While Halloween is time for trick or treat, it is also the time fall color gives adventure travelers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park an eye full of orange, yellows, and reds. This park is one of the top visited parks in the national park system and the crowds in the fall hit their peak for Great Smoky Mountain fall color.
Great Smoky Mountain fall color surrounds a beautiful stream
Although the Smoky Mountains may not be as majestic as the Rocky Mountains or the Sierra Nevadas, fall is when their beauty really shines. You will not find snow capped jagged peaks like you do out west, but since the Smoky Mountains are completely tree covered, you get 5,000 to 6,000 foot mountains ablaze with color.
Several amazing lookouts help leaf peeping enthusiasts get great lookouts over the wide open Appalachian expanse. Clingman’s Dome has a tower at the top of the highest peak in the park. This can be accessed up the Newfound Gap Road. Mt. Cammerer and Mt. Sterling have fire towers on top which delight those who make the effort to reach these destinations.
Great Smoky Mountain fall color
Great Smoky Mountain fall color from the Mt. Cammerer observation tower
Great Smoky Mountain fall color – from the Mt. Cammerer observation tower
Great Smoky Mountain fall color from Mt. Cammerer
I think the best way to view the colors is just to take any trail along a river anywhere in the park and just walk in the woods. These types of trails are not hard to find in the Smokies. Hearing a mountain stream cascade down the ravine through deep dark forests is what make this park so magical in the fall.
Great Smoky Mountain fall color Swallow Fork Trail
Great Smoky Mountain fall color Swallow Fork Trail near Cosby
Great Smoky Mountain fall color – Swallow Fork Trail
Great Smoky Mountain fall color – Swallow Fork Trail near Cosby
Great Smoky Mountain fall color – Swallow Fork Trail
Great Smoky Mountains Swallow Fork Trail
Adventure on!
The goal of Traveling Ted is to inspire people to outdoor adventure travel and then provide tips on where and how to go. If you liked this post then enter your email in the box to get email notifications for each new entry. Daily travel photos are excluded from your email in order to not flood you with posts. There is no spam and email information will not be shared. Other e-follow options include Facebook (click on the like box to the right) or twitter (click on the pretty bird on the rainbow above)
Nice article my friend and stunning pics. Loved your “leaf-peeping” enthusiasts!!
Jeff Titelius recently posted..ArtSmart Roundtable: Paris’ Haunted Père Lachaise Cemetery
Excellent photo collection..inspires us to go there..
Cheers..
Charles Higgins recently posted..Caesars Entertainment offers 11 shows for $11.11 on November 11, 2011
That looks really awesome. Whenever I see pictures like these, I regret having discovered hiking too late. So many great trails, so little time.
Michael recently posted..The Delphic Oracle On Easy Hiking
Beautiful colors! I wish we had more colors like this for Fall. Love the reds!
Jeremy Branham recently posted..5 of the most haunted places on earth
Beautiful fall foliage! The far away shots look like impressionist paintings. I wanna go!
LeslieTravel recently posted..Photos: Creative costumes at the NYC Village Halloween Parade 2011
The Smokey Mountains are so beautiful. I have enjoyed being close to them but I am guilty of what is close is not taken advantage of… I enjoyed the week I spent near Gatlinburg getting to the National Park a few times.
Raul (@ilivetotravel) recently posted..International Atlanta – A Food Story
Great post mate, I love the textures in the bark on the trees from the swallow trail shots. Wish Australia went that color!
Peter shaw – long term traveller recently posted..Lessons in Happiness From Long Term Travel
Beautiful fall colors Ted 😉 I’m waiting for the colder weather. Please come sign up for notifications from my site (http://victoriapoller.blogspot.com). I post every two weeks. See you there.
The Smokys are indeed a great place to see fall color.
Can’t go wrong in the Smokies. One of the best places to go year round.
Great piece of photography. Now I’m back in the USA after such a long time being abroad not really seeing the changing of the leaves. It’s a beautiful thing to see.
It sure is a special time of the year and it does not last long.