Smoky Mountains Recreation: Spring to Summer Fun
 What
helps to make the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee one of America's
favorite vacation destinations, season after season and year
after year, is the region's impressive combination of stunning
natural beauty and its wide variety of entertainment and recreational
opportunities. The spectacle of the Great Smoky Mountains National
Park is what provides the sensational scenery that amazes Tennessee
tourists over and over again. And surrounding the park boundaries
are the exciting Smoky Mountain cities of Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg,
and Sevierville. Both individually and collectively these three
Tennessee resort towns provide Smoky Mountain vacationers with
a myriad of holiday entertainment options; including everything
from theme park excitement, to seasonal festivals, to local
arts and crafts fairs.
The month of May bridges the spring and summer seasons in the Smokies. This means that the spectacular Appalachian foliage that blankets the surrounding Tennessee hillside is moving from fresh spring bidding to summer's full bloom. May is a time of year where the Smoky Mountain wilderness is literally teaming with life. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers multiple forms of recreation to enjoy the picturesque Appalachian environment. These recreational opportunities include picturesque walking and hiking trails, scenic and meandering drives, park picnics, historic landmark viewing, fishing, camping, and much more.
Whether you're a seasoned hiker or a novice the Park offers hundreds of trails (suited to every imaginable skill-level) for Smoky Mountain tourists to explore. These hikes will lead you along gentle streams, up to cascading waterfalls such as Abram's Falls, next to historic Smoky Mountain cabins, and up to incredible, panoramic vista viewpoints- where the entirety of the Smoky Mountains' splendor is on lavish and unhindered display beneath your feet. No matter how many times you've vacationed in East Tennessee there is always more to see and explore in and around the Great Smoky Mountains National Park; and hiking and walking is one of the best ways to experience this Appalachian marvel up close and personal.
Beyond exploring the boundaries of the Park on foot, area visitors
also enjoy the scenic drives featured here. The Newfound Gap
road is one of the most popular of these mountain routes. This
is a meandering journey where the journey is half the fun. As
you wind around from corner to corner following a long series
of cutbacks on your way up the mountainside the views of the
Smoky Mountain wilderness only get more and more magnificent.
And the "pay-off" at the end of your journey is even better.
Once you park the car you can follow an ascending path up to
the viewpoint known as Clingman's Dome- which is perched on
the second highest peak in the entire eastern half of the Untied
States. From here you can see for miles and miles. This vista
truly has to be experienced in person to be fully appreciated.
As amazing as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is, it
is only one of several area highlights available for Tennessee
tourists to enjoy. The Smoky Mountain sister cities of Gatlinburg,
Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville, TN serve as world-class vacation
destinations in their own right- offering a wide variety of
compelling live entertainment, theme park attractions, antique
and retail shopping, and much more. Not only does each of these
cities offer their own blend of exciting recreational opportunities,
but they also join forces throughout the year to offer region-wide
Smoky Mountain festivals as well. In the bridge period between
spring and summer the Smoky Mountain Springfest Festival is
in full swing in Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, and Gatlinburg.
The annual Smoky Mountain Springfest Festival is a popular area-wide
celebration that marks the season where "everything old is new
again" in the Smokies. The Springfest Festival takes place over
three months; showcasing mountain music performers, streets
decked with flower bouquets, and special events including Dollywood's
Festival of Nations, and the Spring Grand Rod Run. The annual
Springfest Festival helps to make the months of spring amongst
the most popular for Smoky Mountain vacationers.
 The
month of May not only marks the time of year when the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park is transitioning to full, lush
bloom but it also marks a time when the special events hosted
throughout the region kick into a higher gear as well. In Pigeon
Forge for example, Smoky Mountain vacationers can check out
events that include the annual Arts and Crafts Show and the
Rhythm in the Hills Music Festival. Gatlinburg's May special
events include the annual Gatlinburg Scottish Festival and Games
and the Gatlinburg Fine Art Festival. Sevierville is host to
the Annual Bloomin' Barbeque & Bluegrass Festival and the Great
Southern Mountain Adventures Drag Race.
And these events are just a sample of a multitude of activities,
celebrations, competitions and festivals taking place in and
around the Greater Smoky Mountains Region in the month of May.
Other events include the Hawaiian Lei Days Celebration, the
Chevy Classics Road Show and the Mountain Soul Vocal Competition.
Nearby towns such as Townsend, TN and Cherokee, NC also offers
their own mix of special events throughout the spring and summer
months. In other words, no matter what your recreational preference,
there's likely something going on in the Smoky Mountains region
to keep you more than occupied!
No matter what time of year Smoky Mountain vacationers plan
for a Tennessee getaway, the spectacular Pigeon Forge cabins
provided by Sugar Maple Cabins provide for premium mountaintop
lodging experiences. Why only make daytrips into the Smokies
when you could stay in one of these luxurious Tennessee chalets-
located in the heart of the Appalachian splendor? During the
month of May Sugar Maple Cabins offers enticing vacation
specials and cabin rental offers that make now as good a
time as ever to "head for the hills" of East Tennessee.
Not only do these stunning mountain homes allow for unparalleled
views of the surrounding Smoky Mountains, but they also offer
the kind of accommodation extravagance that you might expect
from a world-class alpine resort.
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