Ten Special Activities for Autumn in the Smokies

Colorful Fall Foliage

Enjoy Tennessee's beautiful Smoky Mountains in the Fall. Fall foliage viewing begins around the first of October and continues through the second week in November. Either driving in the comfort of your car or hiking to get closer to nature, there are trails for all to enjoy the colorful Fall foliage throughout the Great Smoky Mountains. Looking for brilliant reds, gold, yellow, orange and brown? You will find it seeing yellow birch, American beech, mountain maple, hobblebush and pin cherry among 100 species of native trees here. With over 10 millions visitors each year, it's clear why this land is for those who love the outdoors.

Smoky Mountain Train Ride

In autumn, the mountains of Western NC are a dramatic display of fiery sugar maples, buttery poplars and crimson oaks. Enjoy the cool crisp air of fall from an Open Air Gondolas or a First Class Car. The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad provides you with the best seat in the house! Take in ALL the colors of this autumn canvas masterpiece! In the month of October enjoy one these fantastic excursions!

Nantahala Gorge Excursion: This 4 ½ hour westbound excursion carries you 44 miles to the Nantahala Gorge and back again. Travel the Little Tennessee and Nantahala Rivers across Fontana Lake and into the magic of the Nantahala Gorge.

Old Fashioned Hay Rides

Gatlinburg offers old fashioned hayrides through the streets of downtown Gatlinburg. As fall begins in the Smoky Mountains, take this fun filled hayride and enjoy breath taking views of our beautiful mountain foliage. Departure is at traffic light #6 at the Mountain Mall. Rides leave approximately every 45 minutes, November 1 - December 31.
Call 865-436-3897 for more information.

Cades Cove Riding Stables offers a 1.5 – 2 hour hayride around the Cades Cove Loop Road. Passengers sit on a bed of hay in a trailer pulled by a truck and enjoy an open air view of the scenery of Cades Cove. Reservations are generally required and can be made by calling (865) 448-9009. Rates are $6.00 per person.

Apple Picking

Baxter's Orchard in Cosby, TN is a wonderful place where you can pick every type of apple you could want; Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Staymen Winesap, Rome Beauty, York, Rome, Granny Smith, and Jonathon. Take your favorites home and make apple pie, apple crisps and caramel apples. The orchard also sells a variety of pumpkins and grapes.

Open: Early September to late November; Mondays - Sundays, 8:00am-6:00pm.

5446 East Parkway, Cosby, TN 37722, Sevier County
Phone: (865) 217-2281

Corn Mazes

There is not a better way to enjoy Fall than by visiting a pumpkin patch and touring a corn maze.
The Oakes Farm Corn Maze is a very intricate design. Your goal is to find each of 12 different posts hidden in the maze, and then to find your way back out. Another maze features The Farm Scene Investigation Game. A mystery adventure through the corn maze. The corn maze is designed as two separate mazes, one 1.3 miles long, and the other 3 miles. The maze should take 1 to 1 1/2 hours to navigate. (And maybe a little longer at night by flashlight.)
Apple Valley Corn Maze is a fun family experience in the heart of the Smoky Mountains. You can find your way through the corn maze, pick your own pumpkin, or feed the goats, there is something for everyone.
Life Down on the Farm offers hayrides and a corn maze as well as a firepit for group gatherings on the creek.

Historic Buildings and Sites

Historic Buildings in Great Smoky Mountains National Park: There is an excellent collection of historic buildings of all types in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: cabins, barns, outbuilding and mills.

Historic Arts & Crafts Community Trail: Artists and craftsme have an 8-mile loop designated as a Tennessee Heritage Arts & Crafts Trail. Established in 1937, it's the largest group of independent artisans in North American. Every arts and crafts lover will enjoy this opportunity to see some of the fin

The Old Mill & General Store in Pigeon Forge: is listed in the National Register of Historical Places and takes you back to 1830. This working mill is over 170 years old.

Tuckaleechee Caverns, "Greatest Site Under the Smokies" is one of the earth's oldest mountain chains dating over 20 and 30 million years. It is located in Townsend on the peaceful side of the Smokies.

Smoky Mountain Hikes

Great Smoky Mountains National Park provides many opportunities for walking and hiking. Much of the interest and mood present in the park depends on finding subtle variations in nature not seen from automobiles. For example, wildflowers, cascading streams, the scent of evergreens, and the sounds of birds are best seen and experienced away from roads. For this reason, the National Park Service maintains 800 miles of trails here.

Rivers and Waterfalls
	Throughout the Smokies you may be enticed from your car by the sight, sound, and feel of clear, cool mountain streams that tumble downslope as frothy cascades and waterfalls. Take a hike to a waterfall or just listen to a stream and observe the plants and animals that live in these magnificent forests. Streams are always enjoyable at anytime of the year.Waterfall Hikes

Haunted Ghost Tours
	Haunted Knoxville Ghost Tour is a unique ghost hunting adventure.Your Guides are Authentic Paranormal Investigators, not only story tellers. All information provided on the tour is factual and all the locations visited are true areas of paranormal events. Enjoy Knoxville's most exciting late night adventure.

Autumn Scenery & Photographic Spots
	Some of the most popular scenic and photographic areas in the Smokies include: Cades Cove Clingman's Dome Mount LeConte Ramsey Cascades Cataloochee The Mountain Farm Museum

Cades Cove abounds with white tailed deer, wild turkey, fox and bear. Along the 11-mile one-way loop around the cove there is a grist mill, a variety of barns, three churches, and an excellent varied collection of log homes and out buildings

Clingman's Dome is 6,643 feet and the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is also the highest point in Tennessee and the third highest mountain east of the Mississippi. From its observation tower on the summit you have a 360 degree view of the Smokies.

Mount LeConte, which is the highest peak in the Eastern part of the United States at an elevation of 6,593 feet

Don't forget the splendid scenery at Ramsey Cascades. It is the highest waterfall in the Smokies, and follows rushing rivers and streams for most of its length.

Cataloochee is one of the most picturesque areas in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Elk were reintroduced to the park in 2001 and can be observed in this area.There are also cabins, historic churches and old farm buildings

The Mountain Farm Museum is a unique collection of farm buildings assembled from various locations throughout the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Tourists can visit a log farmhouse, barn, apple house, springhouse, and a working blacksmith shop to experience what life in the Smokies was like 100 years ago. Most of the structures were built in the late 19th century and were moved here in the 1950s. The Davis House offers a unique chance to view a log house built from chestnut wood before the chestnut blight destroyed most of the American Chestnut in the eastern United States during the 1930s and early 1940s.