A Twist Turned Into an Incredibly Scenic and Serene Drive on the Foothills Parkway

Tuesday, January 30th was a planned drive into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. For a change, all three of us had the day off, so why not schedule a nice, relaxing day when we could forget about what little was bothering us. We certainly didn’t anticipate what would cause us to improvise our little getaway. As it turned out, it’s safe to say we probably ended up happier with our alternative plan.

My wife and I had an appointment with our new financial advisor, Chad, that morning. Following our meeting, we headed to Sugarlands Visitors Center where we finally bought our annual parking pass. From there, we wanted to visit Townsend first—a place marketed as “The Peaceful Side of the Smokies.” If it wasn’t time for us to eat lunch, our plans would’ve been to visit the Elkmont Ghost Town for a second time. It had been years since our last visit, so were excited to see the old vacation homes again.

The Elkmont Ghost Town, or Daisy Town, is near the Elkmont Campground and features many homes owned by wealthy Knoxvillians back in the early 1900s. Back then, logging was a huge industry in the Smokies, and people would travel by railroad to stay in these homes. When the logging industry left, the tracks were stripped and these people would drive their cars to their vacation cabins here.

When the National Park Service purchased the land, owners were allowed to lease their cabins for 20 years. It was renewed, but in 1992 when the leases expired, the owners were forced to leave. Based on the conditions, the NPS decided which ones should stand and be restored for future visitors and hikers to see. After some debate, the cabins were restored without stripping away their historical character.

When we visitied back in 2018, we couldn’t go in some of the homes because they were in the process of restoration. It was very cool seeing the inside of the ones we could enter. Like walking inside older cabins, you can’t help but think about how these people lived, despite the fact they were wealthy, while the really old cabins were about mere survival for those families.

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When we were within a mile of turning at the Townsend Wye, we saw flashing lights ahead and soon saw a pile of rocks completely blocking the other lane and half of ours. Uh-oh! Seeing this little rockslide made us realize we probably wouldn’t be going back this way. But on we went. Hunger pangs persisted.

After stopping at the visitor center in Townsend, we headed for the Apple Valley Mountain Village. I was disappointed that Peaceful Side Social Brewery was closed, but this little eatery was my second option. It certainly satisfied our hunger, as I proceeded to order the biggest BLT I had ever seen or tried to eat. It was so good! I gave my wife and son a few pieces of bacon, but afterward, I wished I had given them more. It was substantial, but very tasty!

What was next? Yes, we had to decide what we wanted to do since it wasn’t in the cards for us to return to the Wye, only to have to go back. Cades Cove is never a bad decision, but I made the call to drive the Foothills Parkway for the first time. Here goes!

I had no idea what to expect. I figured there would be pull-offs, and from what little research I’d done, thought there would be pretty good views of the mountains. Boy, was that an understatement!

The most striking part of our introduction was the lack of traffic. We felt like we were driving on a just opened—or closed—roadway. We started ascending and came across the first lookout. Nobody in sight! We got out of our SUV and were met with silence—only the soft, discreet sounds of nature. It was absolutely beautiful. We were staring at the valley below, and the snow-capped mountains high.

The same thing happened at all the others. Silence. Only a few joyriders traveled this secret road…or so it seemed. It was perfect for us, and we all seemed to think it was probably even better than our original plan. We had all the views and photo opportunities to ourselves. Not a single soul would join us on our undisturbed, soothing stops. When something is too good to be true, you’re always thinking of the other extreme…but it wasn’t to be. Nothing would disturb our most excellent adventure today!

Not to be outdone was our drive through Wears Valley. This was another of our views from the Foothills Parkway. The mountain visuals from here are special as well. It’s a unique area with mom and pop businesses, which certainly aren’t lacking in charm. It served as a nice cap to an unpredictable but satisfying drive. We will certainly explore this again in the future!

Thank you for reading and subscribing to my publication! I hope you enjoyed my description of our amazing Tuesday drive. Be sure to stay tuned for much more of all the things I love about Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains. It’s days like these that make me love our home even more than words could ever describe!