After a long day of hiking up Mount Cammerer, I visited Cades Cove (above), which was home to a tight-knit agricultural community in the 1800s. Now, it serves as a historical and educational area in the heart of the Smokies.
The dense forests of the mountains were so peaceful!
But the crowds were large when there was a bear sighting. The Smokies are the most visited national park in the country.
The waterfall at Laurel Falls is one of the biggest in the park!
The views were amazing, so many colors! The native Cherokee people traditionally called the Great Smoky Mountains “Shaconage,” which translates to “place of the blue smoke.”
I hiked the short trail to the tallest peak in the Smokies, Clingmans Dome, which is 6,643 feet tall and can be viewed from this observation tower.