The arrant time to hit the Smokies depends wildly on what you want out of the experience .
We love the Smokies in the leap, when the mountains are fresh and green and blooming. They retain a bit of the jap in the air.
We love the Smokies in the summer when nothing is more review than a cold batch stream .
We love the Smokies in the fall when the kaleidoscope of colors is bursting all around, and the hint of the coming winter is the air .
We love the Smokies in the winter for Christmas traditions at Dollywood and the brilliantly, colored lights and the vacation spirit everywhere .
then while we hera at TheSmokies.com don ’ metric ton think there ’ s always a bad time to go to the Smokies, we acknowledge there is a season for everything and every purpose .
Some seasons are worse to go to the Smokies than others .
here are the absolute worst times to go to the Smokies :
The Smokies can be a bit depressing when everything is closed (photo by Daniel Munson/TheSmokies.com)
1. January through February, because it can be depressing
For Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, the first months of the year are like one, long December 26th .
The anticipation of the holidays is gone. It ’ second coldish. It ’ south grey. The mountains are abeyant. Dollywood is closed. several other attractions are closed or on winter hours .
sure you can shop. surely you can do indoor farce. But a general malaise hangs in the vent .
While there ’ s not much traffic to conflict and the crowd have dwindled, there ’ s a reason .
The best thing to do in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge in January and February is look ahead to better days .
An aerial view of Rod Runs traffic in Pigeon Forge (photo by Daniel Munson/TheSmokies.com)
2. Rod Runs, because traffic is a nightmare
Rod Runs are great. The cars are superintendent cool and the people-watching is excellent .
But if you ’ ve ever incidentally driven onto the main scuff unaware that it ’ s a Rod Run weekend, you are missing out on a special kind of hell .
It ’ s a little bite like being the victim of a mob strike in a Martin Scorsese film .
Everything ’ mho going along smoothly ; you ’ re having a courteous drive with your class. You see a classic car. then another. then the cold realization of what is about to happen hits just as everything goes slow-motion and you ’ rhenium powerless to stop it.
Read more : Mexican Eagle (Northern crested caracara)
“ Oh noooooooo, ” you shout to the class, shoving your children out of the car to the safety of the sidewalk. “ Save yourselves. ”
Read besides : Watch two guys line dance in the road while stuck in Gatlinburg traffic
then everything fades to black and you spend the future four hours motionless in the fast lane listening to the Rolling Stones .
Long lines are always expected in the Smokies during the more popular months (photo by Morgan Overholt/TheSmokies.com)
3. Autumn, because of the crowds
I ’ megabyte pretty sure it was Jean Paul Sartre who said “ to every ache, there is a yang. ” The smasher of the mountains in the fall is matchless. It is besides not much of a unavowed .
Every syndicate outing to the mountains in the fall requires a certain kind of calculus .
What combination of backroads and main roads is the right combination to get us where we ’ re going in a reasonable time ? Can I risk coming in from exit 407 ? Should I go through Newport ? Do I need to drive through Cosby ?
If you ’ re planning a Sunday drive through Cades Cove, what time do you have to be there to beat the after-church push ? What ’ s the general condition of your solitaire ? Has it been a bit of a week at oeuvre ?
If the nerves are a small frayed starting out, what are the chances you ’ ll find yourself laying on the french horn and telling a tourist from Cleveland that deer are everywhere and surely are not worth blocking the loop for 35 minutes while you gawk at them .
Yelling “ If you stop for anything less than a digest, I will go full Earnhardt and put your butt in the dump, ” is an indication, you picked the improper day to go to the cove .
Read besides : How to visit Cades Cove, 7 things to know before you go
Dollywood can be blazing hot in the summertime (photo by Morgan Overholt/TheSmokies.com)
4. Summer, because of the brutal heat
I ’ m not sure if you ’ re mindful, but the East Tennessee humidity can be oppressive .
summer can be a capital time to be up in the mountains or it can be a swelter hellscape of boggy, sweaty world .
once, while traversing the concrete concourse of Dollywood on our way from the Country Fair up to the proportional shade of Craftsmen ’ south Valley, the combine effects of the stagger heat and the resettlement of all of the liquid inside my body to dripping off the outdoor of my soundbox left me shuttling through the relative planes of universe like Val Kilmer in The Doors movie .
I saw a Shaman, a giant sentient lounge lizard and Dabney Coleman in his bondage gear from “ 9 to 5. ”
I literally started looking for a marry ring I thought dropped from my finger despite the fact that I lost that ring 12 years prior while spinning it like a top.
summer, my acquaintance, can be brutal .
When do you think is the worst fourth dimension to visit the Smokies ? Let us know in the comments below .
Click hera to view the history adaptation of this article .
I am broadly interested in how human activities influence the ability of wildlife to persist in the modified environments that we create.
Specifically, my research investigates how the configuration and composition of landscapes influence the movement and population dynamics of forest birds. Both natural and human-derived fragmenting of habitat can influence where birds settle, how they access the resources they need to survive and reproduce, and these factors in turn affect population demographics. Most recently, I have been studying the ability of individuals to move through and utilize forested areas which have been modified through timber harvest as they seek out resources for the breeding and postfledging phases. As well I am working in collaboration with Parks Canada scientists to examine in the influence of high density moose populations on forest bird communities in Gros Morne National Park. Many of my projects are conducted in collaboration or consultation with representatives of industry and government agencies, seeking to improve the management and sustainability of natural resource extraction.