Smokey Mtn / Sky Line Drive Suggestions?

[Anonymous]

In April, we are heading from Mass to N.C. (Raleigh area) , any suggestions for things to see,route to take? Originally I was fixed on Cape Hatteras and the coast, but now I'm thinking Blue Ridge Parkway / Skyline Drive. <br><br>Open to all suggestions<br>John

[Vanagonjr]

Hey we really are going there this year - so a re-post to see some suggestions.   Probably won;t be taking the Westy - No AC down there in the summer will be too much for me.

John

[85-gon]

In April, we are heading from Mass to N.C. (Raleigh area) , any suggestions for things to see,route to take? Originally I was fixed on Cape Hatteras and the coast, but now I'm thinking Blue Ridge Parkway / Skyline Drive.

Open to all suggestions

May I suggest Everybus.  See "Events" for more information.

I like to camp at Big Meadow on top of the Skyline Drive.  The Drive is relaxing with many scenic overlooks and great hiking trails along the way.

[Vanagonjr]

Thanks for the tip. Everybus is not an option as the time we will go is dictated by a wedding of my niece.  

So it's late June (last week basically)  that we will be down there.   The wedding is ona sat, my thought is to take 1.5-2 days to drive the ~750 miles, attend the weeding, spend 1-2 days with friends close by and then take the next 5-6 days exploring, mostly in N.C., but generally pointing North to home in MA and get within a days drive of home.  Final day, just drive home.  

Perhaps if the Vanagon is going perfectly we will take it, but since there is no AC in the van, I am reluctant to take it, especially with kids in the back; the air flow is pretty poor for rear seat passengers in a Westy.     If it were just me on a more relaxed schedule, I would do it, but we will have to log a couple of big driving days.

John

[mark & carol]

we did blue ridge parkway in 2006,going to everybus.it was a blst but it is very slow.some of the steep inclines have me down to secound gear at times.
if you are on a tight time line at the start go straight there.
there is a great camp ground on the islands.
check the full moon web site for some sugestions(sp?)
since thay are based out of NC

[Vanagonjr]

I made reservations for Cades Cove in the Smokey Mtn's.    Any suggestions for trails to hike and general things to do and see around the Smoky Mtns?

We'll be coming in from the East (Chapel Hill wedding before hand) and when we exit we are heading to New River Gorge.

John

[Vanagonjr]

We stayed at Cades Cove and it was  great place to stay, but it is quite a drive to any place else in the Smokey's.  

There is a wild life loop is closed to autos on Wed and Sat mornings, but only until 11:00 am.  It really should be closed to cars for a longer period of time.  You don't want to ride a bike on this loop when autos are out.  They really need a shuttle.  Anyways, biking the loop when you can is well worth it.  Unfortunately , if you want to visit the historic buildings along the 11 miles route and see the grist mill, it is hard to complete this before cars are breathing sown your neck.  Actually they will be holding you up and the road to too narrow for a car and a bike at the same time.

But you will see wildlife, we saw turkeys, deer, bear and coyote.  
John

[CBussin86]

Thanks for this link and help. We are planning to travel to the ATlanta area leaving next Sat. 9/13. And plan to do a couple nights at the Great Smokey Mountains. So many of the campgrounds look good. Cosby looks good because it is quieter and more remote. Cades Cove does look to be popular and it seems to be filling up . I do not want to make reservations for the return portion of our trip (from Atlanta back to NH) because we want to take our time and stay where we want when we want to. Thanks for the Cades Cove tip...looks like a great place to bike and hike.
But no hookups in the park..hmmm..well thats fine too..otherwise it seems we will be staying in Dollywood and I dont want that

Any suggestions for things to do there..or also Skyline drive as we will be going through there as well..

And when is Everybus???

Thanks...

[Vanagonjr]

I should warn you that travel within the Smokeys is very slow.  From Cherokee to Cades Coves takes 2+ hours. Of course, if you come in from the west, it would be much faster.

In the park, figure an average speed of 25-30 MPH.  The Smokeys encompass a big area with limited roads and you simply can't see it all.

Avoid the town of Pigeon Forge, I have never seen such a gaudy ugly tourist strip in my life! Signs that have video's playing of even the food they serve.  Having said that, there are shows there that might be good to see.  

If you have kids, in Townsend, you can rent a tube and get a shuttle for running the river.  It's about $12/person with the shuttle.  Its fun if there is enough water to run 3-4 times.  Alternatively, you can rent a tube for $8.00 and do your own shuttle.  They also have big tubes for big people.  You might want to carry a bit of duct tape, we had a couple of punctures!

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/u ... smmap1.pdf

The road that goes by the The Great Smokey Mountains Institute and turns to dirt, is just the nicest road.   If you want to have lunch by a river in a scenic quiet place - this is the spot.  Fly fisherman hit the river along this road.

At the end of this road is a trail.  If you follow that trail and go across 2 wooden bridges and then the trail hangs a sharp left, go right off the main trail, you will find a really, really nice waterfall.  I'd ask a ranger for details, because I might not have it correct.

John

[CBussin86]

Hi again,
thanks for the info regarding The Smokies...sounds great!! I do think we will be skipping it due to time constraints and we want to take our time coming back from Atlanta. We want to go through the full Blue Ridge Parkway. And yea slow is the answer!!

Leaving Sat..Just wondering. Anyone ever drove through NYC in the van? We want to get a picture of in  Times Square. Just dont know how to go to NJ without using the tunnels. Seems we cant go in there due to onboard propane. Whats the best route through the city. I know it will be busy.  We plan on driving through the city for pictures and to just see the sites and go on to NJ to start our trip.

And any other suggestions for camping around Blue Ridge/Shend. National park...we are looking for campgrounds with hookups preferably due to fridges..I know the campgrounds in Shend. Nat. Park are nice but no hookups...

Also anyone travelling...we could caravan some of the way..
(yea I want to caravan sometime I never have )

[CBussin86]

Hi there,
 
Just got back from our trip through NC and Va on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Even in the rain its beautiful. And not being buffetted by trucks or seeing all those billboards was nice. The van did not struggle much keeping at the 45 mph but it sure was good. I highly recommend it. Great scenery. We took a week total from Asheville NC where we entered to almost through the Shenandoah Nat. Park. We left after we went to LUray Caverns. Stayed at Big Meadows in Shenendoah. Great campground. Lots of deer right at your campsite not sure if thats good or bad but we liked it. And the colors were just beginning to turn too in the higher elevations.
Was fantastic

Just thought I would share

C

[Vanagonjr]

Great to hear your trip went well.  Luray Caverns is worth a stop.

We also like the New River Gorge area in WV - hope to get back there again - running the white water in guided raft was a blast.

[CBussin86]

Yes, the Luray Caverns was great! There were other caverns in the area but they were definately worth it. Cant say much about the others but I think we made the right choice to go there.

If I could do it again I would want to stay at more of the campgrounds along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Due to our need for electric hookups during the trip. So we had to find campgrounds with full hookups.  We were using the onboard fridge which would have been fine with gas but the other fridge ran on 12 volt or electric.( We used the Westy chest fridge from our weekender as our 2nd fridge). When we were able to go to one fridge,  Big Meadows was nice in Shenendoah National Park and for even more privacy Lewis Mountain is very good for that.  The campgrounds alond the parkway provide for such a more rustic camping experience then even the smaller "mom and pop" type campgrounds.

Although it was kinda fun to have our van parked between 2 big bus type motor coaches at our campground outside of DC. In that park hardly anyone even talked to us! Was kinda funny.
Saw so much, talked to many people about the van and saw some other Vanagons along the way. Was quite an adventure!

3485 miles total..down and back! Survived the trip too. Except for a worn break shoe that needed replacing and a dead 2nd battery all was good. And shes all cleaned up for Transporter Fest!

[Vanagonjr]

Now I wish I was making Transporterfest so we could hook up!

As to the electricity, I have a weekender with the electric fridge, used it once in the van (more in the house) as we are always at places with no hookups, and it is kind of small.  We use block ice now.  Might not get things as cold as with cubes, but it last a good long time.

I had a full westy, I think once we had an electric hook-up.  I like to be away from the big motor homes.  Did you camp at Cherry Pary outside of DC?

John

[CBussin86]

I know, I know...I agree with you I like to be away from the large motorcoaches/rvs ect. but it still was funny to see our van in betweeen all of those with their sat dishes, and 50 amp hookups! LOL. Yes we did go to Cherry Hill outside of DC. Great campground if you like all the amenities and it sure made it easy to get into the city with all the tour busses and the Metro bus stop at the campground that dropped us right off at the Metro Station. Made it very convenient. But when your 10 miles outside of DC right off the Beltway, well its not very rustic. They did have some more wooded tent sites tucked in the back of the campground but they close proximity to the traffic on the Beltway made it less than appealing for those who want to experience quiet tent camping

And the fridges worked pretty well I found the upright worked slightly better than the chest one but they worked consistantly for 3 weeks straight. No complaints! I would use the block ice too if we needed all the space for food and such.  

I found staying at the state parks or national parks were better then staying at the large campgrounds! And we ended up staying at Natural Bridge Campground in Natural Bridge VA where they held the Natural Bus event! I did not even know it was held there. Saw the VW certificates on the wall. Needless to say they treated us very well

Transporterfest should be fun hope to tell some stories to volks there!

Chris