Day 11 – 10/14/23

Starting location: Marysville, TN

Weather: Cool morning in 50s, foggy, mostly burned off by evening to low 70s

Ending location: same

Statute miles: 0 by boat

General summary: Drove through windy country roads to the main highway through Pigeon Forge, famous for being Dolly Parton’s birthplace and home of Dollywood amusement park. I love amusement parks, especially roller coaster rides, but we didn’t have time for it and the weather was predicted to be clearest today for viewing. Entered the National Park through the Sugarlands visitor’s center and got our parking pass. They don’t charge an entrance fee, but you have to pay to park. Was $5 per day or $15 for a week. Drove to Newfound Gap for scenic views and then Clingman’s Dome, the highest peak in the park at 6643 feet. Our phones kept switching back and forth by an hour as we crisscrossed the borders of Tennessee and North Carolina (between Central and Eastern time zones) on the drive. On return to Sugarlands we took advantage of a free Ranger-led talk. Any time I have visited a National Park I have loved them. Many hundreds, possibly thousands of people in park on this day, and only 10 on the walking tour. So much history and background information you just can’t get from the internet. Don’t miss out on these! Then back to Air bnb for the night.

Boater information: N/A