The Hunt for Red October - Great Smoky Mountains Fall Foliage Update - 10/22/07

October 22, 2007 - Courtesy of Steve Kemp and the Great Smoky Mountains Association

Despite (or perhaps, because of) the severe drought conditions, fall colors are shaping up to be very good this year. Colors are at peak this week in many areas of the Smoky Mountain high country (above 3,500'). Yellow birch, American beech, pin cherry, American mountain-ash, witch-hobble, and mountain maple are all showing excellent color. Some maples are showing brilliant reds.

This high elevation color peak is a couple of weeks later than average and is more impressive than in many years.

Good places to see fall color include: Newfound Gap Road from Alum Cave Trailhead to Kephart Prong Trailhead, Clingmans Dome Road, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Foothills Parkway East & West, and Heintooga Ridge Road to Balsam Mountain Campground.

Suggested hikes: Thomas Divide Trail, Alum Cave Bluff Trail, Chimney Tops Trail, Sweat Heifer Trail, the spruce-fir self-guiding nature trail, Gregory Bald Trail, and Mt. Cammerer.

At the lower elevations, fall colors are gradually coming along. Black gum, dogwood, sumacs, and sourwood trees continue to show vivid reds. Golds are present on tuliptree, black walnut, birch, beech, spicebush, and hickories. A few scattered maples and oaks are showing colors. The peak of color at the lower elevations is at least a week away and will probably spill over into November.

Suggested hikes: Rich Mountain Loop, Chestnut Top Trail, Smokemont Loop, and Sutton Ridge Overlook (Lower Mt. Cammerer Trail).

Click Here for Basic Fall Color Information

• Click Here for Fall Drives


• Click Here for Fall Hikes


• GSMNP Fall Hikes & Drives

Smoky Mountains Cades Cove Photography

Smoky Mountain Podcasts - Tours and Story Telling

The Great Smoky Mountains Association has launched a series of podcasts that are available from their website or the iTunes podcast directory.

The podcasts vary in subject matter, including audio tours of Newfound Gap Road and tips on what to do when you encounter a bear in the backwoods. In all, they have 41 podcast episodes available and seem to be adding new episodes frequently.

Visit the GSMA website to download individual podcast episodes. If you are an iTunes user, you can subscribe to the GSMA Podcast to receive updates automatically and easily sync them to your iPod.

Smoky Mountains

Roaring Fork Motor Trail - Jewel of the Smokies!

The Roaring Fork area is a favorite side trip for many people who frequently visit the Smokies. It offers rushing mountain streams, glimpses of old-growth forest, and a number of well-preserved log cabins, grist mills, and other historic buildings. If you have time to make only one trip into the park from Gatlinburg, this should be the one.

To access Roaring Fork, turn off the main parkway in Gatlinburg, TN., at traffic light #8 and follow Historic Nature Trail to the Cherokee Orchard entrance to the national park. The Noah “Bud” Ogle self-guiding nature trail provides a walking tour of an authentic mountain farmstead and surrounding hardwood forest. Highlights include a streamside tubmill and the Ogle’s handcrafted wooden flume plumbing system.

Just beyond the Rainbow Falls trailhead you have the option of taking the one-way Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. This narrow, but paved, road twists and turns for six miles beside rich forests, waterfalls, and mountain streams. Buses, trailers, and motor homes are not permitted on the motor nature trail. An inexpensive booklet available at the beginning of the motor nature trail details landmarks along the route.

“Roaring Fork” is the name of the stream which the road roughly parallels. It is one of the larger and faster flowing mountain streams in the park. Drive this road after a hard rain and the inspiration behind the name will be apparent. Several homes and other buildings have been preserved in this area. And a “wet weather” waterfall called Place of a Thousand Drips provides a splendid finale to your journey.

Roaring Fork Nature Trail terminates at Roaring Fork Rd., which is only a quarter mile from the Bear's Den front door!

Blog Photos by Brian J. Davis

Roaring Forks Nature Trail - The Jewel of The Smokies by Chuck Wickham

Gatlinburg , Bear's Den