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I drove through Tennessee mountain towns: Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.

So in today’s video, we’re going to take a tour from downtown Knoxville, through the Great Smoky Mountains and into two very unique mountain towns - Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg Tennessee.

As we leave downtown we’ll cross through some mountain passes on our way into Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. It’s Saturday, November 9 at noon.

We were lucky, as the leaves seemed to be at their autumn peaks.

If I were to make a comparison to these mountain towns to other places I’ve been, I’d say Pigeon Forge is like Myrtle Beach South Carolina, but in the mountains. Pigeon Forge is basically a huge tourist trap destination.

All of Route 321 here in the far eastern corner of Tennessee crosses a big valley between mountain passes as you cross into western North Carolina and north Georgia along the Great Smoky Mountain ridges.

So we’re right in the middle of the mountains, but there’s a TON of stuff going on.

Pigeon Forge identifies as a vacation area more than a community. It’s also home to Dollywood, an amusement park founded by country crooner Dolly Parton. The place is packed full of restaurants, theme parks, mini golf, museums, shopping, arcades and other points of interest.

Now, to get to Gatlinburg, you can continue along Route 321 and you’d be there in 15 minutes. However, as you can see, traffic is a real pain. It was Veterans Day weekend, the height of fall colors, and happened to be a beautiful weekend, weather wise, with temps in the low 70s. So, everyone else wanted to get up here, too.

To avoid the crowd, we decided to take a detour over a small mountain pass into Gatlinburg, a drive that took about 15 minutes. But we were glad we did, as we came over the top of the ridge, which afforded a very unique perspective on what Gatlinburg looks like from the top of the ridge.

It may not look like it from here, but there’s a TON of people down there.

This is Gatlinburg proper. It’s not always this busy, but between June and December it is, especially on weekends. If Pigeon Forge 15 miles behind us was Myrtle Beach, this is definitely Bourbon Street. Although Gatlinburg is 1000% safer and cleaner than most Louisiana cities I’ve been to.

Gatlinburg might be many people’s favorite mountain town of all. It sits at the base of the road to the end of the Appalachian Mountains - about three hours from here is the end of the Appalachian Mountains and only 4 hours away is Atlanta.

Gatlinburg, like Pigeon Forge is only home to around 4,000 permanent residents.

There’s skiing nearby, too. Basically, if you can think of something fun you’d want to do, it’s here in Gatlinburg. Except surfing. There’s no ocean nearby.

Link to worst part of Knoxville video:

Link to downtown Knoxville tour video:

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LLAMA TREK Hiking with Llamas in the Great Smoky Mountains (Cosby, TN) — Tennessee Valley Uncharted

We went on a llama trek in the Great Smoky Mountains! We visited Smoky Mountain Llama Treks in Crosby, Tennessee, where Steve and Johnna Garrett left their day jobs behind to follow a dream.

Hiking with llamas is an amazing experience. These llamas are professional trained pack animals, their job is to carry equipment on your hike. You CAN NOT ride llamas. But you can enjoy their company and a leisurely trip. Happy hiking!

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Tennessee Valley Uncharted is a show following Erick Baker and Aerial Nicole as they experience activities and places you might never knew existed, from world-class outdoor adventures to the people and cultural opportunities that make the Tennessee Valley so special.

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#llamatrek #hikingwithllamas #greatsmokymountains #crosbytn #llama #llamas #hiking #tennesseevalley #tnvalleyuncharted #TVU

Credits:
Host: Aerial Nicole Simmons
Executive Creative Director: Joseph Nother
Executive Producer: Taylor Walters
Director of Photography: Jordan Peltz
Producers: Kristin Majni, Adam Wigren, Emily Bullen
Writers: Taylor Walters
Camera Op: Edy Recendez
Sound: Lee Lannom
Post Production Supervisor: Michael Cummins
Editor: Ian LaPierre
Sound Editor: Mike Dearing

Special Thanks To:
Smoky Mountain Llama Treks
Creekwalk Inn
Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts
Fontana Village Resort
Jimmy Lemmond
NPALL Audio

Additional Thanks To:
Auralation Music
CaptionLink

Tennessee Valley Uncharted is a co-production by Designsensory, PopFizz, and Tennessee Valley Authority.