starrs,
It's funny though useful that you're describing times/distances in areas we've both visited.

An interesting thing. I don't think any of the people realize how rare this is. About 5 years ago I took my daughter and then 7 year old granddaughter to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons.
We arrive early evening and stayed over, after picking up some supplies, in Jackson.
The next morning we left for Yellowstone driving the GTNP and lowed down by a herd of bison crossing.
As we approached the Old Faithful area we called to get prediction times for the 5 estimated geysers. All were predicted to erupt within a four hour period.
We arrived, checked in and started at Old Faithful. I don't remember the exact order but we spent the afternoon walking the geyser eruptions that were each completely different.

Back to this trip.
I'm trying to decide if we should spend the first night in maybe Brevard if there is enough for us in that area the next day.
I'm looking for what you wrote about the Brevard area. When I was in Asheville a few years ago with my wife we stopped at Looking Glass Falls and then I believe we stopped in Brevard for a while though I'm not sure.
We'd then work our way to Cherokee and maybe do a morning of white water rafting. I did that when I was in Arches with a friend and it was fun. My daughter is ok doing or not doing it.

Skipping forward to the last day, I'm assuming we'll be in Townsend for the last 2 nights. Though we could leave early evening to get closer to Asheville and sleep in that area. The last morning we'll take some routes that I have (I have about half a dozen maps in Madison County of old barns we can photograph) and start to head back towards Charlotte. I doubt we'll have enough time to walk around in Charlotte but it might be possible.

We'll plan on taking a flight around 6PM back to FLL.

What might be getting away from me is the number of lodging changes. If we add one on the last night I may want to avoid adding one on the first night.

starrs,
It's funny that you used places we've both been to in order to put distances/times in their proper comparisons.

What I don't want to have happen is let the number of different lodging location run away and become 4; a first and last as well as the two in the middle.

I'm thinking when I find what you wrote about the Brevard area earlier I may want to end there the first night and spend the next day in that area before moving to Cherokee.

I went white river rafting when I was in Arches with a friend and it was fun. My daughter is fine with either going or not. So that would be a half day after sleeping in Cherokee.

Fast forward to the last night. If we sleep in Cherokee we'd probably have enough time to spend a few hours in Madison County just above Asheville searching out out barns. I did this with one of half a dozen maps I have the last time I was in Asheville. It's a lot easier to get around when one person navigates and the other drives than what I did driving around myself. We'd then drive directly to the Charlotte Airport.

I'm assuming we'll have a flight home leaving around 6PM. If we slept near Asheville, we may have a few hours to walk some areas of interest in Charlotte before going to the airport. So I guess we'll have to find a balance between changing lodging and seeing/doing things.

Any more ideas/help would be appreciated.

Sorry about the mostly repeated response. I thought I didn't post it and lost it. But not.

Brevard is a cute place and worthy of a stop. Maybe you don't need to go all the way to Townsend.

DaveS,

I missed your interesting post.

I haven't gotten to actual inpark hikes yet so where we stay in that area will be reviewed.
The drive to Cades Cove is 30 minutes longer than from Gatlinburg than from Townsend. But if that's a one time visit, Townsend will be a lot more convenient.

Thanks

I agree.

I don't get the interest in Townsend. It's on the "other side" of the park. Can't figure out why you'd stay at Cherokee for 2 nights and Townsend for 2 nights. I tried the Yellowstone comparison to try to explain this is not Yellowstone. Townsend and Cherokee are less than 2 hours apart and still can't figure out the need for 4 nights adjacent to the NP. But I doubt I'll figure that out so I'll let that go.

Re Brevard - there's more than enough to do for several days, but there are curvy roads to and from Brevard. It's a great base for hiking, especially for waterfalls which is why I mentioned it.

Brevard also has a world class music festival in the summer. Here's a link to the festival program -
https://www.brevardmusic.org/festiva...nces/calendar/

I do like the idea of spending the night in Asheville on the way back to the airport.

Re whitewater rafting, I love the Nanahala but the Pigeon was a nice float and the French Broad is in Asheville. I recommend NOC as the vendor for all of those -
https://noc.com/trips/nantahala-rive...g-fully-guided

Happy planning!

I keep reading about how beautiful Cades Cove is. Is it really?
I read that Cades Cove will have a lot of traffic.
If for some reason we skipped Cades Cove, then it might make sense not to go to the north side of the park at all.

Any comments about this?

Starrs is right on about Brevard and its music festival--which also means making reservations well in advance.

It appears our dates coincide with the latter part of the performances. If nothing is available when we're ready to move forward then we'll just have to change plans a bit.
I'm sure there are other places very close by.

I love Gatlinburg, I'd love to hear your reasoning for why you hate Gatlinburg! Beautiful scenery, lots of fun shows, tasty restaurants? What's the issue?

Kitsch. Crowd. Gridlock.SnoCones.etc

I personally remember gatlinburg when it was the ONLY place to stay in the Smokies and the Gatlinburg INN was the place to stay. Mind you that was maybe 75 years ago!!
I also went to camp about 10 miles from Gatlinburg. Memories!! Things change. It WAS such a wonderful mountain retreat. a\ Nothing stays the same, but now we can seek other places.
BUT if Gatlinburg is YOUR cup of tea, have at it. Just go and enjoy. It's your dollar.

Correct.
It is beautiful.
The one way loop can be crowded with traffic. If you go on a weekday that's less like to happen.
Sort of. There are two roads in the park. The one that goes from north/ south (or south/north) runs from Cherokee (on the south) to the Sugarlands Visitor Center and then G'burg is outside the gate. IMO there's no reason to go to G'burg unless you like a LOT of traffic and a long strip of gift shops. Past G'burg is Pigeon Forge with outlet malls and Dollywood. I avoid the north side unless I'm going to Dollywood with kids. I have driven through from the north mid-week with no traffic but summer and weekends are crazy busy outside the north side of the park.
Back to the park = if you want to go to Cades Cove, you take the other park road out towards the west to CC. A lot of people stay in Townsend on the north side because it's the less crowded/ less crazy option on the north side, but there's no reason to drive out of the park towards Townsend unless you are staying there. And I see no reason to split stays on the north side AND Cherokee - because you can drive the whole park in 4 hours (unless the CC loop is backed up). You'd had to be doing a LOT of hiking (or camping) to fill up 4 days in GSMNP.

You pretty much HAVE to go to Sugarlands, but you don't have to go in the Visitor Center if you don't want to. But you have to turn around somewhere (to head back south).

Gatlinburg is to the mountains as Myrtle Beach is to the beach.
Some people LOVE lots of tacky gift shops, lots of Made in China "souvenirs", lots of traffic and masses of people walking down the sidewalks.
Others hate it.
The ones who hate it go to either side of Gatlinburg and/or Myrtle Beach and enjoy beautiful mountains or beaches without crowds, traffic, a dozen pancake shops and hundreds of gift shops. Oh, and the wedding chapels. I feel guilty speaking badly of G'burg because a lot of good people earn their money working in those shops/ restaurants. But I much prefer quieter, "real" towns and a handful of shops, a handful of restaurants and no crowds and traffic.
But I love the hustle and bustle of NYC. Go figure.

What a great analogy!!! Perfect.

It may not look like it but I'm learning a lot about the park area.
I'm trying to satisfy almost conflicting goals; that is to see a lot and keep lodging changes and unnecessary long drives to a minimum.
Since the drive from Cherokee to Cades Cove can be done without leaving the park, we can plan it for a week day.

I'm trying to figure out if after arriving in Charlotte, we can do a few hikes starting around Linville and going a bit south-west along the parkway a bit and then spend a few hours in Madison County a little north of Asheville finding old barns (I have several maps so we can pick those that are more convenient) and getting to Cherokee for the night. The whole drive without stops is about 4.5 hours but would obviously be broken up by the hikes and barns.

From Cherokee we could do a half day of rafting near Bryson and maybe a couple of hikes in the Deep Creek area, Cades Cove area and maybe a couple of hikes off the northern part of 441, Some hikes off the southern part of 441.

Then we could move over to Brevard and spend a couple of days in that area.

Depending on whether or not we got to the old barns on the first day, we could start our last day with that and work our way to the airport and spend a couple of hours in Charlotte if we have time. I realize we more or less pass the airport on our way to Charlotte so maybe we'll make different stops along the way.

This plan limits us to one lodging change and that saves a lot of moving and checkin time.

Obviously getting from Charlotte Airport to Cherokee and back from Brevard is a drive but they're broken up.

Is this plan starting to look better?

On the Cades Cove day I really meant a couple of hike in the Cades Cove area or northern part of 441.

Yes. Plan is looking good. But I'm going to muddy the waters a little bit.

If you are going rafting and want to drive there from Cherokee, there's no reason not to reverse that. You may have better lodging options if you stay in Bryson City or Sylva/ Dillsboro and use either as your base. Driving into Cherokee and the park is just a 10 or 15 minute drive to Cherokee before going into the park. We aren't talking about long distances here.

I think you're catching on that driving in the GSMNP isn't complicated or doesn't take long to drive - at all. The park itself is big in size. But not in regard to roads you drive to see it. In the off season, you can drive it all in a couple of hours. Okay, maybe 3. That's not stopping to see things or hike or fish or do things. But it's a small park as far as driving it goes.

Re your BRP part of this. My favorite segment is the one that includes the Linn Cove viaduct -
https://www.blueridgeparkway.org/poi/linn-cove-viaduct/
Spectacular engineering.
Since Linville, NC is already on your radar, I'll add these places to add to your list. There probably are some barns around the area, but Valle Crucis is one of the prettiest valleys anywhere on this earth.
Driving north from Spruce Pine (which is between Asheville and Charlotte) -
Make a stop at Famous Louise's Rock House restaurant (even if you don't eat there)
Crossnore Presybterian Church - gorgeous rock church
Crossnore Presbyterian Church, Crossnore, NC
North of Linville, be sure to stop at the Original Mast General Store (really, don't miss it! You'll love it!)

When I'm driving anywhere within 2 hours of that area, I detour and just drive old familiar roads and new ones I don't remember driving before. One of the prettiest places I know. Definitely on the east coast.

Thanks. I could have added Helen, GA to that list. I don't think I'll ever understand the draw.

But 6 short miles away is one of my favorite campgrounds. Six miles and a world away. I remember Helen when it was a country crossroads in the mountains. I remember driving up the year the first faux "Alpine" trim was nailed to existing buildings. I have no idea why people volunteer to get caught up in the traffic and gift shops when gorgeous scenery is all around them.

Unless there's a really good reason to stay in Bryson, staying there instead of Cherokee adds driving time for a couple of days.
Why Bruson instead of Cherokee to stay?

I'll do some work on Linn Cove Viaduct and see if it's worth the extra time.

As it is I'm hoping to do some hiking and old barn photography on that first day. My daughter might nix some of that.

Thanks for the valuable info.

You said earlier that you were going to use Cherokee as a base for white water rafting.
Why not do the reverse? Stay near the rafting.
The extra drive time is insignificant.
18 more minutes.
Bryson City to Cades Cove = 2 hours and 17 minutes. 71.9 miles
Cherokee to Cades Cove = 1 hour and 59 minutes. 62. 3 miles

If you are going to drive back and forth to the rafting from Cherokee, you're going to make the same round trip.

If the idea does not appeal, disregard it.