A Gem in the Smokies!

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All of these years, we have come to the Smoky Mountains to enjoy hiking, Clingman's Dome,  Cades Cove and all that downtown Gatlinburg has to offer. I was looking at the map of Gatlinburg to see what was new and I noticed Roaring Fork Road.  It said something about a motor nature trail. So we decided we'd try it. Boy, did we find a jewel!

It is a one way loop that has several pull offs with old cabins, beautiful streams and trails. We decided to find the Grotto Falls trail. Didn't look too bad...only 1 1/2 miles to the falls. Right??

The drive on the loop was so serene under a gorgeous canopy of trees.


The trail to Grotto Falls was really beautiful and pretty much straight uphill! The trail was rocky, with small streams cutting across our path and several broken limbs that looked petrified. 

The humidity was horrible, but the hike was great! We saw rain in the distance and was worried it would catch up with us!

We had a wonderful day together and unfortunately,  we have to go home tomorrow.  

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