09/03/2025
Now is the time when the leaves start to change in the Smokies. Right now yellow and red are starting to turn while in another week the colors will really be popping.
So my grandchildren say staying in the cabin is like staying in a treehouse. You look right out off the ridge eye level with the trees.
Also You're so close to Roaring Forks Drive. Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail is a 5.5-mile, one-way scenic drive just inside the border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Starting from outside the park on Gatlinburg’s outskirts, drive through the lush greens of summer and the colors of fall, stopping at historic pioneer homesteads and trailheads beckoning you to gushing waterfalls. It’s the perfect activity for a lazy afternoon, promising excellent views, plenty of opportunities to stop and explore and even the potential for wildlife sightings. This popular route gets busy, so it’s best to drive it early in the morning, or late in the afternoon or early evening to skip the crowds.
There are seven stops on this loop.
1. Ogle place: Ogle’s “saddlebag” cabin, twin dwellings joined with a shared chimney, sits on a historic homestead along with a four-pen barn and a tub mill.
2. Rainbow Falls: One of the most popular hikes in the park, Rainbow Falls is a 5.6 mile roundtrip, moderately strenuous hike from the Rainbow Falls Trailhead. The delicate cascade measures 80 feet in height, often creating its namesake rainbow on sunny afternoons. hike. Start early, as the parking lot often fills up quickly.
3. Grotto Falls: You can walk behind this unique, 26-foot waterfall, making it a fun stop on a warm afternoon. The is 2.6 miles roundtrip, winding through old-growth forests and rhododendron. Follow the Trillium Gap Trail from the parking area, which continues on to Mount LeConte.
4. Alex Cole Cabin: While now located at the Jim Bales Place, the Alex Cole cabin was originally located just below Cole Cemetery, near the heart of the Sugarlands area of the park. Cole was one of many mountain guides from the Sugarlands. The cabin was probably built around 1850 by Cole’s parents or in-laws. The cabin is located within the Roaring Fork Historic District, but has its own listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
5. Ephraim Bales Cabin: Home to Ephraim Bales, his wife Minerva and their nine children, this cabin sat on a 72-acre plot, 30 of which were farmed from 1890 to around 1930.
6. Alfred Raegan Tub Mill: Mini mills (called “tub mills”) like Alfred Reagan’s located on LeConte Creek were perfectly suited to the mountains. They could capture plenty of energy from a relatively low-volume creek to produce a bushel of cornmeal today. Once, as many as 14 of these mills lined the creek. Reagan built the mill in 1895 and worked as a farmer, blacksmith, shopkeep, preacher and carpenter in the Smokies.
7. Place of Thousand Drips: Just before the motor nature trail returns to Gatlinburg, spot The Place of a Thousand Drips from the road. Countless small cascades form this pretty and aptly named sight. The waterfall is most scenic after a heavy rain.
After a marvelous day of hiking and exploring nature, the Roaring Forks Motor Trail, leads you to Loop Drive and to Forrest Springs Drive to Mountain Wolf's Cabin. Enjoy the lovely colors in a cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Book your trip to the beautiful and stay in a cozy . In and enjoy the beautiful fall .
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