Hi. I'm the official photographer (!?!) of our family. I have a Canon SD 550, which has a lot of settings, yet I've never used them, so I'm busted on that. I'll study your post! Regarding the chairlift and the tram, I'd do both. You must stand inside the tram, and it's the way to get to Ober Gatlinburg. The skylift is for the view. My family loves Ober Gatlinburg. Check out their web site. I realized I'm not the best person to advise you about hiking since we haven't seriously done it in the Smokies for several yrs. When we first moved to Knoxville about 7 yrs. ago, we were like tourists for a couple of years, hiking and exploring. Now, we find cabins with fabulous views and mostly hang out there. We take the kids wherever they want to go for the most part. We have been to Cades Cove a couple of times, but it's been a long time. I remember that it's lovely. We hiked it. It's funny, but when we want to hike now we go to far-away national parks like Yosemite, the Grand Canyon. In fact, I'm on Fodor's because we're planning a trip to Glacier Nat'l Park in June. By the way, some of the pics of Gatlinburg are June. We mostly go in June and during the school Fall break. Also, I would visit the dam if I were staying in Fontana, but I wouldn't make a special trip.

So, your camera must definetly be able to allow you to adjust the shutterspeed. It is also cool to slow down the shutterspeed when taking a picture of a waterfall or a rushing stream which gives it that effect when you look at professional photographs. Also, another thing about the shutterspeeds, on a sunny day, the pictures can become overexposed and washed out, if the shutter speed is too low. But, in your case the shutterspeed was too fast, so the pictures are underexposed (dark). It will probably say something in the manual about shutterspeeds and there is probably a dial on your camera where you can switch it to manual mode. Also, mess around with it, it is great to have a digital camera, not only because you can preview the picture you just took and decide if you like it. If you don't you can just delete it and take it again at a different shutterspeed. With a film camera, you take a picture, it is permanant, can't get rid of it. Also, consider increasing the resolution which will add greater detail, but also will take up more memory card space. But, if you have a couple memory cards with a lot of space, you can take lots of higher quality pictures. Only thing is they take longer to send them in email or post them online, or to to send them to a place that does prints over the internet, but it is probably much faster if you have DSL. I am stuck with slow dialup. Anyways, isn't there another chairlift that goes from Ober Gatlinburg? I am for the views not the amusement park. I have much older kids not young kids. Also, as far as hiking, I have heard the smokies has great hiking. Are you going to Yellowstone and the tetons? I have been to the grand canyon, all the national parks in Utah, Yosemite, and Yellowstone and the tetons. The only ones I have not been to that are in the rocky mountain region is Glacier and Rocky Mountain NP. But, this year I wanted to go to a national park back east here because it would be cheaper after flying out there the last two years and to see something different. And I think the Smokies are a good choice because they are far away (530 miles) from my house, but you can still get there in one day of driving. I don't feel like I am taking a "real" vacation if I don't travel at least 300 miles. Many times I do take weekend trips to places as close as a 100 miles away, but I don't consider those vacations. Have you been to Shenandoah? That is a nice park, only a hundred miles from where I live, just like the Smokies is to where you live.

The chairlift at Ober Gatlinburg goes to the top of the Alpine Slide -- which my kids have always liked to ride down -- even as teenagers. I would do both of them too, especially if this will probably be your only trip to the area.

There are some great views of Gatlinburg nestled in the mountains from the bypass between the Park and Pigeon Forge.

We haven't been to Shenandoah yet, but are planning to in the near future. I have researched it some. We are planning to take our dog since they are allowed on most of the trails (except, it appears the most popular ones). We don't camp. Have you taken your dogs there -- where did you stay with them?

We considered Estes in Colorado, but decided on Glacier NP and Waterton. We did Canada's Banff to Jasper, and found the scenery to be extraordinary, perhaps my favorite trip. We didn't want to go to the same place and we read Glacier is similar. I've been to the other parks you mentioned except Yellowstone. Also, we are originally from Northern Virginia so have also been to Shenandoah. My parents retired to Fredericksburg so we occasionally visit. I usually want to go to D.C. to take in the museums and monuments.

Regarding the pictures, thanks for the advice. I actually take my laptop with me on vacation and download them each day. I bought a card that holds around 200 pictures, I think. I guess I ought to learn to use the camera, ha!

Maj- Yes, I did bring my dogs to Shenandoah. I stayed around the north part of the park. One time I stayed in Luray,VA and the other in Front Royal,VA which both have some pet-friendly lodging. None of the lodging in the park allow pets. But, Luray and Front Royal are very close to the park. I never really gone any farther south the Big Meadows on Skyline Drive. As far as hikes that you can take your dogs on, whiteoak canyon is a good one and has many waterfalls. Also, Hawksbill Peak I would reccomend, it is a short uphill hike, that gets you to the highest point in the park with beautiful views. I have also done Old Rag which is not off skyline drive (forget how to get there), but you can't take dogs on that one. Also, I would reccomend just driving Skyline Drive from Front Royal to Big Meadows and stopping at the overlooks.
Claire_Bluesky- Have you been to Grand Teton NP, which is 60 miles south of the enterance to Yellowstone? You could drive to Yellowstone from Glacier in 6 hours if you had the time. I reccomend both Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Yellowstone has some breathtaking scenery like Yellowstone Falls, but Grand Teton is more for the scenery and Yellowstone is for the geysers and wildlife. I have not been to glacier but want to get there, but it is kind of far away from a major airport. While Estes Park, I could just fly into Denver and it is only 2 hours drive away. Back to the smokies, do you know any of the lesser visited parts of the park that you would reccomend? Isn't there another chairlift that goes from where the tram lets you off?

asdaven -- first thank you for the information on Shenandoah. That is exactly what I wanted to know.

As far as the chairlift and tram, I
haven't been on either for a few years, but doubt that much has changed. The chairlift only went to a small giftshop. The tram went up to an area that included a small ice skating rink, a ski area, an alpine slide and some gift shops, eating areas and arcade games. It is called Ober Gatlinburg and the only chairlift I know of up there is the one that takes you to the top of the Alpine Slide.

Some of our favorite hikes are Ramsey Cascades, Abrams Falls (Cades Cove)and Grotto Falls (off the Roaring Fork Auto Trail). There are so many different and great hikes. Be sure and visit the Sugarland Visitor Center at the Gatlinburg entrance to the park. There is also one at the park entrance coming from Cherokee. They should be able to answer your questions about visibility, volume of waterfalls, animal sightings etc. at the time you are there.

http://www.great.smoky.mountains.nat...k.com/hike.htm has some info about hiking trails as does the nps website. I have also just googled different waterfalls and hikes and got information and pictures from people that way.

The Happy Hiker in Gatlinburg has quite a bit of information and also a web site: http://www.happyhiker.com/--you may want to get some hiking pamphlets or books before you go. They have pamplets for a couple of dollars at the visitor center and elsewhere that have alot of information.

I copied the post below since it has information on animals (you had asked about the elk in one of your posts).

Author: Photodog
Date: 10/12/2004, 09:08 am
Might want to do the Chimney Tops trail, has spectacular views all around. Great color here and the Chimney Tops picnic area.
In the Cades Cove area try trail leaving from the picnic area to Spence or Russell Fields. Both are balds with excellent views. Can make a long loop trail out of this if don't want to make a up and back trip along the same trail.
Otters were reintroduced near Grotto Falls (Cades Cove area). Can walk behind the falls.
Roaring Fork Nature Trail off Cherokee Orchard Rd in downtown Gatlinburg is an 11 mile loop road with stops at pioneer home and trail head to Rainbow Falls. Which that time of year will probably be pretty dry but still a nice hike. Road follows beautiful Roaring Fork with its moss covered rocks.
If you want to see elk, they were reintroduced in the Catalooche area a few years ago.




-

Thanks- Have you been to the white mountains? I thought I decided that I want to go to the smokeys. But, I want to go to the most rugged place and has the best hiking. Somebody said that the white mountains are more grander. Why do you say that? What do you mean by grand? The smokies are called "The Great Smokey Mountains".

Haven't been to the White Mountains, but have been to Acadia.

There are numerous opportunities for hiking in the Smokey Mountains -- from relatively easy paved hikes to week long backpacking.

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/gsmsite/justforfun.html#hiking

As we learned in grade school, the Appalacian mountains are the old, worn down mountains and the Rockies are the young rugged mountains. You won't get the rugged mountain "peaks" as you get in the West, but these mountains have their own beauty.

What do you like better the smokies or acadia? Which has better hiking? Which place has more challanging hikes? Isn't acadia more of an ocean park than mountain park? But, it has small mountains but not the tall peaks like the smokies? The Rockies and Applachians are opposites, the rockies are still growing while the applachians are wearing down. Also, youngest and oldest. In Maryland, there are real no defined peaks just long ridges. I am sure there are more defined "peaks" in the smokies. Mt. Leconte in the smokies is the tallest (greatest relief from base to summit, not highest, which is mount micheal) and the steepest in the eastern united states. But, some people claim the white mountains are steeper. But, I don't think the white mountains is one range of mountains like the smokies. I am really into geography and geology, that is why I am getting into this stuff.

The east coast Appalachian mountain chain IS the Rocky Mountain chain...just older and more worn down

I agree with your assessment of Acadia. Beautiful, but not really mountains. We didn't do any actual hiking there. Definitely worth seeing, but a totally different trip than GSMNP. I think the Appalachian Trail ends somewhere northwest of Acadia in central Maine.

There is a trail to Alum Cave that continues to Mt.LeConte (we've never taken it) that is supposed to be a good one with views. (I think it is 10 miles round trip)

Hope you write a trip report after your trip (no matter what you decide).

Dear asdaven,

Hello! I live near Philadelphia and Ive driven to GSM several times and Acadia once. Perhaps some of my input can help you finalize your decision! Please, the following reflect my own personal experiences with these parks and are not in any way meant to mitigate the thoughtful opinions of other posters:

THE DRIVE
To TN
The drive to TN takes us about 8 hours straight through without stopping. I think the drive is really pretty because you pass tons of sheep and goats roaming on beautiful rolling hills. The 75 mph speed limit is nice, too : )

To ME
The drive to Acadia took us about 14 hours Id say and we did stop overnight somewhere in Mass. We went in the Fall so this drive was also really pretty due to the changing leaves.

*And the Best Drive Award goes to: TN

THE PARKS
GSM
Weve only been here in Spring.
GSM offers a ton of trails (vary from easy to strenuous). We usually choose only the moderate-to-strenuous hikes (I like to work hard for that beautiful view at the peak!). I saw waterfalls and small streams, mostly, which were sometimes still frozen so that looked pretty cool. The trails themselves often had rocky areas, sometimes covered with snow (not sure if/when that ever melts). Theres a lot of “green” in the Smokies, meaning tons of huge, beautiful trees. The best thing about the GSM trails are the vistas, for sure.

ACADIA
We were here in Fall.
I saw some really cool stuff at Acadia. Theres this place called Thunder Hole which is like the cubby area of a rock cluster in which waves crash and make a loud thunderish boom! Also, theres Cadillac Mountain which offers beautiful sunrises! Its funny because I even saw Martha Stewart once do a show about making a special batch of Gorp for her trip to Cadillac Mountain! Finally, and this is the best part, the views offered in Acadia were breathtaking-Ive never seen such beautiful views. What did it for me was the totally awesome contrast of the leaves against the water. Wow. Its so funny because I remember thinking to myself, “man, and I thought the Smoky Mountains were pretty!” Meaning, to me, at that moment standing atop Precipice, Acadia seemed ten times cooler than GSM. Cooler in wow factor, not in temperature…

*And the Best Park Award goes to: Acadia

FAVORITE HIKES
GSM
For sure: Chimney Tops
(end of trail requires you climb humungous rock to get full advantage of incredible view-neat)
http://www.smokiesguide.com/hikes/chimneytops/

ACADIA
For sure: Precipice
http://www.acadiamagic.com/precipice-trail.htm
(for my experience on this trail please see Fodors post: Hiking in Acadia Nat'l Park and Lobster on Mt. Desert Island?)

*And the Best Hike Award goes to: Precipice

THE AREAS
GSM
Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg both have many, many little shops to browse. There are also dinner show theaters if thats your bag. To be quite honest, we spent our evenings in the hot tub!

ACADIA
I love Bar Harbor. If I was asked to picture a quaint little fishing village along the coast of Maine I would have imagined Bar Harbor even before I saw it! It has cute little shops and many yummy restaurants! And if you eat meat then youre in for a treat because I hear the lobster is fabulous of course!

*And the Best Area Award goes to: Bar Harbor

PLACES TO STAY
GSM
Weve always stayed at Oakhaven Resort
(for a detailed description please see Fodors post: Hiking in October)

ACADIA
Sorry, I dont remember where we stayed. We rented a small house…

*And the Best Place To Stay Award goes to: Oakhaven

Whew! I hope Ive been able to provide you with some information that will prove helpful in your decision!

Bottom line: both parks rock and youll be happy with either choice!!

Which park wins in wildlife? Does Acadia have moose or bears? The smokeys have elk, which sounds interesting. Also, the smokeys have a lot of bears which would be cool to see. What about Waterfalls? Does acadia have any? Which park has more "wilderness" or backcountry? Acadia seems to be a much smaller park confined to an island while the smokeys is a much bigger park to explore. What park wins as far as what you can see from the road?

For goodness sake, woman. Chose one or another. I agree you are obsessing. You got great information but you have to finally decide. Never saw moose or bear in Acadia. Never saw bears or elks in Smokies. The end

Z- Where did you get any inclination that I was a woman. You are wrong. But, you are right, I am obsessing. I tend to overplan, but it pays off once I go somewhere.

Okay, final dicision, The smokies. Are there any waterfalls in acadia? The reason I picked the smokies is that it is more of a mountain park and I want pure mountains. Two, it has a lot of waterfalls. Three, the drive is shorter and more scenic. Four, it has much bigger mountains than Acadia. Five, I think it has much more wildlife than Acadia. Since, Acadia is on a island, chances are there isn't that much wildlife, maybe squerals but nothing big like bears. The smokies are famous for its bears. The smokies do have elk if you go to the right place, they are only in a certain area of the park on the NC side. Correct me if I am wrong, I think the smokeys is where "smokey the bear" came from. I did some reasearch. Is there any mountain biking trails in the smokies? Any good mountain biking trails in the vicinity? What about whitewater rafting? Has anybody done that in the area? NatureGirl19317- Were you saying Acadia is way better or is both the smokies and acadia pretty close together in the "wow" factor?

here's a tip -

enter www.google.com in your address window

type "whitewater rafting smoky mountains" and see what comes up

type "smokey the bear" and click on the link and read about the origin of Smokey the Bear (the original bear cub survived a fire in New Mexico

type "xyz" and find the links

so much information there...

THEN come back and ask specific questions. This stream of conciousness posting can drive Fodorites up the wall!

Because you are going to ask anyway...here are my suggestions -

Based yourself around Pisgah National Forest and concentrate on those waterfalls -

http://www.ncwaterfalls.com/pisgah1.htm

This is a great website and he has the waterfalls grouped by different areas.

Rent a cabin near Brevard NC - here's a link to one website with several options - and a good chance of seeing wildlife -
http://www.sevenfoxes.com/cabins.htm

Take a whitewater rafting trip on the French Broad or Nolichucky

http://www.mtnadventureguides.com/

Mountain bike to your heart's content
http://www.trails.com/advancedfind.a...evard&state=NC

Go to Asheville to eat in some great restaurants and maybe catch some good music

Drive a segment on the Blue Ridge Parkway

I picked Brevard because it's one of the prettiest places in the Smoky Mountains (although not Smoky Mtn NP) with gorgeous waterfalls and everything else you are asking about nearby. I could have easily recommended Banner Elk or Boone or Black Mountain or many others (including non-B locations) but it would take a zillion questions to get that information.

You can't go wrong.

Enjoy.

Thank you- I plan on taking a day-trip to that area. That is the blue ridge mountains not the smokies. I plan on staying around Gatlinburg. I would like some opinions on some of the hikes in the park. You can't get that on google. But, I will reasearch a little more myself and stop asking so many questions.

Actually, the Smoky Mountain range is part of the Blue Ridge chain which is part of the Applachian chain. Within the Smoky Mountain range is the Great Smoky Mountain National Park which straddles the ridgeline of the Smoky Mountains. The Blue Ridge Parkway connects the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and Shenandoah National Park in the southern Applachians. The Applachian trail runs from Ga to Maine.

There is quite a bit of information on this forum about Smokey Mountain hikes, but most I have found goes back to 2004 and it is sometimes hard to find depending on what you put in the search engine. Try typing LeConte Lodge in the search (the 3rd one down is titled LeConte Lodge and tells a little about that trail). Someone also answered a question I had with the following: http://www.hellbenderpress.com/?a=27 which describes a hike that he said is not travelled much, but he really liked.