Smoky Mountains Getaway

The Smokies are just an 8 hour jaunt from St. Louis, the perfect spot for a weekend getaway by car. The park is free to enter, and the fall colors are majestic.

Our itinerary:
Day 1
Drove from St. Louis to Townsend, TN
Stay at VRBO cabin

Day 2
Breakfast at the cabin
Tour of Tuckaleechee Caverns
Lunch at Elvira’s Cafe
Afternoon shopping in Gatlinburg
Dinner at Barley’s in Maryville

Day 3
Breakfast at the cabin
Middle Prong Hiking Trail
Relaxation time at the cabin
Afternoon exploring in Pigeon Forge
Bear watching along Cade’s Cove Loop
Dinner at The Riverstone

Day 4
Drove from Townsend, TN to St. Louis

Although we had both been to to Smokies before, we’ve never gone together and can’t believe it took us this long to drive down there from St. Louis. We loved everything we did along the way during the weekend, but probably could’ve skipped Gatlinburg. Pigeon Forge is a much nicer shopping area - Gatlinburg is more of a touristy, tchotchke overload.

Middle Prong Trail is lovely and is very easy to hike. We didn’t take it as far as we could since we were stuck in some rain, but within a short distance of starting out, we were enjoying the sounds of the Little River and the colorful trees.

A note about the cave - go to it! It might seem like an odd thing to do if you’re looking to explore Smoky Mountain National Park, but Tuckaleechee Caverns is amazing and the great room can almost fit a football stadium inside of it. The cave is an estimated twenty to thirty million years old! I tend to get claustrophobic and I had no issues here - it’s plenty big and there aren’t any tight squeezes. Do not be turned off by the old school visitor’s center - the tour is legit and it’s worth the entry fee ($18). Plus, it’s a great thing to do if you have rain. There were some small children on our tour and they absolutely loved it, too.