Avoiding Crowds in the Smoky Mountains: 7 Important Tips to Find Solitude!
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited National Park in the entire United States! They had over 12 million visitors in 2024 alone which more than doubles the next most visited park (Zion). With the amount of visitors in this park, especially during peak season, you will likely want tips on avoiding crowds in the Smoky Mountains. We visited during one of the busiest times of year and despite having a few moments of overwhelming amounts of people, we were able to find solitude in the busiest National Park.
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The Best Ways to Beat the Crowds in the Great Smoky Mountains
Here are all of our best tips for beating the crowds in the Smoky Mountains, especially if you are visiting during busiest months. If you follow these trips, you’ll feel like you have the park to yourself!
1. Visit Outside of Peak Season
Historically, the busiest times of year for the Great Smoky Mountains are June, July, and October. The slowest time of year is in the winter, although that’s probably not the best time to visit with kids unless you are okay with winter weather. Spring is a great time to avoid crowds or late fall if you are okay with a little bit chillier weather.
But if you are choosing to visit during the peak months, you can still follow the next tips to avoid crowds in the Smoky Mountains.
2. Hit the Trails
In the Great Smoky Mountains, there are a good percentage of people that only visit for the scenic drives, and don’t spend much time exploring outside of their cars. A lot of the people we did see getting out of their cars just stopped for a quick picture of the scenery and then got right back in their cars.
While the scenic drives are beautiful, you’ll get to experience so much more of the Smokies if you get out on the trails. This park has over 800 miles of trails so there is a TON of amazing places to explore. On almost every hike we did in the park, we were one of the only groups there!
Here are 9 Easy Hikes (less than 2 miles) in the Smoky Mountains!
You might experience some congestion on the roads getting to and from the trailhead depending on when you start your hike, but it’s worth it for the solitude you’ll experience when you’re on the trail.
3. Drive to the North Carolina Side of the Smoky Mountains
The land of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is split almost evenly between North Carolina and Tennessee. The vast majority of people spend their time near Gatlinburg on the Tennessee side of the park, so you can escape crowds if you head east to the North Carolina side.
Drive along Newfound Gap Road and hit the highlights like Newfound Gap Overlook and Kuwohi early in the morning before the crowds come (both some of our favorite things to do in the Smoky Mountains!) Then make your way to the Oconaluftee area and visit the town of Cherokee. You can even drive part of the famous Blue Ridge Parkway starting in Cherokee!
4. Stay Somewhere other Than Gatlinburg
Gatlinburg is a fun town that reminded us a little bit of a mix between a cute mountain town and Las Vegas (crowds and all!) We did have a lot of fun in Gatlinburg, and if it’s your first time to the park, it might be worth staying there depending on what kind of trip you’re wanting to plan.
The main road in Gatlinburg can be extremely congested and the streets are often filled with people. Additionally, you will wait for a seat at most downtown restaurants! Avoid these and other mistakes when visiting the Smoky Mountains for the first time!
If you are looking for more of a peaceful mountain getaway, staying in another area of the park like Cherokee or Townsend could be the right choice for you. These two towns were much quieter, and still had a lot of outdoor activities nearby.
Staying in Pigeon Forge is a different vibe, but it’s still pretty busy – however it’s not as congested as Gatlinburg. You will be a little bit farther from the park and it’s more of a commercial area. We do have a full guide on how to choose where to stay when visiting the Smoky Mountains!
For all the resources you need to plan your trip to the Smokies, here is the Ultimate Guide to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with Kids!
5. Explore Early in the Morning
Maybe the best tip for skipping the crowd is starting your day EARLY. If you can drag your group out of bed to get on the road before 7 or 8 AM you will be thankful you did so. The mornings that we did get up early, we noticed there was hardly anyone on the road! And the days we slept in we did regret it because of traffic.
If you’re planning on doing a popular activity or visiting one of the main highlights of the park, consider not doing so between the hours of 10 AM and 6 PM. That’s a great time to spend some time relaxing at the pool, grabbing food, or doing some more off the beaten path activities.
Plus, dawn and dusk are the best time to see bears! But check out some bear safety tips first.
6. Avoid the One Way Loops
There are two scenic drives in the park that are one way loops. The most popular spot in the park is Cades Cove and the other drive is the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. While both drives are beautiful, they are not where you want to be if you are trying to avoid people.
It’s not uncommon for people to stop in the middle of the road to take pictures, so despite the speed limit being 15 mph, we were averaging about 2 mph at times (especially in Cades Cove). Roaring Fork is a little less crowded and we had decent luck going early to that spot, but in either spot you could end up spending a good chunk of the day there.
If you are planning to do these drives, make sure to check the road status before going and explore all of the other things to know before visiting the Smoky Mountains.
7. Take Your Time
If you only spend one day in the Smoky Mountains or even have a two day itinerary you will probably feel rushed to see it all! However, if you are able to spread your visit over 3-4 days, you will be able to take it at a slower pace and avoid some of the main stops during peak visitation hours.
You can definitely still have fun if you only have one day, but I would recommend spending more if you can make it work!
After visiting during the busiest month of the year, these are all the tips that helped us with avoiding crowds in the Smoky Mountains. It’s definitely possible to escape the crowds and enjoy some solitude in America’s busiest National Park! I hope these tips work for you and you enjoy a beautiful trip to the Smoky Mountains.
