Must do things in Pigeon Forge TN

[Cowracer]

One other thing...


If you are driving around the park, and see cars pulled over to the side of the road for no apparent reason, its because there is a bear there. Don't get too close, but you can get some wonderful bear pictures if you try.

Tim

[weldon182]

Cowracer cool pictures and thank you

[Deaconjene]

White water rafting. 😀 we had a fun day.

[Brother Les]

Originally Posted by Oaklevel

I'm curious about how much damage and change that there is after the fires. Has anyone been there recently ??

Family and I are here. staying at the Pine Mountain Road campground. Have a site along the brook edge. Drove through the Smokey Mountains and can tell where areas have been burned out. But.... what looks to be burned out was mainly the build up of under brush and old fell trees. The burned forest area itself is very strong and thick with trees and green with new sprouting growth. Yes, some houses were burned, but with so many hills, ridges and valleys, houses are crammed into the forest and blend into the forest itself. If in the way of a fast moving under brush fire, there is no saving them as the roads are narrow and few fire equipment to fight such a large area. Triage was the only solution, some had to be 'let go' as they were impossible to save do to logistics. Believe it or not, except for the loss of life and property, these fires every few years are good for the forest. it is easy to see that the forest is strong and coming back stronger.

[camperwes413]

Originally Posted by youroo

Cades Cove! Youroo!!

Go Early if you go to Cades Cove or it will take all day to get through. Go in the smokeys and hike. Eat at Smokey Mountain Brewery, good pizza and good beer.

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by Cowracer

One other thing...


If you are driving around the park, and see cars pulled over to the side of the road for no apparent reason, its because there is a bear there. Don't get too close, but you can get some wonderful bear pictures if you try.

Tim

And there WILL be idiots who get too close!! Make sure you can run faster than they can!

Probably hard to see, but just below the tree on the far right is a bear. There are 3 people about 50 ft away from him. Idiots.

[weldon182]

Thanks everyone looks beautiful

[youroo]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

And there WILL be idiots who get too close!! Make sure you can run faster than they can!

Probably hard to see, but just below the tree on the far right is a bear. There are 3 people about 50 ft away from him. Idiots.

Hard to see People? It looks like a "Easter Egg Hunt"! Youroo!!

[Oaklevel]

Originally Posted by Brother Les

Family and I are here. staying at the Pine Mountain Road campground. Have a site along the brook edge. Drove through the Smokey Mountains and can tell where areas have been burned out. But.... what looks to be burned out was mainly the build up of under brush and old fell trees. The burned forest area itself is very strong and thick with trees and green with new sprouting growth. Yes, some houses were burned, but with so many hills, ridges and valleys, houses are crammed into the forest and blend into the forest itself. If in the way of a fast moving under brush fire, there is no saving them as the roads are narrow and few fire equipment to fight such a large area. Triage was the only solution, some had to be 'let go' as they were impossible to save do to logistics. Believe it or not, except for the loss of life and property, these fires every few years are good for the forest. it is easy to see that the forest is strong and coming back stronger.

I was just curious if the devastation was noticeable at this point numerous businesses and resorts were also burned and the loss of life was bad. Even a couple from our area vacationing there did not make it out. I know at one point that the downtown area of Gatlinburg was evacuated as they thought they would have signification damage including the loss of the Aquarium, but fortunately that did not happen. Afterward at least Dolly stepped up to financially assist the local residents that lost jobs and their homes.

I've been curious as we have not been back since the fires being it was the major topic of our local news for several weeks.

[gojeepgo]

I know this thread is a bit old but wanted to add to it for anyone searching for a future trip.
We just got back from the area. We tend to avoid the real tourist type stuff and spend almost our entire time in the national park. The one thing we did do was the outdoor gravity park. You wear your bathing suit and roll down a hill in an inflatable clear ball with warm water inside. Ridiculous fun.