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)

Our inn-based Great Smoky Mountains photography tour starts with an early morning drive from Knoxville to the east side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Smoky Mountain National Park’s spectacular waterfalls and amazing high-country views will be on display today, alongside wildflowers galore. Spring ephemerals include flowers such as trillium, lady slipper orchids, showy orchis, crested dwarf iris, fire pink, columbine, bleeding heart, phacelia, jack-in-the-pulpit, little brown jugs, and violets, to name just a few. And don’t forget your long lenses for opportunities at wildlife like Black bear, deer and elk.

Day 3 (B,L,D)

Once again, we’ll be 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. Fantastic views of the endless rolling ridges of the Smokies abound today.
While traveling back to our evening accommodations, we’ll be sure to spend time photographing the famous Clingman’s Dome (the highest peak in the Park at 6,643 feet) and the Oconaluftee Valley, which is typically a fantastic place to find and photograph elk.

Day 4 (B,L,D)

We’ll spend today in the 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). 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)

Our photograph session this morning will be along a beautiful creek, surrounded by colorful, mist-clad mountains. We’ll spend the morning photographing waterfalls during our hike. The agenda for today is to explore all of the amazing things the Smokies’ have to offer! Stunning cascades through forests bursting with an incredible array of plant and animal life, charming mountain creeks, and wildflowers will be on tap for this day.

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. Bring your cameras to dinner as we’ll spend some time photographing the Cade’s Cove area this evening.

Day 6 (B)

The final morning of our Appalachian experience will bring us 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, shuttle 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..