Family Vacation In The Smoky Mountains
- Kathleen Stanley
- Feb 11, 2022
- 3 min read
When choosing a trip the whole family can enjoy, we try to pick destinations that don't have crazy, wild, must-do hikes that we wouldn't feel comfortable having our kiddos do with us (like our Crazy Hiking Roadtrips). We also try to keep our travel time as limited as possible and choose a base camp with plenty of kid-friendly activities. Living in Ohio and packing in as many RV trips throughout the year as our work and budget can handle, the destinations that don't take days of driving are becoming limited. Our trip to The Great Smoky Mountains National Park met our needs perfectly.
This vacation quickly became one of our favorite travel spots. The drive from Cleveland, Ohio wasn't overly long, though driving in the RV added a few hours- something we didn't realize would happen as RV newbies. Coming from relatively flat land into mountainous terrain is always exciting! We enjoyed good food, kid-friendly hikes, wildlife, unique shopping and even had a splash pad in our camp!
Pigeon Forge mirrored Vegas more then a remote hiking town with it's long strip of tourist attractions. We couldn't avoid the temptation to shop and ended up purchasing beautiful opal and turquoise jewelry and checking out an odd little shop completely dedicated to Trump. In between stores, we enjoyed some of the best funnel cakes and ice cream we've ever tried! If you get a chance, be sure to check out Maddog's Cream for ice cream concoctions a kid could only dream about- like this ice cream burrito complete with 3 scoops of different ice cream flavors wrapped in cotton candy! They even had doggie treats for our pup, Indie!
We were able to score some great Groupon deals for unique attractions the kids would enjoy. A roller coaster on the side of a mountain?! Yes, please! Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster topped our list of fun adventures in The Smokies. The mile long coaster was one wild ride! Our little's were able to ride down with us while the bigger kids rode themselves. The manual speed adjustments made it easy to slow down when the turns got to be a little too much during 8 minutes of non-stop screaming. They even offered night-time rides illuminated by colorful lights under the stars!
Finding a campground everyone will enjoy is no easy task but our stay at Riveredge RV Park was truly amazing. We were also able to pick our own campsite through their booking map which made our bare-footed walk to the splash pad and pool an easy task. If you've ever showered in your RV you'll know that not being able to stretch out can old, fast. The showers at this park were super clean and within walking distance making our mornings a breeze as well. It's central location made it easy to navigate through the hustle and bustle of Pigeon Forge and we found ourselves not more than 15 minutes from all the places we wanted to explore including the trailheads in GSMNP.
We fell short on our plan of not feeling like we missed out on crazy wild must-do hikes in Tennessee. Sure, the trails we completed with the kiddos were some of the most scenic and serene hikes we've ever done, but we found so many others we were itching to do that weren't exactly kid-friendly (another adult-only trip in the future?!). The entire family enjoyed all three trails we hiked in The Smokies. Well, everyone except Indie who had to wait while we trekked the dog-free trails. With rainforest vibes, big boulders to climb, plenty of off-trail excursions and water to swim in, these hikes met every expectation we had. We even spotted a black bear in Cades Cove! (Be sure to read about all the details and unique scenery that made Abram Falls, Grotto Falls and Laurel Falls our favorites!)
Our Great Smoky Mountain National Park trip ended up being better then we could ever imagine. The shopping brought an experience we don't usually have on our vacations while the scenic elements of the Tennessee mountains captivated our hearts. This one may be crossed of our National Park bucket list, but it surely will be added to our list of repeats!
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