“We felt for the most part of the night at the Little River Trail that nature is having its own airport runway lights moment with the fireflies. On and Off they went along the trail and inside the bushes, carrying the synchronous blinks flashing in unison. Male fireflies are typically in flight while searching for females and males time their flashes to attract females which is interesting. It was magical and profound for us!"

Synchronous Fireflies are a phenomenon - a rare species in the world known to synchronize their flashing light patterns. They are found in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park at the Little River Trail. We were fortunate to be staying at Elkmont Campground as the Little River Trail starts from the entrance of the campground on the right.”.



So many of you might already know, that Synchronous fireflies (Photinus carolinus) are the only species in America where individual fireflies can synchronize their flashing light patterns. Every year to limit the number of people watching this phenomenon at its peak, the National Park Service runs a lottery for a day for a viewing period of 1-2 weeks. This year that window was from May 30th - June 6th.

As we asked one of the rangers, he said, “Well the fireflies do not know the date, a day or two after or before also would give the optimum peak view and the best part was, we did not have to enter a lottery for that! He also said, the latest you go after the date, the better viewing it will be as they recede with time.

We got lucky with Elkmont Campground

We had booked our reservation for June 8th online, as luckily, we found sites along the river which were empty. But we had kept our plans open for June 7th aiming at taking a risk. And that worked. Even though the board on the outside said, that the camp is full, the ranger at the campground was more than happy to assist us into giving a site. And we were thrilled! Why wouldn’t we be?




             Also, do not forget to check out these colorful butterflies just outside the visitor center. 

We assumed that may be with the rain predictions there might have been cancellations. Or may be First Come First Serve campsites did not get all full and they had probably forgotten to change last night’s status. Whatever the case may be, the luck was on our side. Just as a side note on this, “The WIFI’s or the networks barely runs in the Smokies. However, Sugarland Visitor Center has WIFI.”

Both the sights at Elkmont Campground was great. It was by the river. We could hear the stream flow all through the night. It was very soothing. We also did get to relax by the river and walk on the peddles next to the river in our spare time. There is a small grocery store where we get some very basic essentials and log wood. There are also basic restrooms in the campgrounds.






                          If you haven't camped in the US, you are missing a lot.

                          The Spider that Camouflages . This one is changing himself to Orange.

 We did not needed logwood as it was raining all day! There are mosquitos in the area, not much, but still an insect repellent would be a great boon.



                                                          The river by our campsite.

One of the greatest advantages of staying here is, since the Synchronous Fireflies happens at night, it’s easier to just walk on the trail from the campground. A lot of people don’t even drive their cars to the trailhead parking they simply walk from their site to the trail. It’s a little uphill, but anyone would be able to do it.

Elkmont also shares a strategic position owning its proximity to Sugarland visitor center, Gatlinburg and Little River Trail.



A lot of people stay in Gatlinburg and drive down to Elkmont. For us, due to the weekend Traffic Gatlinburg had, we did not even have our lunch at Gatlinburg because it took us through 3 rounds of driving and even then, we could not get a free parking at Gatlinburg. So, we ended up cooking rice and beans  / noodles in the campsite. If you would love to explore Gatlinburg, do check out my previous post on it.

Synchronous Fireflies Experience

You will always see one or few fireflies next to your site in the dark at the Elkmont Campground. But for some reason, they aren’t synchronous- just a regular firefly doing their thing. And it makes me wonder, why this disparity. Because the campsites aren’t that far from the little river trail either. May be the little river trail is their breeding ground.

Anyhow , to view synchronous fireflies, I would suggest going to the Little River Trail just right from the entrance of Elkmont and parking your car at the trailhead parking lot during the evening hours before it gets dark. The earlier the better. The reason for that is, unlike in the dark, you can walk the entire trail during the evenings in the natural light. We could not do the entire trail because we gotten there late (by 8pm ish) but we did get to hike more than if we were completely in the dark.



                                    Remnants of the Elkmont Historic District on the trail.
                                            River with cascades on trail. 
           
Hiking during the evening also gives you an idea of the place. There is a river with cascades next to the trail, so one can’t venture much in the dark adrift from the trail, except a few steps into the bushes unless one is aware (Being on the right of the trail gives you more scope into the bushes as there aren’t river on the right ; but being on the left the river is always on your side just a few bushes away). The river sides are not covered, so it’s pretty much open with some trees. Please refrain from going too near to the river specially when walking in complete night darkness, because the river has cascades. I could hear and see the flowing water.


The first part of the trail will take you past a remnant of old buildings from the historic Appalachian Club. A regular tourist to the park showed to us the pictures from her trip years back when they were intact, and they seem to be beautiful homes with front door on the side of river.

They also give you red cellophane paper at the entry point to cover your headlamps or lamps so that the bright light from them are muted. It’s very annoying to flash the bright light otherwise. Because everyone’s hooked on viewing fireflies.

Many people actually do come with their camping chairs and settle it on the side of the trail. You really don’t have to walk much into the trail to see the fireflies. Just a few feet and they are all over! Photographing the fireflies is not very easy. You need to have a tripod and camera on manual settings. We just carried our phones as it was slightly drizzling when we had gone in the trail.

One thing to keep in mind is though, even if it’s 9 o’ clock and it’s bright, the fireflies would be less visible. We got to see fireflies on both days starting from 9:20pm till as long we stayed because it was pitch dark with some natural light of the night sky. But the time they come, and shine depends on weather and the natural light and as long as natural light is bright enough, it’s not that great.

The lesser the light, the more visible they would be. And oh boy! When they blink in total darkness, there’s magic all around. We spotted synchronous fireflies on both days Jun 7th and June 8th however, on June 8th, there were fewer fireflies than 7th. Possibly because it was drizzling or possibly because as the ranger said their numbers recede with time.

All in all, a once in a lifetime experience.

We have also heard from our Google search and Youtube search that Elkmont is a Ghost town with abandoned homes located in the Great Smoky National Park. We did not do any haunted tour nor did we spot any sightings. Those abandoned homes are getting demolished one by one. We do not know how many of them still remain. Go figure!

“A drive along the blue ridge parkway can be best summed up as a bundle of soft mist floating, rolling lush hills, scenic vista points and tunnels after tunnels. Known for its ideal sunrises and sunsets, is the Waterrock Knob, the Parkway's highest visitor center. Just beyond the southernmost end of the Blue Ridge Parkway in the states of North Carolina and Tennessee is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. “ We drove from the Smokies to the Blue Ridge Parkway, a transition so seamless, that one may think perhaps they all are the same."

                          We loved the fog and the smoke on our drive! It was like poetry.

The route that we took was: Sugarlands Visitor Center -> Smokemont Campground -> Clingsman Dome -> Oconaluftee Visitor Center -> Newfound Gap -> Waterrock Knob Visitor Center.

                                        View from Newfound Gap on a clear weather!

Even though the route from Sugarlands Visitor Center to Waterrock Knob visitor center is 1 hour 20 minutes straight on Google maps, it takes almost 3/4 of a day to cover this part to - fro Sugarlands. Since there are many vista points for us to enjoy and driving is generally slow on the mountain roads, the estimated time is always more than the time taken.

Where should you stay? | Smokemont Campground

        What would be Smokies without the Smoke? At Bradley Fork River, Smokemont Campground

The best way to enjoy both Smokies and Blue Ridge Parkway in one day would be to stay on the southernmost campground of the Smokies - i.e Smokemont Campground. We did not stay at this campground, although we did enjoy taking a quick detour in the campground. We also liked how the river adjacent to the campground - Bradley Fork River, had smoke emanating from it. We also found out that in comparison with Cades Cove and Elkmont Campground, this had more vacancies.

                                                      Smokies can be dramatic at times.

Clingmans Dome | A half a mile hike to the Observation Tower

                               From Bottom to Top - The Wind multiplies multiple folds

At the end of twisting roads and roads covered in smoke we found ourselves at the parking lot of Clingmans Dome, which could have a great overlook if it was a clear day.

At 6643 feet, Clingmans Dome is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The trailhead is pretty steep paved road, with benches on the trails to rest. I loved watching the snails on the log heads along the trails - I found them in brown but another visitor found them in Green.


    Meanwhile, a snail rests on the resting log along the trail. I wonder if he has camouflaged himself?

There is restroom near the parking lot and a small visitor center for information at the start of trailhead. As soon as we start climbing up the Observation tower even though the elevation does not seem to be much from the bottom, the wind multiplies itself multiple fold. My hubby enjoyed his airy misty windy encounter at the tower and so did I. We had to literally hold our feet to stop ourselves from flying - yes it was that windy. On a clear day, we could have seen 360 degrees panoramic views of the smokies. But sadly, Clingsman Dome was also zoned out in thick white smoke during our travels.


Newfound Gap | Mountain pass of North Carolina, Tennessee

One way to get a good idea on where we are geographically located, is by standing at Newfound Gap (a mountain pass) that is located on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee (Everyone gets a selfie here). Twice I have been there, and every time it has smoked out making the mountains and the valley disappear into a thick white smoke. I am not complaining because rains and fog seem to be usual in this area. The two times I have been taken this road, it has always rained or drizzled, especially as we come closer to Newfound Gap possibly due to elevation.

Tip: When in this area, carry an umbrella & drive slow.





Waterrock Knob Visitor Center

Waterrock Knob Visitor Center has the parkway's highest Visitor Center. It is a very small visitor center that has small store on one side and a ranger who can help you with information and maps. There is also a restroom near to the Visitor Center. There is also a short and steep hiking trail to the lookout at 0.5 miles.

Tip: Please do carry drinking water with you!

As soon as we reached at the top, the surrounding mountains were covered in fog. I recently read a blog and google reviews on Waterrock Knob, that there is a plane crash site if you hike further from the lookout towards Browning Knob (2.5 miles roundtrip from Visitor Center). Since we did not know and the weather wasn't as nice, we couldn't go there. But if you wish to do it, here's a blog that tells us that in detail. I was surprised to hear that there are close to 54 plane crash sites in the Smokies.










Oconaluftee Visitor Center

The Mountain Farm Museum and Oconaluftee Visitor Center are located at the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park if you are driving from Cherokee, North Carolina. For us, it was an exit. We did stop at the center and walked by the river. However, since we were getting late, we skipped the Farm Museum.

"If it wasn’t for the loud sound of the screeching car stopping in front of the Black bear, we could have seen the Bear with its cute cubs’ streets crossing the street. Humans I tell you! Luckily Black Bear are plenty in Cades Cove area."



Even though, the forest ranger segregated us into two groups on each side of the Black Bear and the Black Bear was slowly gaining confidence to cross the street, it took just one halt by an onlooker’s car to scare him away into the forests in-spite of rangers telling him not to stop the car.

                                       Bear and the two cubs wanting to cross the road, but could not!

This is the area surrounding Cades Cove (drive a little from Cades Cove towards Sugarland Visitor Center), where Black Bear sightings are common. In the course of our one-night stay + 1/2 day we saw two wild Black Bear sightings at different locations. We were enthralled because they were not in the Zoo’s and in their homes. Our stay at Cades Cove and the scenic loop drive was a pleasant experience too.

You would be surprised at how these human interventions & negligence disturbs wildlife. A black bear can be euthanized because of improper storage of food in the campgrounds (store inside the vehicle or bear cans only), stacking river rocks or cairns made by people does serious damages to river ecosystem as many fishes lay their eggs under these rocks etc.


Stopping at Walmart, Knoxville | Driving via Townsend 

We always stop at Walmart to shop for the food we may need to cook in the campground. We loved stocking up on Cream Cheese + Bread (for our breakfasts), Canned Beans + Microwave Rice (for our lunch & Dinner), Butter etc. We could have stocked meat but Smokies had rain prediction for the entire 3 days, so we did not. We couldn’t have grilled anything on an immediate basis in the camp that day, due to rain. We drove to Cades Cove via Townsend.

Along the way, we saw people tubing in the river at Townsend. I am not really sure how good and bad that is. The reviews are pretty good, and I was tempted to try them too, but we did not had time to stop at Townsend. I also read in the newsletter of Smoky Mountains, that water-based activities that have ended tragically include swimming and tubing because of the swollen mountain streams, intact drowning is one of the leading causes of death in Smokies.

Entering the Great Smoky Mountains

The Great Smoky Mountains welcomes you to lush unperturbed forests and no light tunnels. It’s amazing to drive inside the park and admire the trees which has leaves on their bottom barks and roots and streams that flows alongside the road. Since the forests are dense and the road cuts through it, we were always in the shade of trees when driving.

                         Tunnels are plenty in the Smokies and Blue Ridge Parkway

Cades Cove Campground 

The Cades Cove campground is a decent campground. We have a grocery store in the campus where we get ice-creams. Since, Bikes are the best way to explore the Cades Cove Scenic Loop one can also rent a bike from there (Its expensive though!). There are toilets, but no showers. There is also water filling tap in the campground. There is a picnic area next to the river.

                               



                                            Cades Cove Campground Cafe has ice cream.
            One of the best ways to enjoy the ice cream is by having it in the picnic area by the river.

The Cades Cove Scenic Loop Photo-essay

The name 'Cades Cove' was given by European settlers and has come from Kate’s Cove in honor of Chief Abraham of the Chilhowee tribe’s wife, Kate. Do not forget to check out some pretty interesting facts from VisitMySmokies.

The Cades Cove scenic loop is a 11-mile one-way loop road that has the view of mist moving in the Smokies from far, wildlife, historic structures like Cable Mills, primitive churches and log homes. Staying overnight at the Cades Cove Campground ($25) was an added bonus. So, here’s how we began from Knoxville.

Let’s take you through this loop with a Photo-essay. It starts right next to Cades Cove Campground. As soon as you exit the campground, there is an entry to the loop. The loop takes about 2-4 hours to cover. There was traffic on the loop when we went, and the traffic was running pretty slow as there was Black Bear sightings.

It’s a one - way loop that takes time, so if you wish to cut it through in between as a short cut, there is Sparks Lane and Hyatt Lane that cuts through the scenic mile loop. We did drove through both of these routes and on ones of these route we passed through a narrow stream on which water was flowing on the road. We also saw some wildlife.


                                     Notice the bark of the trees that had leaves.



There are also two branching roads - Rich mountain road and Parson branch road. We never took those exit roads, however one of the visitors who is common to the area said on one of these roads, they have many streams on the road, and it’s beautiful to drive through them. We really didn’t know which one.


                                                             Playing with horses...

                                            Admiring the beautiful scenary

                                  It's a great biking loop. Bikes can be rented at the campground.






                  I was rather curious on why people have dropped coins in them.


                                  A stream flows by on one of the shortcut roads.
                                                            Primitive Baptist Church