Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail - Great Smoky Mountains National Park

 

The Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail is a 5½-mile one-way paved road accessible from the Cherokee Orchard entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It provides a couple of excellent viewpoints on the left side of the road as it climbs toward its namesake creek. You will be out of the park and back in Gatlinburg at the end of the road. A left turn will lead to a traffic light on East Parkway, US 321. A left turn on East Parkway will bring you back into town while a right turn heads toward Pitman Center and Cosby. Trailers, motor homes, and buses are prohibited due to the winding nature of the road. We explored the route in July 2022.

View from the first overlook

Growing back after the 2016 fire

View from the third pullout and second overlook

There is no entrance fee at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. However, a parking fee will be levied beginning March 1, 2023. The fee will be $5 for a daily tag, $15 for a seven-day tag, and $40 for an annual tag.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park website is https://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm.

Cades Cove Comparison - May and July - Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We visited Cades Cove in mid-May and mid-July 2022. Located on the Tennessee side of the park, it is one of the most visited locations in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. From the bright greens of late spring to the wildflowers and golden grass of summer, the changes were both dramatic and subtle. See if you can tell which images are of spring and which are of summer.

Here's a bonus of a couple of images of Meigs Falls, also on the Tennessee side of the park between the Townsend Wye and Metcalf Bottoms. These images were also taken in May and July 2022.

There is no entrance fee at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. However, a parking fee will be levied beginning March 1, 2023. The fee will be $5 for a daily tag, $15 for a seven-day tag, and $40 for an annual tag.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park website is https://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm.

Boardwalk Loop Trail - Congaree National Park

Concluding our November 2021 visit to Congaree National Park, we walked the 2.6-mile Boardwalk Loop Trail. This is a combination of the Low and Elevated Boardwalks. The boardwalk starts behind the visitor center just beyond the breezeway.

Large gathering spot for ranger talks and walks near the trailhead

Dorovan muck

One of many sloughs in the park

Water tupelos (Nyssa aquatica)

Closer view of a water tupelo

Typical low boardwalk

Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) knees

Switch cane (Arundinaria tecta)

Typical bridge

Another slough with Water Tupelo and Bald Cypress trees

The trail ahead is closed due to a bridge washout

Recently rebuilt low boardwalk

Fallen trees open up the canopy

Weaving through the old growth forest

Sunlight penetrating the canopy

Tall canopy

Crossing an old road now known as the Sims Trail

The wide-open Sims Trail

Water Tupelo and Bald Cypress

Reflections

Back to "solid" ground

This Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) is over 150 feet tall

Same tree from another angle

A bridge over a "gut" or low channel that disperses floodwaters

Trail junction

Weston Lake Loop trail passes under the Elevated Boardwalk

A waterside view of Weston Lake

Transition from Low Boardwalk to Elevated Boardwalk

Weston Lake from the observation deck

Typical Elevated Boardwalk

Hornet's nest

Open canopy thanks to Hurricane Hugo (1989)

Dwarf Palmetto (Sabal minor)

Remains of a moonshine still

More open sky

Back on the Low Boardwalk

Crossing Sims Trail again

Standing water with a translucent layer on top

Another view of the film covering the water

Crossing another slough

There is no entrance fee at Congaree National Park.

The Congaree National Park website is https://www.nps.gov/cong/index.htm.