We spent two nights at Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee, and our recommendation would be to skip it. We hiked all we could there, but there wasn’t much. The campgrounds were cramped. This place is for a different kind of outdoor experience than we are seeking, but it is just right for a lot of folks. It would be a fun place for day trips, and for families wanting to camp. In that respect, it fills an important niche for families wanting to get outdoors.
But the falls are, frankly, not all that spectacular. Many of the overlooks are overgrown, and you can only get a glimpse of the falls from them.
There is a totally fun suspension bridge there, though. I hadn't been on one of these since my childhood--at Fair (now named Couch) Park, the place where my family and I had so many picnics in the 1950s.
THE SMOKIES:
Our first two nights in the Smoky Mountain National Park were at Cades Cove Campground. We got sites in the “no generator” loop, and they were quiet. Two thumbs up for a no-generator loop. I wish more National Park campgrounds had these--Organ Pipe National Monument is the only other one we know of, although I'm sure there are others.
As there is in so many places we have visited and stayed, the presence of the Civilian Conservation Corps is very strong here. In fact, the brochures produced by the park give the CCC a lot of credit, which is good. You see the CCC everywhere--just look for the characteristic stone work.
Caves Cove is sort of the prima ballerina of the Smokies. It is stunning, but also kind of weird.
What’s not so wonderful is what is “wrong” with many National Parks—they are chosen primarily for their scenic beauty......from one's automobiles. So people stream to them to drive around and take photos. They can be crowded and feel more like a county fair than a place of pristine beauty to experience firsthand.
I read that the average person spends something like 11 minutes (I made up the number, but it was around this) at the Grand Canyon. They drive to the overlook, take photos, and leave. What is remarkable about the parks service, though, is that while they provide for this type of experience at the National Parks, it also provides experiences for people who want to hike long distances through them. Balancing the needs of the drive/photo people and people who want to walk out into these areas and touch them is quite a feat.
We couldn’t think of anything more dreadful than driving around an 11-mile loop and stopping every once in awhile to take photos. So, we decided to walk it instead.
Vicky said one reason to walk the route is that the people who inhabited this valley 100-200 years ago usually experienced it mostly on foot (maybe sometimes on horse, but we forgot to pack our horses), and not in air conditioned automobiles. Also, every once in awhile there was a few minutes without automobiles, and in those brief moments we could hear it the way it once was. Walking it also allows one to experience the original smells. So we wanted to experience it more like the original settlers did, as close as possible.
This was what it was like ALL day--thousands of vehicles driving through this very small valley.
Except for one caveat, walking it was great! I would strongly urge anyone to see Cade’s Cove the way we saw it—on foot. It made for a long day, but you can get a much better feel of the place by walking it.
And if you do walk it, we recommend you drive to Sparks Lane. Go to where the stream crosses it, and park in the small parking area there. Then, the walk is about 9 miles instead of 11, and you don’t bypass any of the vintage dwellings. You don't lose anything by missing the two miles.
We also strongly (as in PAY ATTENTION TO THIS!!!) recommend you do the hike the direction opposite to traffic—in other words do it clockwise. The road is narrow, there frequently isn’t a good shoulder, and people are driving and looking at the scenery. You want to be able to see drivers’ eyes.
And that brings up the one caveat about walking the route--you are forced to be on the road for much of it--a narrow one-lane road. There is very little shoulder, and often the shoulder is uncomfortably slanted. Most drivers considerately moved over a foot or so to give us room, but a few didn't, so a few cars would pass within 6 inches or so of us, or we would have to step off of the road even though there was plenty of room and the drivers were not in any kind of a hurry. Sad to say, but a few of the people who wouldn't more over even a foot (even though they could still stay on the road) did this intentionally. You could see it in their eyes--"the road is MINE." You see these same people when you cycle.
In short, Cade's Cove is set up for automobiles. Period. Not for walkers and hikers (or cyclists--and although there is a concession for bicycles, we have done thousands of miles of cycling and would never cycle in this type of traffic.). During the summer months, the loop is closed on Wednesday and Saturday mornings for walkers and cyclists, but not for a long enough time that a person could actually walk the 9-mile loop and see everything (need about five hours for this).
There is a lot of beauty on this loop. But we can’t give it really high marks because it is much too crowded. The amount of gasoline and diesel fumes that are retained in this small valley must be astronomical, and eventually should prove toxic to plants and wildlife.
And there is no walking/biking trail on the side of the road. Why not? Or why not have people park at the entrance and take busses or trams for as much of the loop as they want, and then be able to get out and walk on the road for as much of it as they want?
As it is currently constructed, walking the route meant at the very least a 9 mile trek, with a moderately hilly 1000+ foot elevation gain. And how many people can do that without getting into shape for it? But with a tram/bus system like Zion National Park has, people could be driven part of the way, and could walk as many miles between stops as they were able.
And I bet we are the ONLY people who have thought of this idea. Actually, we know the park service is doing the best it can to try to solve these and all of the other million problems it faces.
Again, to emphasize: Do the hike against traffic, not with it:
This is a place of great beauty. But it needs some re-examination as to its purpose and whether the way it is currently configured is actually damaging the beauty that the parks service is supposed to protect.
Vicky liked this house because there was a hardwood floor that she thought we could dance on. But I couldn’t get into it—all I could picture there was a young boy with bad teeth and a vacant look sitting on the porch with a banjo. That kind of killed the mood.
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