Most meals included – (B,L,D) denotes Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 1 (Travel Day)(D)

Arrive in Knoxville, TN tonight for an orientation and welcome dinner with the group.

Day 2 (B,L,D)

“Hiker” Itinerary: 5.5 mile round trip hike, 750 foot elevation gain

Our inn-based Great Smoky Mountains photography tour starts with a pre-dawn drive from Knoxville to the East side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Our hike today takes us to one of Smoky Mountain National Park’s most spectacular waterfalls and compliments it with amazing high-country views. Along our hike we will pass through diverse old growth forests that are coming to life with the arrival of spring.

While on this hike we’ll have opportunities to see wildlife such as black bears, deer and elk. Our trail passes beneath Grotto Falls, which is the only waterfall in the Park that you can walk behind. After the falls, we’ll continue to the top of Brushy Mountain, where we’ll soak up views of Mount Guyot, Charlies Bunion, Mount Chapman, Mount Sequoyah and a lot more. Mount LeConte, where the lodge with the same name sits high on its mountain perch, will dominate our view south. This evening we will work on compositions from one of the high vantages in the park and then return to Gatlinburg in the evening.

Day 3 (B,L,D)

“Hiker” Itinerary: 5.4 miles, 1350 feet elevation gain

We’ll be once again up early to catch the sunrise on the Great Smoky Mountain divide. Our morning session will be from Newfound Gap. It was here that Roosevelt dedicated the Park with a speech in 1940. Today’s hike takes us along the famous Appalachian Trail to Charlies Bunion, one of the Park’s most celebrated rock formations. Fantastic views of the endless rolling ridges of the Smokies abound on today’s hike. We’ll enjoy a picnic lunch with the incredible views as our backdrop before hiking back to the trailhead.

On our way to tonight’s lodging we’ll spend some time photographing Clingman’s Dome (the highest peak in the Park at 6,643 feet) and the Oconoluftee Valley, which is usually a great place to find and photograph elk.

Day 4 (B,L,D)

“Hiker” Itinerary: mileage 4-6 miles with 200 feet elevation gain

We’ll hit the trail early – our goal being the quiet, yet beautiful Cades Cove side of the park. We’ll spend the morning photographing the most iconic part of spring in the Smoky Mountains; the wildflowers. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is home to over 1,500 types of flowering plants, more than any other national park in the country. After shooting we’ll have a picnic breakfast in the Cades Cove picnic area. This area has excellent opportunities for wildlife, so we’ll keep an eye out for some of the Park’s many types of wildlife (black bear, deer, elk, turkeys, and more).

Today’s official hike is a forested creek-side hike to a stunning waterfall that is arguably the Smokies’ most scenic hike. We’ll keep an eye out for otters as we make our way along the creek, eventually arriving at the most voluminous waterfall in the Park. We’ll relax for a picnic lunch on a beach in clear view of the torrent of water spilling over a sandstone cliff. We’ll spend ample time photographing this waterfall and eventually hike back to the trailhead. A short shuttle
ride to our hotel, a tasty Southern dinner, and a cozy night’s sleep top off another rewarding day of Smoky Mountains exploration.

Day 5 (B,L,D)

“Hiker” Itinerary: 8 miles roundtrip, 150 foot elevation gain

Our photograph session this morning will be along a beautiful creek, surrounded by beautiful mist-clad mountains. We’ll spend the morning photographing waterfalls during our hike. Today’s hike is one of the most diverse and in many ways fulfilling as we dive into enjoying all the Smokies’ has to offer!

Our hike takes us past stunning cascades, through forests bursting with an incredible array of wildflowers, plant and animal life, and along charming mountain creeks. Tonight’s dinner – an outdoor evening picnic dinner prepared by your guide – is enjoyed in the stunning Cade’s Cove area after a refreshing shower and a bit of down time at our hotel. We’ll spend time photographing the Cade’s Cove area during dinner.

Day 6 (B)

The final morning of our Appalachian experience will bring us to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and to one of the more breathtaking vantage points in the park, where we’ll look to photograph the surrounding Smoky Mountains at dawn. After our shoot we’ll settle in for a short, yet scenic, ride back to Knoxville.

The ride will give us an opportunity to contemplate all of the natural beauty, phenomenal biodiversity, and fascinating history we’ve had the privilege to explore during our tour of Great Smoky Mountain National Park.