One of the best places to camp and hike in the Great Smokies. This spot was close to Cold Mountain both where they shot parts of the movie and the actual namesake. This grassy knob opened up on both sides and runs North to South so you have an completely wide open view of the mountains on both sides and sunrises and sunsets are spectacular.
On this particular trip, my wife and I (this was before kids) had hiked in about 12 miles and at least 2000 feet straight up with all our gear. After making a loop over to see the sunset we retreated back here for dinner and crashed. At about 4am, we woke up to thunder and wind howling around and through the tent. I quickly got up and got all our gear into the tent in case it rained and then tried to go back to sleep, but the wind was too much and I eventually got up to watch the storm. It passed by us without one drop and I never even saw any lightning. But the sunset that followed it was magnificent. We have made other trips to this area and every time we go it is an adventure. Hope you enjoy. 🙂
All images creative commons/ non-commercial.
