By Steve Bergsman
When deep winter settles into the narrow valleys of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, the frenetic pace of this tourism mecca slows to an appreciable crawl. The weather is cold but not oppressive, and snow accumulates then dissipates on the mountaintops surrounding the city.
Everything is open and nothing is crowded. The honky-tonk bars, moonshine distilleries, haunted houses, miniature golf palaces, all the Ripley Believe-It-or-Not attractions and even the wondrous aquarium are sparsely populated. Want to try the buckwheat cakes at the famous Pancake Pantry? Just walk in; there's no crowd. The same is true of all the highly regarded steakhouses in town.
For those who are used to the massive summer crowds, winter in Gatlinburg is like a breath of fresh — but very cold — air. My wife and I arrived in town on a Sunday night and checked into the Greystone Lodge at the Aquarium among just a handful of guests who were there midweek. Greystone, like many of Gatlinburg's hotels, is massive, and when we walked through the town at night we saw that only a few room lights flickered in any of the accommodations. In short, if you had a dream hotel in mind for your Gatlinburg visit, that room could be yours — at a ridiculous winter rate.
Snow flurries wafted through the chilled air every night we were in town. This was perfect for us because we had a particular agenda, a winter walk in the woods of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
People crowd into Gatlinburg for nine months of the year because it sits at the entrance to the national park, which, I was often told, is the most visited national park in the country. More than 9 million tourists and 11 million non-recreational visitors traveled to the park in 2010, more than twice as many visitors as the Grand Canyon, the second-most-visited park.
Of the two main visitor centers inside the park, Sugarlands, is a short ride from the Gatlinburg entrance to the park, but that wasn't where we were headed. For our hike we contacted a company appropriately called "A Walk in the Woods." They would supply us with a guide who would not only lead us into the wilderness but also talk about the history and geology of the land. We were to meet her at the distinctly unheralded Greenbrier entrance to the park that only locals know exists.
These were the driving instructions: First, do not use the GPS because it will get it wrong. Second, drive for six miles along Highway 321 and then when you see a barbecue restaurant, turn right. After entering Greenbrier, turn right on the first dirt drive. Having accomplished all that, we met our guide, a young woman named Samantha who preferred to be called Sam. In a prior life she had been a park ranger.
The temperature was in the 20s and snow was falling hard as we began our walk. Except for the rushing waters of the creek, the silence was immense.
Our walk would parallel the creek on what was once a dirt road. We would climb about 400 feet and cross the creek at least twice, once on a one-lane bridge and the second time on a squared single log.
What makes the Greenbrier route interesting is that it was once a settled area. Unlike other national parks, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was not created from uninhabited wilderness. The land was dotted with settlements and cabins and had to be acquired separately. Once that happened, many of the structures had to be removed. Evidence of civilization dots this walk, and due to the sparsity of foliage could easily be seen, from carved stairs to a graveyard to the rusted remains of a Model T.
The end point of the walk, about two miles in, was an original barn and spring house from an old farm. Nearby is a cabin constructed around the midpoint of the last century for Appalachian Club hikers.
Sam was in her element. Our walk included histories, geological ramblings and even a couple of unmoored speculations about existing phenomena. Best of all, she even supplied snacks for a couple of hungry hikers.
Most outdoor enthusiasts who come to Gatlinburg are more typically interested in skiing, and for a Southern location, the mountains outside of town offer surprisingly good ski runs. It's all easily accessible by taking the Ober Gatlinburg tram from the depot on Parkway and enjoying the 10-minute ride to the top of the mountain. If precipitation is sparse for the winter, Ober Gatlinburg boasts powerful snowmaking equipment to keep the trails active.
The expansive facilities here include shops, an arcade, animal-rescue zoo and ice rink. What impressed me the most, however, was the well-designed tubing park. About a dozen individual slotted routes are carved out so that inner tubes shooting down the mountain don't go all over the place and bang into people or trees. The routes are straight and the rides fast, and when a ride is finished there's a moving platform to get back to the top for another one.
I was so enticed by the tubing park that I had to make a least one run, so I got myself a tube and went to the top. At the starting point of the chute next to me a boy about 10 years old prepared for his run, so I watched him to find out what to do. Then I was off. I'm not sure who enjoyed the ride down more, the little boy or the little boy in me.
WHEN YOU GO
I paired a visit to Gatlinburg with an earlier stop in Asheville, North Carolina, essentially going from one side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the other. Due to winter weather, the scenic drive through the park was closed, but Interstate 40 was wide open.
On any given night Gatlinburg can host 40,000 transient souls. That's a lot of hotel rooms. I stayed at The Greystone Lodge at the Aquarium at the lower end of Parkway. As the name implies, it is sited adjacent to the town's famed aquarium: www.greystonelodgetn.com.
For a winter hike, I contracted with A Walk in the Woods, which supplied an excellent guide: www.awalkinthewoods.com.
Skiing and tubing are available at Ober Gatlinburg, which also runs the tram to the mountain: www.obergatlinburg.com
Steve Bergsman is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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