Geographical Location: East of Bangladesh and Brahmaputra’s Influence

After quite some time in India, including a longer period living there, I have to say: nothing is like the Northeast. Clocks are ticking differently here, even cities are different.

Geographically, India’s Northeast has been separated from the rest of the country ever since the state of Bangladesh was founded. During British colonial rule all seven states were called Assam but is no longer the case nowadays. The east is very close to Myanmar and, in the North, to Bhutan and China.

The area is strongly shaped by the Brahmaputra River which runs through the entire area. Three quarters of the population live in close proximity to the river. Most people stay in the more developed cities in the south and east. Many residents have tribal ancestors. The second largest area, are the mountain in the North (Meghalaya, Nagaland) that have been largely influenced by Christian missionaries.

Arriving from Guwahati and Assam

Center and most important city of the Northeast is Guwahati, Assam’s capital. When you travel northeast, you will arrive in Guwahati. Guwahati has 800,000 residents and is, for Indian standards rather small. Even the entire northeast is rather sparsely populated (45 million people in total, in contrast to 19 million in Mumbai or Delhi). Guwahati can be reached from all major Indian airports; there are tons of domestic flights available. You will not be able to find a nonstop flight from Germany, a stopover in Delhi is definitely needed. Guwahati is the gateway to all other states and cities in the northeast.

Guwahati, after all, is a more relaxed Indian city but a city like any other in India. You don’t have big problems with cab driver and rikscha drivers (very much the opposite from all other cities in India). You can find anything here: more traditional bazaars, little vegetable sellers as well as fancy shops, malls, big chain restaurants and stores, huge cinemas, restaurants and coffee houses. There are also many hotels with different standards and price ranges. You can use GS Road, which crosses the entire city and the Brahmaputra River as reference points to find your way. All in all, Guwahati makes a good beginning for India.

There are no big sights in Guwahati. Some temples and monasteries (Umanada Tempel , Kamakhaya Tempel, Navagraha Tempel). Holy temples of different religions can be found here in a big colorful mix: Madhava Temple where Buddha went to the Nirvana, Pao Monastery very important to Muslims, Hajo Pilgrimage which has five temples that are important for all five religions.

Moreover, Guwahati has three Bazaars: Paltan Bazaar, Pan Bazaar and Fancy Bazaar.
Three national parks can be found in the surrounding area: Mana National park (175 km from Guwahati), Probitora National park (40 km) and Kaziranga National park (217 km).

I would not plan too much time for Guwahati. 1 – 2 days is enough, you can recover from the trip, visit a few temples and if you are interested some Bazaars and Malls.
Things start getting interesting when to decide where to go next.

National Parks in Kaziranga and Mana

Distances are large, driving takes a long time because the streets are mostly bad. Yet, the national parks in Kaziranga and Mana are worth a visit. From Guwahati you should plan an entire day to drive there. After Guwahati, you need to drive up a mountain range, all vehicles can only move slowly, even though it does not sound that much, 200 km in India is in general a long distance, even more here in the Northeast. The further you travel from Guwahati, the worse the streets get.

Everything gets more rural, there are no more typical Indian metropolis but more “villages”. The term village might create some misunderstandings; even a village in India can have 200,000 residents. Don’t base that on the number of people living there. For Indians, a city with 5 million people is a small town. A village is rather defined by its bad infrastructure, bad streets, few hotels and that it’s difficult to reach. You need to lower your standards a bit here; many “Western” things are missing. One example is warm or hot water. It’s not available everywhere but, sometimes you find it where you least expect it. But you definitely need to accept certain lower standards when it comes to hygiene.

Close to the big attractions there are, rather surprisingly, upper-class hotels with higher standards. Target group of these places are wealthy Indians, who, in the end, don’t expect a lower standard than people from the West (Europeans and Americans).

We decided to visit Kaziranga, right at the Brahmaputra River, close to Bhutan. Visiting Bhutan in a second step would have been nice but is rather difficult, to get the Bhutan visa is very difficult.

Here you can read more about Kaziranga National Park.

The State of Assam

Kaziranga is at the edge, but still in Assam. During colonial times, Assam was the name for the entire region but nowadays it includes a much smaller area.

Two ethnic groups mainly meet in Assam: immigrated Begalis and tribals. There were certain separations of tribals (e.g. Nagaland and Meghalaya). The states as they are today have existed since 1972.

In Europe, Assam is mostly known for its tea. This is one of the tourist attractions here: tea plantations. They are everywhere Assam has the largely connected tea plantations in the world.

Except Kaziranga and Mana, there are two smaller national parks: Probitora and Orang. Another interesting thing is the huge and powerful Brahmaputra river, in Majuli you find the largest river island in the world.

Traveling here is still easily possible. The streets were partly not that good, but progress is on the way. A lot of construction work can be found anywhere, in particular around the main attractions, tourism is common. There are drivers and jeeps for the national park, and tourism is well-organised here. I think, you can easily travel here you just need to decide what you want to see.

Meghalaya: Cherapunjee and Shillong

The same counts for Meghalaya, the state south of Assam and its capital Shillong. Shillong as well as Cherapunjee (Sohra) are main attractions for (domestic) tourism. The tribals’ root bridges are interesting. Information on that Cherapunjee can be found here.

Shillong is called “Scottland of the East”. There are mountains covered in fog but also lakes and old Victorian buildings. It used to be a British hill station. Shillong Peak is on more than 1500 meters and offers a great view of the Ward Lake. Plus, there are several waterfalls in the area (one example the fourth largest in the world, Nohkalikai Water Fall).

Bengal, Sikkim and Darjeeling

Some more states, that are often counted as Northeast States are Sikkim, Bengal and the very popular Darjeeling. All these places are further west, not east of Bangladesh and are not part of the Seven Sisters. That is which is choose to do an extra group called Sikkim and Darjeeling.

Here can be found information on…

Sikkim
Kanchenjunga
Khecheopari
Darjeeling

Off Assam and Meghalaya

Anything outside Assam and Meghalaya definitely makes the Northeast a place for adventurers. The not-so-good-streets become worse. It becomes difficult to move forward, there is rarely any tourism at all. But you can find more and more tribal areas that are protected which means you cannot travel at all or only with extra permit.

Arnuchal Pradesh: Has one of the most beautiful landscapes of the Seven Sisters, reaching from the foot of the Himalaya Mountains to the Brahmaputra River, also called Assam-Himalaya. A mountain state that difficult to access, with very mixed religious groups. Also strongly influence by its tribals even though China claims parts of its area.

Nagaland: largely stettled by tribals (16 different tribal groups), that are in vast majority Christians. Official language is English, but every tribal has its own language, not all of them are compatible among each other. There are four national parks here, but almost no foreign visitors. Some areas are restricted and cannot be visited by foreigners.

Manipur and Mizoram: The most eastern of the Seven Sisters and its southern neighbor form the border to Myanmar. There are mountains ranges with 3000 meter mountains (Patkai mountains) but also lowlands and valleys. No tourist development at all.

Tripura: close the Bagladesh Valley, a more communist state largely remote and secluded, mostly interesting for its landscape, can be reached by plane (airport in the capital Agartal) from Calcutta.

All these states have one thing in common: tourism is still in the very beginning. Problems of how to reach and how to move forward derive from that. Moreover, occasionally there are tribal areas that are protected, restricted or even fully closed. You should ask about these regulations right before your tour, changes come every now and then. One thing for sure: it’s not for India beginners, only for adventurers. But you can see pristine, secluded nature, quite often mountain regions of the Himalayans.

Religion in these states varies strongly: some have been strongly missionized (as bad as this is!), there are three mostly Christian states: Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram. Influences here are Baptist.

If you think about going to any of these states, bring enough time and do some thinking about what kind of standard you can handle. I talk about factors of development of a county: availability of power, running water, transportation, streets, hygiene etc.

What is different in the East Compared to Other States?

The short answer is: much, basically everything. People are much more relaxed, life is more quite and calm. We were left alone, nobody followed us, nobody yelled after us, you don’t get cheated at in every corner, there were no “feelable” resentments against Whites.
There were in total fewer tourists, you are not trapped in these enormous masses of people. People seem friendly and, as a foreign guest welcome you without prejudice.

I was rarely photographed without asking (only once), nobody followed me and a very rare and outstanding thing: no men were talking to me, asking for my contact number, nobody touched me, annoyed or molested me. I, a white woman, was left alone. I have not had that anywhere in India, not even Goa.

I cannot guarantee anything for single women travelers but, I have felt save. Everything I have experienced was 100% positive; I have not though this was possible in India. You always need to be careful but I have always felt safe.

Not only women travelers have an easier life her: we could agree faster with Rikscha drivers, shopping was easier, the prices they charges were ok (of course always a bit higher for Whites, but not three times the regular amount). The bazaar had fixed prices, for me these prices were fine.

And: It’s much cleaner than in most parts of India. That came as a total surprise, I was not expecting it at all. Much less trash on the streets.

On a political level there are always some turmoils and separation movements. I find so many warnings about this online. I have seen very little of that. I think, at that point, as a visitor from Europe you have very little problems. , it’s more a domestic issue.

The Northeast was a positive surprise to me, I was not expecting this at all.

Der Beitrag India’s Northeast: the Seven Sisters erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

How do these Root Bridges Come to Life?

Root Bridges grow from the roots of the rubber fig tree (ficus elsatica). Jainta and Khasi Art (both southern Meghalaya tribals) make these roots grow into a natural bridge to cross the river. Due to their organic material, these bridges get more solid and stable over the years. These bridges are able to maintain themselves for centuries if circumstances are right. Altogether a very fascinating process that shows how to live in unity with nature in a way only indigenous peoples are able to.

Ritymen Root Bridge in Tyrna bei Cherapunjee

There are several root bridges in and around Cherapunjee and in the Jainta Mountains. We visited the Ritymen Root Bridge.

You can reach Ritymen Root Bridge from the little village Tyrna from Cherapunjee (12 km, 30 min). We stayed in a hotel in Cherapunjee and like that reaching Tyrna was easy. You can also go there from the more popular Shillong (ca. 2 ½ hours). But you need a driver, you are far from all the big cities and should not rely on public transportation.

At first comes the Ritymen Root Bridge. If you continue descending, you reach a double root bridge called Umshiang Double Decker Bridge. Double means there are two natural bridges with on top of each other.

Descending the Ritymen Root Bridge

A sign at the entrance says “3 km to Double Bridge”. That is a bit of an understatement, it means 3 km of stairs. The descend is exhausting, we only walked to the first bridge, the single Ritymen Bridge.

Descending these stairs is still doable. We were there with a larger group of people, most of them athletes and fit. We had to walk down hundreds of stairs and that made all our thigh muscles shiver. But that was still ok.

There is a local tour guide who walks the group downstairs. At the entrance they rent bamboo sticks. Makes sense, of course there is no handrails at the stairs.

There are several smaller buildings every now and then that also sell beverages. Locals charge a small fee to see the bridge, 10 Rupees per person, 10 more for every camera. Close to nothing, even if they make you pay for every camera and phone you carry. Altogether it would still be less than 1 Euro (30 Rs about 45 cents).

Bridge and River With a Natural Pool

After a long, you finally reach the bridge with crystal clear water below where you can either swim or enjoy the sun while sitting on a rock. Swimming is only for men, I would discourage women from swimming here.

If you feel strong and energetic enough, you can continue your route to the double bridge. I cannot tell you anything about this. We were in a group of 9, nobody wanted to walk any further. The links at the bottom provide some more information about that.

Ascending From the Bridge

What stopped us from moving was the ascend that was waiting for us. We already had a 2000 steps descend, it’s supposedly another 1500 step to the double bridge.

I consider myself fit above average, I work out regularly and think I can do quite an amount of walking. There were marathon runners, football players and other athletes in our group. Yet, the way back was hard for all of us. It’s a steady 2000 steps ascend. It takes a long time and is exhausting. On the way back, we met several untrained but wealthy Indian families that had huge problems to walk back. Some of them were visibly suffering, looking quite unfortunate and only continued walking because there was no choice.

Our tour guide praised our fitness, said we were better in walking upstairs than the Indian tourists. How seriously you have to take this is another matter. Yet, you should know what you are getting into.

View from the Stairs and the Region’s Climate

In particular during descend,the view of the valley and the mountain is great: pristine nature that is indeed green and clean everywhere, for India very unusual.
The region is rather wet, Cherapunjee is called the “Wettest Place on Earth” (sometimes refered to as “Scottland of the East”).

It’s wetter and cooler than in the rest of India. Many Indians call it cold, but that’s a relative thing. To me, it still felt like summer, in particular around midday it was really warm. All those many steps don’t make it any better. It’s warm and the sun is burning. Definitely bring sunscreen and something to cover your head. We did not have any rain during our three days in Cherapunjee. Even the grass was partly brown and visibly dry.

How To Reach and Some Final Remarks

The root bridges are a spectacular play of nature, something totally different and new. The surrounding nature is nice, pristine, green and clean. All of this shows a very different face of India than the one in the big cities. Definitely worth a trip!

You reach Meghalaya from Assam. The best option is to fly from Delhi to Guwahati and take a driver from there (ca. 160 km, 5 hours). There are also public busses. From Guwahati, spend the night either in Shillong or Cherapunjee and make a day trip to the root bridges. We left it up to the drive how to reach the bridge that was the easiest way.

As usually in the Northeast, you are off the main tourist routes. Some Indians from other states spend their holidays here. We have not seen any other Europeans. Everything is relaxed, people are friendly and open. They let you be and don’t annoy you.

You can buy beverages everywhere, even Coke and other sweet sugar sodas. Yet, I would take a bottle of water just to be sure. But that is all you need, you don’t need to carry a bagpack full of water bottles with you.

Der Beitrag Root Bridges in Cherapunjee (Sohra) in Meghalaya’s South erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

Sikkim: A Federal State With No Airport But Extra Visa

At the moment, Sikkim is rather remote. There is no Sikkim airport it can only be reached from Bagdhora in Bengal. A Sikkim airport is currently under construction (Pakgong Airport) is supposed to open soon.Foreigners need and extra visa, called “Extra Permit” in addition to the standard Indian visa to enter the state.

Sikkim is situated at the foot of the third-highest mountain in the world, the Kanchejunga (8586 m). One half of Kanchenjunga belongs to Sikkim (in the Northwest) the other half to Nepal. You find many different valleys there, some of them in larger heights even snow-covered. But all of them are largely undeveloped, mostly even totally untouched, pristine nature, large parts of the area are forested. Flora and Fauna from the Himalayan outskirts can be found everywhere. Subtropical plants from the lower areas of Sikkim and alpine plants from the higher regions exist in close distance. There are also some alpine animals like bears and leopards.

For Indian standards, Sikkim is very sparsely populated: only 600,000 people live here (for comparison: Delhi ca. 19 million, Mumbai ca. 18 million).

West-Sikkim: Pelling and Kanchenjunga

Pelling is on 1900 meters and is, from a tourist point of view, the second most important town in Sikkim. Tourism here booms, there are many hotels in Pelling: Pelling is mainly a long stretch of hotels. All of them have a great view to the Kanchejunga: if weather permits, you can see the sunrise at the mountain. You don’t need to go anywhere, just make sure you have a hotel with a great view.

More information about Pelling can be found in this article.

A very beautiful monastery is the Khecheopari Monastery and its lake which is sacred for both Hindus and Buddhist. Khecheopari is another 30 km from Pelling but you need 1 ½ hours.

This monastery and its lake were my Sikkim highlight. The building was so colorful, so shining; the monks were welcoming us so warmly and friendly.

More information about the monastery can be found in this article.

Yuksom: Starting Point For Hiking Tours But Also End Point for Road Connections

From Khechopari, it’s 30 km till Yuksom, a little village and the end of theroad in West-Sikkim. On the way to Yuksom, you drive by a waterfall called Kanchenjunga Waterfall (30 km 1 ½ hours). Yuksom is a little village, a base camp for extended hiking tours in Sikkim. Another interesting spot is the Dubdi Monastery, Sikkim’s oldest monastery, 600 meters from Sikkim but without a road connection.

The big Himalaya hiking and climbing tours usually start in Yuksom. Two popular routes are the one to Zongri (4000 meters) and the one to Gochela Pass (5000 meters). But you need another permit to do hiking in the North, the Sikkim Extra Permit is not enough. You should anyways not do the tours on your own but rather take a local guide from a travel agency with you.

A day trip could be the Tashdiding Trek, a hiking tour from Yuksom via Honri Gompa, Tashiding Village (2150 meters).

Pilgrim Routes Along the Buddhist Monasteries

Right next to Pelling (opposite direction to Yuksom) you can find the Sanga Choling Monastery (10 km, 30 min) and the Pemayangtse Monastery (10 km, 30 min) and right next to it the Rabdentse Ruins.

All theses monasteries make a popular pilgrim route (Sanga Choling, Pemayangste, Khecheopari and the only one that cannot be reached by car Tashiding).

Driving to Pelling Without Bridges and Tunnels

To see all of these places you need at least 2 days. Reaching Pelling already takes a while. To see everything you need 2 days (or 1.5 days with a late afternoon return trip) plus some extra time for hiking from Yuksom.

Driving is in general rather slow, as mentioned above you need 30 Minutes to do 10 km. Yet, it is stunningly beautiful. There are no bridges or tunnels, the streets are mainly serpentines at the mountain. This makes driving more difficult but Sikkim’s pristine nature more beautiful.

Gangtok – Capital in the East of the State

Gangtok is the biggest and most important city of Sikkim and can now even be reached by helicopter from Bagdhora. From Pelling it’s 130 km to Gangtok (5 ½ hours) from Darjeeling to Gangtok it’s 100 km (3 ½ hours). Gangtok has strict rules when it comes to trash (“no littering”) and smoking (Non-smoking city). An interesting spot is the Hanuman Tok (11 km, 35 min) a Hindu Monastery and Rumtek (18 km, 55 min), a Buddhist Monastery.
Gangtok is of interest for everyone who wants to go further north: you can find all kinds of travel agencies here who focus on hiking tours. Here, you can also organize all extra permits for hiking tours, travel agencies sometimes even do that for you.

In Gangtok in the eastern part of Sikkim, streets reach much further north than in Pelling. There is a street to Lachung and the Yumtang Valley (120 km, 4 ½ hours). Yumtang is the valley of flowers with 24 different kinds of rhodododendron and many more plants. In Yumtang Vallley, you have already reached North-Sikkim, you cannot travel any further north.

Sikkim – Pelling , Gangtok and Yuksom: Where Should I Go?

You can use the two towns Pelling and Gangtok as a reference point. Both of them are starting points to see several things. Pelling is a bit nicer, Sikkim Tourism suggests Pelling. Here, you can get closer to the high mountain, even as an amateur and with no real climbing to the top. For an average tourist like me, this is already a big adventure: not even Pelling and Gangtok are that easily reachable.

Hiking and climbing tours to bigger heights can be started from Yuksom. You reach Yuksom via Pelling. Agencies and Extra Permits can best be organized in Gangtok.

Border-Crossing to Sikkim: Melli and Rangpo – Information About the Extra Permit

There are two border crossing points to Sikkim: Melli and Rangpo. You can get the Extra Permit at both these stations. When we did it that was easy: you need to fill out a form, you need a xerox (=copy) of your passport , 1 – 2 passport pics and the passport gets checked and stamped. All of that worked quite well and can be compared to the immigration process to another country. But you definitely need to consider it and don’t forget it. We Europeans tend to forget about borders and visas quickly. They also asked us how long we are planning to stay. The thing I read everywhere is that everything up to 14 days is not a problem, I don’t know what happens if you want to stay longer (for example for bigger hiking tours).

Traveling With Your Own Driver

There are busses and jeeps as Sikkim’s public transportation. You always find a way to move forward at the next stop. Anyways, this is a bit exhausting, takes a lot of time and you have to squeeze in a packed jeep.

It’s easier to take a driver and your own car. That is a bit more expensive but doable. We paid 25,000 Rupees for a trip from Bagdhora (to Darjeeling, Pelling, Kalimpong, 5 days) which is about 330 Euro. Drivers wait at Bagdhora Airport for tourists, there is a counter at the airport called “Sikkim Tourism” who organized all of that for us within a few minutes after landing. These things usually work quite well: we had to pay half of the money in the beginning and the second half when we were back at the airport. I would do that again. Driving on these bad roads is exhausting as it is; the driver was the right thing to do for us.

Der Beitrag Sikkim – the northern Buddhist Indian State at the Foot of the Himalaya erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

3 public entrances

The swamp expands to 180.000 hectares and is mostly protected. There are 3 entrances to the swamp – all three are located in Georgia: by Folkston in the East, in the South by Fargo and in the North by Waycross.

In the Stephen C. Foster State Park which is located south you can rent canoes, kayaks and motor boats, go fishing, enjoy a guided tour or go hiking. The Fargo Folkston entrances are used mainly by adventurers for canoe tours – there are several spots in the swamp to spend the night at.

Boat tour at Okefenokee Swamp Park

We visited Waycross, Georgia in November where the Okefenokee Swamp Park is located. Right at the entrance we had an encounter with a huge alligator which obviously enjoys to rest on a small island within a narrow channel left of the visitor parking lot. The visitor center provides information about the tours.

One of these tours is a boat tour with a small motor boat using the swamp’s water roads. We were lucky: due to a hurricane the previous  day, visitor load was very low, the park was basically empty. The tour guides has information about flora and fauna and tells stories about the park while we were travelling cozily in the channels of the park. Alligators are everywhere, quite likely right next to us. We saw some young alligators which were nurtured at the sides of the channels. We did not spot fully grown alligator during the tour.

The water tour stops once – at an observation tower reachable by a walk on a bridge. The tower is approximately 30 meters high and provides a stunning view over the vastness of the swamp and the high tree tops where many different bird species live. After 45 minutes the tour ends.

Train tour and animal encounters

As a second tour option is a ride on the small train with a little steam engine. The tour goes 1,5 miles through the park. The train drives very slowly – almost walking speed. It stops on a little island where an exhibition about the early settlements of the swamp is shown. It is a nice tour, although the first one is a little more spectacular. Maybe you should first do the train first tour and the boat tour after that.

Back at our starting point, the visitor center, we watched a 30 minute presentation in which animals of the swamp where shown. At least it is NOT some kind of circus thing – the animals (snakes, baby alligators e.g.) are just shown for a moment while some interesting facts about the species and life of these animals are given. Afterwards they go back into some boxes. We sa some baby alligators, very little ones that are only a few months old and slightly older ones that are still tiny. I asked where they come from an the answer was: 2 animals per year can be held in captivity for educational purposes.

Having this presentation at all and presenting these animals at all is debatable and maybe questionable. Of course it is interesting to learn about the animals of the swamp. But do you really need to see a living animal for demonstration purposes? The animals were looking fine, they did not seem to suffer (as far as I can judge). To me, this presentation is not a reason to boycott the park because they treated their animals respectfully. 2 alligators per year are arguable – there are also living alligators in zoos for example. The animals were not severely bothered during the presentation, so I can accept this (in other parks I have a different opinion).

During the train tour we could see some Christmas decoration. The typical Santa Claus Figures, reindeer, sleighs etc. where positioned near the tour. In the South it’s obviously only Christmas when some fancy decoration is arranged – just like the snow fits to Christmas in Germany. I personally don’t need to see that but it didn’t really bother me.

See also article on Atlanta

Atmosphere of the swamp

Remarkable in the swamp is the very dark prevailing mood. Despite of bright daylight everywhere else the water is almost black and you always expect some alligator beneath every water lily. The black color of the water comes from the many dead plants and derives from the fact that it is marsh land (“Blackwater River”). According to the tour guide a lot of water was evaporated during the summer – consequently, the level was too low. Because of that the water appeared even darker. The atmosphere of the Okefenokee Swamp is very unique, difficult to describe and capture in words. It is dark and mysterious – like from a louring fairy tale.

Organisation Tips

Due to the size of the swamp it is necessary to pick one entrance. It is not possible to drive to more than one entrance in a day. Within the swamp there are no roads, only waterstreets. A car doesn’t help here. By car, the only option is to travel the long distance around the swamp. In the swamp, only boat traveling is possible. Okefenokee is not really easily accessible. We traveled from Tallahassee but it takes around three hours till Waycross (150 Miles). In the South, distances are always long and that is something that has to be considered – we started to travel early that day so we reached early enough to spend enough time in the Okefenokee Swamp Park.

From Jacksonville, the swamp area is easier to reach by the North entrance in Folkston. But here it is best to rent a canoe and go paddling. That would be surely a great adventure but for us not the right thing for the first visit. I wouldn’t want to paddle and suddenly an alligator is swimming right next to me. Moreover the swamp is a huge maze consisting of water streets, moor, swamp, land and lagoons. I would have quite some problems to know where I am and I would defintely need a tour guide. But anyway, it would certainly be a great adventure to once do a canoe tour with someone who knows the area!

Der Beitrag Okefenokee Swamp at the Border of Georgia/Florida: A Blackwater River Swamp erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

Three Entrances to the park

The national park at the very southern end of Florida needs to be on every Florida travel route. In the Everglades, the ocean becomes land and land becomes ocean. This tropical wilderness between sea water and fresh water has created a special environment and a biodiversity with a vast variety of species.
The northern border of the park is highway 41, leading from Naples in the east to Miami in the west. There are three different entrances to the park; we have visited two of them. Both offer an entirely different program.
If you are lucky, you get to see manatees, alligators and crocodiles (since one of it prefers fresh water the other salt water, that is very rare), several water- and wading birds (e.g. cormorant and heron) and lots of countryside and nature. Information about current problems is available with focus on environmental destruction and invasive species and as well as information about its history of settlement.

Gulf Coast Visitor Center and 10,000 islands: Sea Water Area of the Everglades

It takes 1 hour (60 km) to drive from Naples to the Gulf Coast Visitor Center, the visitor center closest to Florida’s gulf coast. In terms of ecology, the national park is split into two parts: the first part is called 10,000 islands and describes the sea water part, hundreds of small and tiny islands in the ocean, a maze of water streets, mangroves, trees and tiny islands. The second part describes the fresh water part of the park. Here the ocean is no longer visible but has become a swamp area, already mainland but still full of water. The ranger lady stood in the water of the swamp waist-deep, all the fresh water pushes up from the ground.

The 10,000 islands – salt water part of the Everglades – are a colorful collection of mangroves and waterstreets that can only be explored by boat. To me it felt, as if I had already reached the ocean and was no longer on the mainland. Due to the sheer size and variety of the area, I would not have been able to find the right way without a tour guide. The visitor center offers a boat tour. If you are lucky, dolphins will be there. Birds will definitely be there and even if you are unlucky and do not see a single animal, the nature of the Everglades itself is worth the trip. It absolutely stunningly beautiful!

The visitor center can be reached on Highway 41 and Interstate 75. Just follow the signs that say “Everglades City”. Parking is available at the visitor center. The visitor center provides all information about tours and prices.

Shark Valley Visitor Center

The Shark Valley Visitor Center is located another 50 minutes (70 km) east (following highway 41). This entrance to the Everglades offers an entirely different face of the park: water has become mainland: a huge swap and even a paved road are there. This is the fresh water part of the park. Except from the street, it feels like being in a jungle. It is a wetland full of reed, swamp with water waist-high and alligators that live in fresh water.

The paved road is a leftover from the time before the area was protected as a national park. It’s nowadays used for guided tours by train (not on tracks but on wheels). In addition, there are two smaller hiking paths and bicycles for rent. We did the train tour which was lead by a ranger. The tour took us through the swamp area, was fully narrated and the ranger talked about flora and fauna. We saw birds and an alligator.

The Shark Valley Visitor Center can be reached via highway 41, approximately 1 3/4 hours (130 km) from Naples. Parking is available in front of the visitor center.

Recommendations and Information about Different Tour Options

A quick first thought could be: why would I want to visit the Everglades twice? The answer is simple: because you get to see two totally different areas. The 10,000 island are water with many little islands and Shark Valley is a swamp land where hiking is possible. The Everglades look entirely different in both cases.

Before I was there, I imagined the Everglades to be a swamp area – just about what I saw in Shark Valley. The 10,000 islands was something totally new to me.

The third entrance Flamingo Center is located at the southern end of the Everglades. We ran out of time and could do all three entrances in one day. The Flamingo entrance was simply too far away. If you rush from one place to the other, it might work but we wanted to have time. Flamingo entrance is the main entrance to the park (reachable via Florida Turnpike from Miami or Florida City from the Keys). Flamingo has a port, a café and a campground. I didn’t see it so I cannot say anything else.

Time wise, we could only do two entrances in a day. If you want to do the third, plan an extra day. Coming from Naples, Flamingo Center is a bit off the route and difficult to reach.

Manatees – Floridas Mascot and Symbol in the Park

The “mascot” of Florida is the manatee. It’s a large, brown mammal living in the water. Manatees prefer fresh water and very warm water, shallow water, water with very little salt and like living close to the coast. Manatees are good-natured and herbivores. That is why Florida is a perfect place for them. Unfortunately, they are an endangered species. They like the water streets of the Everglades very much. I didn’t see any of them on our tours. I guess they are easier to spot in a kayak and in a smaller group of people outside the main roads somewhere between the mangroves and the smaller water streets.

Airboat Tour? – An Option?

To me the answer is no. On highway 41, there are many offers about air boat tours. Their ads follow you all the way along highway 41. I read in a travel book that these airboats are too loud and upset various animals. Also, these boats are causing many problems to manatees in Florida. As described above, manatees live in shallow water close to the coast. That is why they tend to crash the airboats’ screws and propellers. Manatees are a bit slow that means they hear the airboats coming but are to slow to get away. Supposedly, most manatees in the Everglades have airboat scars on their skin. I don’t know if all of this is true, but it could be and that is enough to know for me. That is why I would not recommend an airboat tour.

I know, environmental conscience, protection and tourism is an issue itself. Anyways, I think we should always prefer anything that is offered officially from the national parks and its rangers. At least, this way the national park makes money and the national park’s purpose is to protect and maintain nature. Also, the tours in the national park and entrance fees to the park are rather low, compared to for example all the parks in Orlando.

Der Beitrag Everglades Nationalpark – A park at the Land/Sea Boundary erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

Monument Valley – Part of the Navajo Reservation in Utah and Arizona

The Monument Valley is a three-hour-drive from the Grand Canyon. It is located northeast, right at the Arizona state border in middle of the Navajo reservation. There is only one hotel in the valley: the View Hotel. Another option to spend the night is in Kajeta, a little village 20 minutes from Monument Valley. Kajenta does not offer much; it’s in the middle of nowhere. Don’t expect more than a place to stay for one night. Monument Valley can be combined with a ride to the Grand Canyon Nationalpark or the Arches Nationalpark in Utah. Both parks are about 3 hours from Monument Valley (Grand Canyon Southwest, Arches North).

We drove from Grand Canyon to Monument Valley after sunset when it was too dark to stay in Grand Canyon and reached Kayenta in the evening. He had a room in Kayenta for one night and went to Monument Valley the following morning to see the sunrise.

Sunrise at Monument Valley – Breakfast in The View Hotel

Early that day, we drove to Monument Valley on highway 163 to see the sunrise. Sunrise is a very special time in Monument Valley: the light emphasizes the red color of the rocks even more. It is a very good time to take beautiful pictures. A viewpoint for this is the place in front of the visitor center (you also find the View Hotel here). This spot offers an extraordinary view to the popular rock formations. The view you have here is the well-known perspective of the valley. Until here, it is easy to drive yourself. A proper, solid street leads to the visitor center. The hotel had a breakfast buffet. We were thinking it’s not worth asking, this place is super-exclusive and breakfast will cost more than 20 Dollars per person. But that was wrong, I’m glad we asked because the breakfast was only 10 Dollars. Having a breakfast here was the right thing to do: sitting at your table and enjoying the view was perfect after that sunrise. I would recommend doing that.

Monument Valley is located on a plateau, quite above sea level. That is why it can be cold in winter. On the pics you see in tiny bit of snow in the valley. Watching the sunrise was really cold, even though we had proper winter clothing. You will probably need a warm jacket here, unless you come in the summer months.

Driving on 27 km Unpaved Road – Monument Valley Road

The only way to continue your route and drive in the Valley is an unpaved road called Monument Valley Road that starts at the visitor center. Lonely Planet says this can be done in a standard passenger car. But I disagree, we tried it, it didn’t work. We did the first bend of the road, drove a bit further down a hill and a little further just straight. All in all, maybe 800 meters. This little part was enough for us to give up: the car bounces, we heard bumps and noises all the time, and potholes were everywhere. The ground was wet, muddy and plashy; you could only drive walking pace. We stopped because there was a huge puddle all the way across the road. We don’t know how much water it had but it definitely looked deep. We decided to not drive any further and not take any risk with our rental car. Maybe it would have been possible to drive cross that puddle, maybe we should have been driving faster while crossing those potholes. That’s difficult to say now. For us, it was too risky to damage our rental car.

The residents of the valley offer Jeep tours. There are different tour options available. All these jeeps drive faster and with much more routine and confidence through these potholes and all the mud. We could not have done it ourselves. Anyways, most likely they try to fill the jeep that means you will have to squeeze and share the car with other guests.

We were there in very low season (you can the snow on the pics). The valley had very few visitors. In and in front of the visitor center, there are many tour options and offers available. The shortest tour was offered for 80 bucks per person. None of us wanted to pay that much. We were a group of four: we would have to pay 80 dollar per person, not per jeep. After long and difficult negotiations, the price became much less. In the end, we paid 25 dollar per person. I doubt this would have worked the same way in the main season. When we were there, there were rarely any other tourists around. I think they decided to drive for little money instead of not driving at all.

Three Sisters, Totem Pole, the Thumb and John-Ford-Point

The tour itself was nice. It leads a bit further into the valley; you get to see many rock formations that are not visible from the hotel. I wasn’t sure if I’d be interested in the tour at all, in particular because I was supposed to pay 80 dollars. I have to say, it was worth doing the tour. You get to see the popular rock formations Three Sisters, Totem Pole, the Thumb and the John-Ford-Point. John-Ford-Point is a rock ledge that was used for many shots in John Ford’s movies but also Ford himself enjoyed standing there and watching larger scenes with many extras from there.

On the tour, several ladies sell jewellery, they say it’s authentic Indian jewellery. Necklaces and bracelets are pretty and not expensive (10 – 20 Dollar). You also get to see some Indian homes, even though these homes seem a bit artificial and made for tourists. In fact, all residents don’t live here but in different area that is not open to public.

At the John-Ford-Point you can take pictures with a rented horse at the rock ledge. I didn’t do that, that’s not my kind of thing. Horse lovers can also do an entire tour on a horse. I cannot say if that is good or not. I’m rather skeptical when it comes to using animals for touristic purposes.

When you do the longer guided tour, you see some places in the park that are only accessible with a tour guide. Because we had paid so little, of course they only did the short tour. To us, that was sufficient.

At the very end of that unpaved road, a little Opel Corsa came along. Somehow, these guys made it to the very end of that road. It don’t know how that was possible. The longer you drive along that road, the less standard cars you see. All the regular cars disappear one after another. At some point of the route, only Jeeps still drive along the road except that one Corsa.

Well-known because of it s many TV and film appearances

Monument Valley has appeared in many movies. The first movie the be shot there was Stagecoach with John Wayne, by John Ford. Ford made another nine movies in Monument Valley. Clint Eastwood’s The Eighter Section was also shot here, the Totem Pole appears prominently in this one.

Many famous scenes also play here: Forrest Gump ends his long run here, Tom Cruise climbs in the Mission Impossible II opening sequence, the Transformers Autobots reunite (Transformers: Age of Extinction). Many scenes with Jonny Depp in The Lone Ranger were filmed here. Just recently, HBO’s Westworld used Monument Valley as a filming location.
A very well-known campaign is the Marlboro campaign with the Marlboro cowboy. This was also made here. Many car ads are made here as well.

When you have visited Monument Valley, you recognize it in many films, ads and publications. Everyone has already seen Monument Valley somewhere. It’s the blueprint for all Wild West Impressions. It shows how we imagine the Wild West to be.

Suggestions and Ideas

Visiting the Monument Valley is highly recommendable. It’s the best place to take nice pics. I would not recommend doing a tour in a regular car. I think the road is simply too bad. A rental jeep would have worked. Or rental car (Dodge Grand Caravan) was not right. Maybe it’s possible to drive there yourself if you have offroad experience or are a very good driver. Anyways, we couldn’t.

The 80 Dollar-guided-tour is pricy, 80 would have been too much or us. I’m glad we bargained hard and got a better price, without the tour we would have missed a lot. Although the visitor center has a great view, it’s necessary to move further into the valley and see more rock formations.

The driver was a bit annoyed and not very motivated or friendly. Maybe that was because of the low price. The tour itself was ok, we saw all important rock formations and it took exactly as long as planned.

I would always do Monument Valley if I was in Grand Canyon. It requires an extra 2 days. Driving there, spending time there and continuing your route takes about 2 days (1 night). Half a day is enough for monument valley. If you are very enthusiastic about it, you can also camp there and hike.

Our next stop was Page in Arizona. This is where you find the Horseshoe Bend, Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon. Page is about 2 hours (200 km) from Monument Valley.

See also:

Article about the Horseshoe Bend

Der Beitrag Face of the Wild West: Monument Valley erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

Going there by Bryce Canyon, Highway 14 and Dixie National Forest

Bryce Canyon is northeast of Zion Nationalpark. A national forest is between these Utah’s two national parks (Dixie National Forest), you can either cross the forest or drive around it. The best route from Bryce to Zion is east of the forest on highway 89, highway 89A and highway 389 (via Carmel, Kanab, 2 hours, 140 km). A western route on interstate 15 is also possible (reachable on highways 89 and 20, 2 ½ hours, 230 km). There is a third option as well, a bit longer but more beautiful: you take highway 89 to reach Dixie National Forest, take highway 14 and cross the forest till Cedar City. It’s a very nice road, a scenic route but it takes a little more time (2 ½ hours, 211 km). The street can be closed in winter due to weather conditions (snow, icy roads or winds). We were there in December, Bryce Canyon was full of snow and night temperatures were below zero degrees. But we did not have any problems on that route, the street was fine. I would always recommend taking that route, it only takes a little more time and the scenic views and nature are very pretty.

Booking a Hotel in Springdale

Inside Zion NP, there is one motel called Zion Lodge. Camping is also available. We chose a cheaper option. All towns around the national parks have tourist facilities (Springdale, Rockville, Mt. Carmel Junction, Hurricane, St. George and Kanab). We stayed in Springdale right in front of the park’s main entrance. Springdale is rather artificial place, in the end only a very long street with hotels, restaurants, cafés, cinema and supermarkets. Calling this place a town is almost exaggerating. It’s very touristic and has no character. But it’s very good location compensates for all of that. You can see the mountains of the national park from there. Simply looking out looking out of the hotels window makes a great view and is a huge consolation for the artificial little town. A major plus is that you can reach the national park easily: you can either drive straight and park there or (if parking is not available) take the shuttle bus for all the hotel guests.

Zion Canyon Scenic Drive: a Scenic Tour on the Shuttle Bus

The shuttle bus system starts at the visitor center right behind the park entrance. You can either take the bus or go in your own car. The shuttle busses are free (basically included in the park entrance that you have to pay anyways). Restrictions apply on self-driving tours, you can only go east on Zion-Mount Carmel Highway).

The main route north, with all the main attractions is not open to private vehicles. Only guests of the Zion Lodge are allowed to go to the hotel in their own car. The shuttle bus stops 11 times on the route. You can get off and on as whenever you want. The busses come every few minutes; you don’t need to wait a long time. Information on stops, their hiking routes and how difficult these routes are (including distances and altitudes) is available in the visitor center.

Difficult Routes: Angel’s Landing, The Narrows and Kolob Arch

Angel’s Landing is the park’s most famous route. It’s a viewpoint on a rock on 1753 meters, to reach you need to pass a 450 meters change of elevation. We started hiking early in the morning (at 6 am with the first bus). We only met very ambitious hikers who we planning to do one of the difficult routes. Angel’s Landing is their absolute favorite one. The park’s list says it takes 4 hours (12 km back and forth). The most ambitious route leads along the Virgin River. You need to cross the river, walk in the river or swim in the river 60% of the time. In the end, your reward is The Narrows, a sandstone grot with natural pools and gardens. The Narrows leads through a canyon with big, sheer canyons walls. The river leaves no space for walking trails. You need an extra permit to hike here, because the river’s water level is unsteady. After 22.5 km you reach the Kolob Stone Arch, the largest stone arch.

Unfortunately, I have never done any of these difficult routes: it’s still an unfulfilled dream to me. I really hope I can come back one day for that. Even though, The Narrows will most likely be too challenging for me.

Easy Routes for Little Trips: Temple of Sinawa and Emerald Pool Trails

We only had time to do some easy routes. We took the shuttle bus to its very end, the Temple of Sinawa. That is a smaller hike, or rather walking tour along the river. It’s an easy walk and a good opportunity to dive into the park’s atmosphere. You walk along the river’s rocks and see how the rocks orange beautifully contrast the blue sky.

Emerald Pool Trails are several smaller hiking routes along the river close to the shuttle bus line (next to the Zion Lodge Motel). You can walk a few steps up and enjoy the view from a bit further up. You can take a walk without being far from the bus line; you can just go back to the previous bus stop.

Even though this description does not sound super spectacular, I would definitely recommend doing some smaller walking tours. These tours made me fall in love with the park and are the reason why I want to come back, bring more time and do one of the more difficult tours.

You do not need any special equipment or shoes. All you need is a pair of shoes you would use for a longer walking tour. There’s only one thing in summer: don’t underestimate that it’s hot.

Zion – Mount Carmel Highway: A Self-Drive-Tour and Canyon Overlook Trail (Scenic Route)

The eastern route of the park cannot be reached in a shuttle bus, you need your own car for that. (There is a tunnel on the route with certain restrictions for larger vehicles). But you won’t have any problems with a standard passenger car. The tunnel is very long, 1.8 km. Right after the tunnel, a good hiking path starts: the Canyon Overlook Trail. Zion NP calls the hike medium level (1 hour, 1.6 km). You can park right opposite on the other side of the street. First part of the route is a path after that you need to walk on several stones and bumps, the ground is uneven. I recommend comfortable shoes for that.

The route is in my opinion not difficult only uneven. At the final spot of the tour, you have an absolutely stunning view over the valley. After all the easy hikes on the first day, this was our first opportunity to see the rocks kind of from top. So far we only had a “from-bottom-to-top-view” and only walk “under” (at the foot of) these rocks. The highway has some more viewpoints to enjoy the view. It was very nice for us to walk in nature, not near the roads. You need to be a little fit to do the tour but it’s definitely doable without being totally exhausted.

Professional Climbers in the Rocks

We left very early in the morning, the bus was almost empty. As mentioned above, we only met ambitious hikers and climbers. We could still see the climbers in the mountains. They have their tents somewhere in the air and that is how they spent the night on the way up. The bus driver says climbers like to come to Zion NP. To me, it was the first time that I saw something like this “for real”.

The bus driver also said most accidents happen on the way to Angel’s Landing because tourists overestimate their skills. Climbers know very well what they can do and what they cannot do. We were there on a Gap Day, Thursday was a public holiday and we were in Zion NP the following Friday. I was very glad that we went to the park so early. The park got more crowed all day long. In the end, a long line of cars even waited at the park entrance. Even thought, the park is big enough for everyone and people don’t gather at one spot, the silence in the morning is unbeatable. Also, the bus driver was relaxed, in a good mood and talkative. He had quite some stories to tell.

Further attractions: Kolob Canyon and Lava Point

There are two more park entrances: Kolob Canyon Northwest and Lava Point/West Rim Road. Kolob Canyon also has a visitor center. Both entrances have more hiking tours and also guided horse tours.

A Shuttle Bus System at the Main Routes – Is that a Good Thing?

Indeed, I like the shuttle bus system. Some call it touristic; of course it is, without tourism, none of us would be there. To me, these shuttle bus systems make life easier for everyone. A self-drive-route is usually quite messy. The first driver has problems with the rental car, the second one has rented an RC and cannot drive it properly, the third ones drives slowly because someone wants to take a pic and the fourth one wants to leave quickly because he has already seen the area. This list could be continued much longer. To sum up: these shuttle busses make life easier for everyone, much less chaos and mess is everywhere. Getting on and off is not a problem at all, there is only very little waiting time and everyone in the group (including the driver) can enjoy the view. Traffic is much less, the only ones around are the shuttle busses. The drivers know the area; they don’t honk, don’t block the road and don’t take the wrong road. To me, the shuttle bus system is a good concept and has entirely convinced me.

Resume the Tour: I Want to Come Back

One of the things I want to do in the future is to come back here and do one of the difficult routes. I think I could easily pass an entire week in Zion NP. The nature is absolutely stunningly beautiful; climbing up these rocks must extraordinary. Our visit to the park was, in the end, only a starting point to do more. But now I definitely know that I like it there and that I want to come back. I hope I get the chance one day. To me, this is the most beautiful national park in the US (only, I have not done some of the very famous one, in particular Yosemite NP. I cannot say if Yosemite would be better).

Der Beitrag Zion Nationalpark: The Most Beautiful Place in Utah erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Where It Is and How It’s Called

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is in Tennessee and North Carolina, the closest town is Knoxville, Tn. You can best reach the Great Smoky Mountains from the two cities Atlanta and Charlotte. From Atlanta, it’s a 3-hour-drive (260 km, Interstate 85, Highway 23 and 441). There are two smaller villages close to the park: Cherokee (at the park’s main entrance) and Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg (west of the park). Both have many hotel options available. Highway 441 goes through the park from Cherokee to Gatlinburg.

Great Smoky Mountains is the official name, but the forest is most commonly called Smokies. The name comes from the fact that the view is in general bad: because of high humidity, large parts of the mountain are covered in smoky clouds.

Booking a Hotel in Cherokee: Harrrah’s Cherokee Casino

We stayed in Cherokee, east of the park. Cherokee is a little village, basically a transit place to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Quality Inn Hotel was, as expected, good and cheap. We were totally surprised to see a casino right on the opposite side of the road. Not a small casino, but a huge hotel called Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, a hotel with restaurants, buffets and of course gambling: a huge complex right in the middle of nowhere. According to Wikipedia, the hotel has 1108 rooms. It’s the only place in Cherokee that serves alcohol. I was expecting to find a hotel that size in Las Vegas but not in Cherokee, a little village with a bit over 2000 residents.

Clingman’s Dome

The Smokies is one of the very few national parks in the US that is free (that means you don’t have to pay admission fee). The forest is very important for environmental protection and even became UNESCO world heritage in the 1980s. For this, the very old parts of the forest (that have existed even before the European settlers came) are particularly important. Highest peak of the forest is Clingman’s Dome (2015 m). You can walk there on a paved, solid path. It’s only a few hundred meters from the parking space but it’s quite a climb and not totally easy. You don’t need to be a professional climber for that it’s only a steeply rising walking lane. There is an observation tower at the peak that can be reached on a long, winding bridge. The bridge made me a bit dizzy but I’m uncomfortable with heights anyways. You can indeed reach the tower easily by just walking there.

Chimney Top Trail and Newfound Gap

We also walked along Chimney Top Trail. We wanted to do a short hike that is doable in regular running shoes and anyways leaves the regular, paved roads. We did not walk until the very end, the Chimney Top. On this hike, you get to see a forest, nature and a little creek. Signs are everywhere, the hiking path is easy to find. The visitor center has free maps that describe exactly where all the hikes lead, how long and how difficult these hikes are. That is always very helpful. We always try to find easy hikes with no climbing. We also reasonaly long because we usually don’t have time to hike 10 or 12 miles per day.

Newfound Gap is right next to highway 441 and is good spot to stop for the view. Gap refers to a low point between the mountains that connects one mountain to the other. The ecosystem changes a lot here, even temperature and weather can change within short distance.

Cades Cove

Cades Cove is an area in the far northeast of the park (in the Tennessee part, 57 miles from Cherokee). Cades Cove was the center of early settlement: a well isolated, green valley with meadows and grass. The valley still has some leftovers from the early settlers: a Methodist church, a Baptist church, an old wooden house, a mill and a little creek. The best way to see the valley and all the remaining buildings is to drive the Cades Cove Loop Road. It’s an 11-miles-one-way-loop-road (20 km). You drive very slowly and can stop whenever you see something interesting. You can also rent a bicycle and do the loop on the bike.

Cades Cove is the main attraction of the Smokies and attracts most visitors. It’s always busy. You drive the loop in a bit of a chain. That mean you just follow the car in front of you. If you are on the loop, there is no way to turn around and go back, you can only do the entire loop. The valley is very beautiful the early settlers have indeed chosen a very nice place to stay. The visitor center is half way on the loop, next to the mill.

We made a mistake and took the loop twice. The GPS gave us some wrong information. The GPS lead us to an exit that was indeed a 20 mile unpaved road. When we saw that, we were already on the loop and had to finish it a second time. You definitely need to plan enough time for that loop, you cannot drive fast at all. You need at least 2 hours (better 3, to have time to stop).

The official park website says the GPS is wrong in the park. We did not know that and made that mistake. Some advice: get a map from the visitor center and use that map instead.

There are many more hikes, paths and camping shacks in the park.

Some Advice and General Information

We liked the park. At the beginning, you get to see a huge are of forest. It looks a bit like the Black Forest. Yet, in the US things are always bigger. Same counts for the Smokies.
We liked the combination we did: a viewpoint, hiking in the forest and seeing the valley of an early settlement. I would also recommend doing something like that. The national park has many faces. Besides Clingman’s Dome, there are many more viewpoints like Rich Mountain Road which has a great view of the Cades Cove Valley or Abraham’s Creek. Newfound Gap is easy to reach, right at highway 441. Cades Cove is not the only valley; a second valley is called Cataloochee Valley. There are two waterfalls called Deep Creek and the Damm in Fontana. There are many hiking paths here, you should pick the one you do according to time, motivation, and fitness level. It’s definitely recommendable to leave your car and do at least some walking.

In the Smokies, I asked myself quite some times: where is the forest line? There is still heavy coniferous forest in Clingman’s Dome on 2000 meters. I always thought, the forest stops somewhere at around 2000 meters? I don’t know much about that, maybe someone can answer that.

I think, without a car, it’s very difficult to do the Smokies. We drove along 441 in one day (including a tunnel right through a mountain) and did some viewpoints, hiking and Newfound Gap. The following day, we did Cades Cove and its loop and left the park on the west (heading to Nashville). Going back and forth makes little sense because of the sheer size of the park. It’s better to make a plan about how these routes fit together.

Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton is from here. People here are obviously proud of here. Dolly Parton ads and gifts are everywhere, also pics and CDs. Pigeon Forge has a Dolly Parton amusement area, which we did not visit. The movie Serena (2014) with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper plays in the Great Smoky Mountains but was shot somewhere else.

Asheville: Biltmore Estate

Biltmore estate in Asheville is one hour from Cherokee. It’s America’s largest private home, a huge Renaissance-styled mansion from the late 19th century. I really wanted to go there but because of the jetlag, we were all extremely tired in the evening and did not do it. I still regret that! Now, I would definitely drive that one hour to Asheville to see the Biltmore Estate.

Der Beitrag The Great Smoky Mountains: a Forest covering an Extensive Area of More than 200,000 Hectares erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.