The Great Smoky Mountains are synonymous with waterfalls, verdant valleys, and old-growth forests that produce the range’s signature blue-gray haze. Unfortunately, the Smokies are also synonymous with traffic and crowds, as more than 12 million people visit these undulating peaks on the Tennessee-North Carolina border annually. Anyone who’s attempted to hike to Laurel Falls at 10 a.m. on a weekend or even tried to order a beer in Gatlinburg knows the severity of Smokies congestion.
With half of Americans living within 500 miles of the Great Smoky Mountains, these hills have long held the title of the most-visited national park in the United States. If you want to experience this 522,427-acre oasis without battling swarms of tourists, you have to know some tricks. First: “Pack your patience,” says park ranger Kenzie Connor. “Even with the best planning, some traffic and crowds may be unavoidable. A little patience goes a long way.” Below, Connor and other bonafide experts share their tips—like trading the wildly popular Kuwohi Observation Tower for a lesser-known lookout and taking on the famous Cades Cove loop by bike—for visiting the Great Smoky Mountains without the crowds.
Plan around parking—or take a shuttle
Getting caught in traffic when you’re trying to enjoy nature feels so wrong. Worse is when you have a hike planned but get to the trailhead to find there’s no parking. This is always the trickiest part of a Smokies visit. It’s such an issue that the National Park Service now releases an annual traffic calendar that shows times of low, medium, and high congestion. The calendar indicates that the slowest times are weekdays in May, August, September, and December, as well as the entire months of January and February. There’s also an arrivals-per-hour chart that shows most people are trying to park at trailheads around 10 a.m.
The best way to score a spot is to get to your destination by 8 a.m. or save your walk for the afternoon or evening. Consider the flow of traffic, too: if you want to leave the park and explore a bit of Gatlinburg, do that when the park is busiest, from about 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you’re staying outside the gates, consider taking one of the privately owned shuttles.
Trade busy attractions for lesser-known look-alikes
The Kuwohi Observation Tower, formerly known as Clingmans Dome, is the highest point in the Smokies and all of Tennessee. It attracts more than 650,000 people a year. Stop for a photo if you want to tick it off your high-points list, but head to Look Rock Tower for a more peaceful experience. Connor says the latter offers “a different perspective of the Smokies, from the outside looking in.” She also recommends Hen Wallow Falls in Cosby as a quieter option similar to the busy Laurel Falls (currently closed for rehabilitation until 2026), with Lynn Camp Prong, Mouse Creek Falls, and the Deep Creek Waterfall Loop being other worthwhile alternatives.
“If visitors are up for a more strenuous adventure, Ramsey Cascades in Greenbrier is a great choice” in place of Rainbow Falls, Connor says. “As for Alum Cave, one of our other most popular hikes, Charlies Bunion—accessed via the Appalachian Trail from Newfound Gap—is a solid substitute.”
Once a year, Great Smoky Mountains National Park shimmers with the luminous display of synchronous fireflies.
Photo by Danae Wolfe
Enjoy the famous fireflies at off-peak times
A great time to visit the park is during the few weeks when one species of firefly flashes in unison. This rare spectacle happens only during the breeding season, between late May and late June. It’s so popular among wildlife enthusiasts that the park holds a lottery in May for parking permits. But the permits are required only over the eight days of peak viewing. If you’re flexible and really want to see the forest light up with a synchronized glow, go a few days before or after that eight-day window.
Lynn Faust, the woman who discovered the fireflies around the Elkmont Campground in the 1990s, says the Elkmont area “remains spectacular [with a] very high density” of synchronous fireflies. It’s also easily accessible, with tent sites and trails that are relatively easy to navigate in the dark. She says to go deeper into the forest than other spectators, away from all light; otherwise, you could be surrounded by thousands of fireflies and not even see them.
Save Cades Cove for a vehicle-free day
The Cades Cove scenic drive on the Townsend, Tennessee, side is one of the top things to do in the Smokies. The 11-mile one-way loop leads you through a valley speckled with historic buildings, trailheads, scenic picnic spots, and grassy meadows that offer wildlife sightings right outside the car window. On busy days, the loop can take several hours because of bear jams and the never-ending line of creeping cars.
One way to avoid getting stuck, besides doing the loop in the winter, is to go on a Wednesday, when the Park Service opens the road only to pedestrians and cyclists. These vehicle-free days occur weekly from about June through September. Book your stay at the Cades Cove Campground, rent a bike right from the campground store, pack a meal, and start your journey in the afternoon. Connor recommends saving the loop for later in the day, because parking is limited in the mornings. While many people can cycle the entire route in two hours, it’s best to start at least four hours before sunset to give yourself time to stop along the way.
Glamping tents at Little Arrow Outdoor Resort combine the magic of nature with modern comforts (left); it’s possibleto see Cades Cove without any cars.
Courtesy of Little Arrow Outdoor Resort (L); courtesy of Michael Chambers/Unsplash (R)
Stay in a quieter area to avoid Gatlinburg chaos
The northern Sugarlands gateway near the city of Gatlinburg is the busiest of the national park’s three main entrances. For less traffic and an all-around quieter experience, stay in Cherokee or Bryson City near the Oconaluftee gate on the south (North Carolina) side. Annalee Hawkins, a Knoxville-based advisor for Fora Travel, says an underrated favorite on this end of the park is Midnight Hole, a waterfall-fed swimming hole on Big Creek Trail. To get away from the persistent hum of Gatlinburg—nicknamed “the Vegas of the South”—she also recommends staying in Townsend, which she calls “even more beautiful, affordable, and peaceful” than its better-known neighbor. On this side, she recommends camping at Little Arrow Outdoor Resort and hiking the Middle Prong Trail past Lynn Camp Prong Cascades to Indian Flats Falls, a four-mile trip. You can find even more solitude an hour away from Townsend, in Cosby. Hawkins warns not to miss the hidden gem that is Doc’s 321 Cafe & Marketplace, a quirky converted school bus that serves chili and other comfort foods.
Ditch the trails for other Smoky Mountain adventures
Everyone goes to the Smokies for hiking and scenic drives, but there’s a lot more to do that can get you off the beaten paths and busy roads—like exploring waterways and caves. Find your thrills on a rafting tour with Smoky Mountain Outdoors Rafting in Hartford or River Rat in Townsend, Hawkins says. Although the national park prohibits going into caves within its boundaries, you can check out nearby subterranean wonders beneath Tennessee’s peaks at Tuckaleechee Caverns in Townsend and Forbidden Caves, a 45-minute drive from Gatlinburg. These attractions can still get fairly busy, so it’s best to arrive around opening time.
