Sunday we headed for Gatlinburg, Tn and the Smoky Mountain National Park. We didn’t realize what a tourist trap that area is. Two towns, Gatlinburg and nearby Pidgeon Forge are full of amazing things to do. They have an incredible amount of attractions with things to do for both kids and adults. This is definitely a place we’d like to bring the kids and grandkids to in the near future.

We bypassed Pidgeon Forge and went straight to Gatlinburg with an agenda. The three things on Jim’s list were the Gatlinburg Space Needle, the suspension bridge and the National Park. We hit the Space Needle first. It’s a 407′ tower (like the sphere in Knoxville except this one was open 😊) with great views of downtown Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains. From there we took a chairlift up to their suspension bridge. The bridge is 680′ long and 150′ high built across 2 mountain peaks that are 1800′ high. It also has some glass panels in the middle that you can look down through. We enjoyed that.

From there it was on to Smoky Mountain National Park where the Appalachian trail crosses Tennessee and North Carolina. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the trail it is the longest foot trail in the world at 2200 miles long, going from Georgia to Maine, and goes through 14 states. Thousands of people attempt the hike each year but only about 1 in 4 make it.