I’m a bit delayed in getting this post out but hey…..better late than never right??? It’s been a wild week of up and down weather here but this past weekend was absolutely beautiful. We wanted to do a couple hikes in the Cades Cove area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park but didn’t want to make the drive multiple times over the weekend so…….in comes the luxury of having a camper…….and a new Blackstone Griddle I NEEDED to try out!!

Cades Cove Campground

The park maintains a large campground (A, B & C Loop) at Cades Cove but the open portions are drastically reduced during the off season. There is no power, water or sewer in the campground and the bath houses have no showers. Even with these limitations you can often find a site during this time of year if you’re willing to be flexible with your site and weather.

We looked at the weather and knew we should have good daytime weather both Saturday and Sunday but would have to deal with cold temperatures in the 30s overnight. Knowing we could prepare for this we decided to book a last minute site for Saturday night and head out to stay in site C34.

Once we arrived we got set up fairly quickly and only set up what was needed for the night. We still made sure to get the Reflectix in the windows and our heavy blankets over the bunks to help us stay warm. It also didn’t take long for the wildlife to come out in search of food! (No we didn’t feed them!)

Abrams Falls

After setting up and grabbing a quick bite to eat we decided to tackle a quick hike to Abrams Falls. This waterfall is arguably the most popular in the park is roughly a 5 mile round trip hike. It is classified as a moderate hike by the park but I’d say that is entirely dependent on your abilities. During the heat of the summer it can be more difficult but in January it seems much easier.

The trailhead is almost to the back of the Cades Cove Loop and has plenty of parking and a bath house in the center. The hike is moderately up hill for the first half and crosses several wood log bridges. The peak of the trail hiking out has amazing views and is a great stop for a quick snack.

Rich Mountain Loop

Sunday morning after breakfast we broke camp and prepared for our big hike of the weekend. We hooked the camper, packed our backpacks and found a parking spot at the entrance to the Cades Cove Loop. From here we made our way to the trailhead and started up the mountain for our 8.8 mile hike across the ridges overlooking Cades Cove and Townsend, Tennessee.

Coming to the loop from the connector trail gives you the option of hiking the loop clockwise or counter clockwise. This is a personal preference but we chose to do the later. By hiking counter clockwise you tackle the steepest part of the trail over the first couple miles leaving the remainder of the hike to be more enjoyable. Many more photos and the track can be seen here on my GAIA GPS if you’d like to plan this hike

All in all the weekend turned out to be great! We got to see a lot of wildlife including our camp squirrel “Fred” and camp turkeys. The buddy heater we used kept us quite warm in the camper and the star-gazing from around the campfire was hard to beat. I would definitely recommend this area for the hiking and camping. Just always keep in mind that the animals are wild and it is illegal to feed them…….no matter how much they beg!!!

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