How to spend 2 days in Great Smoky Mountain National Park with kids
Great Smoky Mountain National Park is such a wonderful place to visit with kids! There are so many things to do around the area, and you are surrounded by one of the most beautiful National Parks in the country. With so many options, it can be hard to narrow down what you want to see and do during your time here.
We spent a week road tripping through the great state of Tennessee this spring, and we spent 2 days exploring the Smokies. We found some great hikes, learned a lot about the park, and saw tons of wildlife along the way.
Here’s how you should spend 2 days exploring Smoky Mountain National Park:
Where to stay
We rented one of the tiny home cabins at Little Arrow Outdoor Resort, located in Townsend, which we used as our home base for the first 2 nights of our stay in this area. Townsend is a great town on the quiet side of the Smokies, and we loved that it felt much less touristy than Gatlinburg.
We moved to Roamstead Outdoor Resort, which is just on the outskirts of Gatlinburg, for our 3rd night in the area so we could be closer to some of the things to do in Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge.
Both locations were great, and the amenities offered were top notch.
Day 1
Start the morning by entering on the west side of the park. Make your first stop at Look Rock Tower trail. There is a parking lot with a picnic area and a lookout, and directly across the street is the trailhead. This is an easy, paved 0.8 mile hike to a viewing platform with stunning views, and without the huge crowd of Clingman’s dome. It does have a bit of an uphill climb, but nothing too strenuous.
After the lookout and a quick stop for lunch, you are going to head to another family friendly hike, Spruce Flat Falls. Parking at this trailhead is limited as it is a popular hike, but it’s definitely worth waiting for a spot. We arrived in the mid afternoon and only had to wait about 10 minutes for a spot to open up. This trail is 1.6 miles out and back, and moderately difficult, but has an incredible waterfall as the payoff. It’s pretty steep and rocky, so make sure you bring plenty of water and good shoes.
After a day of hiking, you are going to want some down time, so head to your cabin at Little Arrow Outdoor Resort, where you will spend the next 2 nights. After checking in and exploring the resort a little, grab an early dinner, and then head to Cades Cove to enjoy the scenic 11 mile drive as the sun is setting. The traffic here can be miserable, so I recommend visiting at the very end of the day. We drove through in about 45 minutes with hardly any other cars on the road the day we visited.
We were too early in the season to see bears during our visit, but we did see wild turkeys and lots of deer.
Day 2
You are going to start off with an early morning visit to Sugarland Visitor’s Center. This is one of the most popular places in the park and gets busy, so make sure to get here early so you can find parking. Let your kids fill out their junior ranger book, which does cost $5 at this national park, and explore the exhibits in the visitor’s center.
After you finish in the Visitor’s Center, follow the trail directly behind the visitor’s center to hike to Cataract falls, an easy, 1 mile hike that is very popular. Expect to see lots of other people on the trail with you since it’s a short, easy hike, but still worth doing even with a crowd!
After you finish at Sugarland’s, take a scenic drive along Newfound Gap road towards the Oconaluftee Visitor’s center. There are several scenic lookouts and viewpoints along that way that I highly recommend stopping at. The drive took us about 45 minutes with stops.
When you arrive at Oconaluftee Visitor’s Center, enjoy a picnic lunch on the lawn with a stunning view of the mountains. Then spend some time exploring the Mountain Farm Museum, a collection of one of the oldest historic log structures in the National Park system.
There is a herd of elk that likes to graze in the pasture right next to the museum and visitor’s center, and if you visit during the right part of the day you can spot them here. The ranger informed us they are typically seen here in the early morning or evening. We visited midday and didn’t see them at the visitor’s center, but we did catch them wandering through some trees next to the side of the road as we made our way back from Mingo Falls.
Mingo Falls is a short, 10 minute drive from the visitors center, and is definitely worth the detour. This waterfall is a short but steep 0.3 mile hike from the parking lot and it is absolutely stunning. There are a decent amount of stairs to access this waterfall.
As you start to head back towards Townsend, you are going to stop at the Alum Cave Bluff trail for your final hike of the day. This was absolutely our favorite hike in the Smokies. It is a popular trail, and the parking lot is small, so if you visit during peak hours you will have a hard time finding parking, hence why I recommend this trail later in the day.
The entire trail is 11 miles roundtrip, but I recommend going the first 1.3 miles in to see Arch rock, and turning around there, if you’re hiking with kids. If you are up for a little more of a challenge, continue on to the Alum cave, which is 4.6 miles roundtrip. It is a beautiful hike, with the perfect amount of challenge to keep kids interested.
After you finish your hike, head back to Townsend for some dinner or ice cream and some relaxation!
