I have been having some trouble planning around these few days because of the crowd, any suggestions would be helpful.

We’ll be driving from Knoxville on October 24 and staying in Pigeon Forge until the evening of October 27. I’ve been having trouble planning our itinerary around the crowds, so I’d really appreciate any suggestions!

Below is our tentative plan—please let me know if you’d recommend changing the order to avoid the crowd especially on Saturday and Sunday.

Oct 24 (Saturday)

Time: It will be around 12pm/1pm by the time we reach Gatlinburg/Sugarland Visitor center.

• Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail (Near Gatlinburg) OR
• Anakeesta OR
• scenic drive to Cherokee

Oct 25 (Sunday)

• Newfound Gap and scenic overlooks
• Kuwohi tower trail
• Alum cave trailhead.
• If we are not able to do the scenic drive to Oconaluftee/Cherokee on Saturday, thinking about doing it on Sunday Late afternoon. (Planning to avoid the Cades Cove during weekends)

OCT 26 (Monday)

• Cades Cove early morning
• Trails and spots along the way
• Foothills Parkway

OCT 27 (Tuesday)

• Revisit either Cades Cove or Kuwohi before heading back to Knoxville by 4pm. OR
• Cataloochee Valley with Cove Creek Road.
• Head back to Knoxville for the flight

Taking my fiancée to Gatlinburg in mid December. We are both first timers so have been researching but don’t know a ton about the area. The main trails we’ve looked into are:

- Charlies Bunion
- Alum Cave to Mount LeConte
- Rainbow Falls
- Grotto Falls
- Chimney Tops

We are both in pretty good shape but don’t have much experience hiking and are concerned about the cold/wind/ice. Should any of these be avoided that late into the year if we aren’t used to these types of conditions? The only long trails (8 miles +) that we’ve looked at are alum cave and Charlies bunion. Any advice or other trails to look in to would be greatly appreciated.