youre_up

I've been to Shenandoah National Park several times over the past year. It's only about 2.5 hours away from me. I'm wondering if I should drive the 8-9 hours to visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

I really liked a lot of the waterfall trails at Shenandoah, as well as the trails with rock scrambles (such as Old Rag, Bearfence, and Blackrock). Overall I'd say Skyline Drive is nice (especially during a sunset or in the fall when the colors change), but not that great. The mountain vistas at Shenandoah are not bad, but nowhere near as spectacular as what I've seen at some national parks out west.

How is Great Smoky Mountains National Park compared to Shenandoah? Is it more of the same, or are there a lot of differences?

innkeeper08

check out Fall Creek Falls state park in TN. Voted number one state park in Tennessee

Gretchen

Well, it isn't Rocky Mountain National Park but I suspect you could find many beautiful hikes, vistas, and things that make it the most visited US park.

starrs

Cades Cove is amazing. Be sure to go there if you decide go to GSMNP.

Christina

I think the reason it is the most visited is its size and central US location.

The park is at least twice the size of Shenandoah and the mountains are higher, the highest peak east of the MS river. So you will get grander views due to mountain size.

WhereAreWe

There are only 60 national parks, and each of them is worth visiting. The threshold to be named a national park is significant so while there may be some similarities between Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains, there are enough differences to make both worth your time.