drove to Fontana Dam and enjoyed the views. We went back to our campground and had sandwiches and cantaloupe for dinner. Don was able to stand on the milk crate and use the broom to get the 2 pieces of wood off the camper roof.

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6/27/26
After breakfast at Waffle House, we decided to pack up and head home. The weather forecast predicted rain in the evening and the next day. I hate packing up wet stuff, so we took our time and packed up everything. We left the campground around 10 am and arrived home about 1:30. We were able to unpack and get lunch before it started pouring down rain.

It was a wonderful trip. The weather was perfect, and we never had a drop of rain the whole time we were there. Don thinks the Subaru pulled the camper pretty well and may have done it better than the Tahoe.

Original Photos by Pat Hernsley

Camping in the Smokies

For more pictures, click here.

We spent last week camping in the Smokies. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is our favorite national park and we spend a lot of time there.

We got to Smokemont Campground on a Monday afternoon. It was so easy to set up our campsite (Site D38). This is our favorite campsite. It is across from the group campsite which was closed. The bathrooms were right across the road and this building has outlets. Since I get up so early, I can plug in my iPad and charge it up if needed. I can get it all charged up before most people are even awake.

We like to go to the Oconoluftee River Trail which is about a 3.2-mile roundtrip hike that starts at the Visitor Center and goes to the town of Cherokee. Every day, we came across elk under the shade trees. On one day, there were several people who were extremely close to the elk to take photos and the male elk gave a bugle warning a couple of times, but the people didn’t move. We went an alternate way off the trail to avoid the elk and the people. For lunch each day, we ate at Subway. They did a great job of wearing masks and gloves as they fixed our sub sandwiches. On one day, we got in the river and played in the water. The water was just like bathwater! (Well, bath water in the dead of winter if you have no heat and no hot water.)

After a few days, we headed to Cades Cove Campground. We had a nice ride over Newfound Gap and stopped to see the views and take photos. We stopped in Townsend for gas and supplies (ice was $2 at the IGA) and lunch at Subway. We camped at site B37 which was a nice site. It was further away from the bathrooms and I had to use our external batteries to charge our electronics. After we set up camp, we went to the camp store and got soft serve ice cream (which we have gotten there for about 30 years when we visit!). I was surprised how much the price has increased (about $5 for a cake cone.) On the first afternoon, it poured down rain pretty heavily. I was so glad we had our Clam screen room and had the optional walls up to keep out the rain. I also had my Little Red Campfire going which made the room toasty warm while it rained. One man called it a “frog strangler” kind of rain.

Most of the trailheads were packed with cars and heavy crowds so we drove to Sevierville and went to the Tanger Outlet Stores. We both needed new tennis shoes and got some from the New Balance outlet store. Then we had a nice drive and lunch in Townsend. We found out our camper refrigerator wasn’t working so we had to put everything back into the cooler and buy ice from the camp store ($4.50). In the evening we walked around the campground and talked with other campers. When we went to bed, it was really hot, humid and miserable. We decided that we would leave in the morning and head for home.

The next morning, Don got up around 7:30 am and by 8:30 am we were packed up and heading home.

Things I Learned:

1. I really like Smokemont Campground D Loop (pull through sites).
2. Smokemont D38 is my favorite site.
3. I like playing in the river even if the water is cold.
4. It is good to have water shoes on in the river.
5. The Oconoluftee River Trail is a wonderful trail.
6. It is more crowded in the campground in the summer months.
7. People don’t wear masks even when asked that they should.
8. It is nice when people respect quiet hours in a campground.
9. There are a lot of mushrooms on the trails in August.
10. Thundershowers are expected in the afternoon during summer.

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Smokemont Camping Trip September 2015

Click here for pictures of our trip!

9/1/15:

We left home at 7am and ate breakfast in Greenville. We arrived at Smokemont around 11am and set up on site D33. This site was on the end of the row and not far from the bathroom. Then we went into Cherokee for lunch. After lunch we walked around the campground (about 1.75 miles). While walking we met Art and Alice from Georgia. He’s 80 and she’s 68 and both love camping. Art works on his motorhome a lot and did most of the renovations. We decided to try to run our refrigerator on the 12 volt battery which only lasted 8 hours so we will have to get it checked out next week. We ran our generator to build up the battery again.

9/2/15:

We got up early and hiked to Charlie’s Bunion on the Appalachian Trail. It took us 3 hours to get there and 3 ½ hours to get back. The downhill back was really hard on Don’s knees and ankles. The book said it was 8 miles round trip, and our map showed 8.8 miles round trip, but our Fitbit showed 11.5 miles after all the zigzagging.

9/3/15:

After breakfast we walked around the campground and visited with Art and Alice again. I bought a handmade hot air balloon and whirligig from Alice for $8 each. Then we got a tour of their camper and saw all the improvements that Art did himself. They invited us for lunch but we went and hiked the Oconoluftee Trail to Cherokee (3.6 miles round trip). After lunch at McDonalds we played in the river and then relaxed around the campground.

9/4/14:

We left the campground at 7:30am and got home around lunchtime.

Things We Learned or Saw:

 1.     The book said our refrigerator should run for 3 days on the battery but it didn’t work that long. We will need to get the refrigerator checked out.

2.     We saw turkey, ground hog, ringnecked snake, hawks, and wet bear prints on a rock. (the guy in front of us on the trail saw the bear).

3.     We met lots of nice people in the campground!

4.     I want to try to make the hotair balloon and whirligig. They were made out of the plastic canvas and I can use the ones I bought as a pattern.

5.     It has been years since we went to Charlie’s Bunion and it was beautiful!

6.     Downhills are really hard on Don.

     Original Photo by Pat Hensley

Smokemont Camping Trip

Last week we camped at Smokemont in the Great SmokyMountains National Park. We had a lovely time and you can see the pictures I took here. Here is a detailed description about our trip.

5/20/15:

We left home around 7:30 and stopped for breakfast at the Landmark Diner. We arrived in Cherokee around 11:00 and had lunch at McDonalds before heading to Smokemont Campground. Our campsite was D38 and we really liked this site ($10/night with senior pass). It was a drive-thru site between 2 bathrooms. After setting up camp, we walked around the campground and then hiked up the Bradley Fork Trail until dinner. For dinner we had hamburger steaks and cantaloupe. After dinner we walked around the campground again. We went to bed around 10pm.

5/21/15

It rained all night and I had to close the windows when the rain came in the camper. I got up around 5:30am and plugged my iPad and phone in the bathroom outlets. I tried to sit outside but it kept raining on me so I ended up staying in the car and reading and knitting. Every hour I checked the status of my electronics and finally unplugged them around 7:30. It was too wet to cook breakfast so we went to McDonalds in Cherokee. Then we drove to newfound Gap and Clingman’s Dome so I could take photos. We got back to the campground to cook lunch (red hot sausages and cantaloupe). Then we hiked about 3 miles on the Bradley Fork Trail. Before dinner we relaxed at the campsite and for dinner we had more red hot sausages and macaroni and cheese. A couple stopped by to look at our Casita. Before bedtime we watched a DVD on my laptop.

5/22/15:

I got up around 5am and it was 50F in the camper. I was able to sit outside but I got cold. I did some reading and knitting in between checking on my stuff recharging in the bathroom again.  I had fun watching other campers break camp and leave. One camper hit 3 trees as he tried to leave and finally got on the road. We ended up at McDonalds again for breakfast and I checked my voicemail messages and email. After breakfast we hiked about 4 miles along the Oconoluftee River. For lunch Don cooked bacon and eggs. After lunch we hiked on the nature trail and the Smokemont Loop Trail.

5/23/15:

We got up around 6:15am and left by 7am. We stopped at McDonalds for breakfast and was home by 10:30am.

Things I Learned:

• Smokemont has a dump station and water supply so we don’t need to bring water from home.
• We need to bring about 1 gallon of good water to cook with per day.
• I need to bring a collapsible clothes dryer that can be moved where the sun is instead of stationary clothesline.
• It is fun watching people take equipment out of boxes and use them for the first time. But you should really try your equipment at home before going camping.
• Cantaloupe should be eaten the first day because it smells up the place it is stored.
• I need two saucepans and not just one.