I live twenty minutes from the Smokies, so I get asked about fall color every year like I am the official spokesman for leaves. Fine. Here is the local version.
Peak color in the higher elevations usually hits mid to late October. The valleys follow a week or two later. If you come the first weekend of October expecting peak color at Cades Cove, you will be photographing green trees and disappointment.
Where to go. The Blue Ridge Parkway around sunrise, before the crowds. Cades Cove early on a weekday, and I mean early, like the gate opening early. The Foothills Parkway for the big overlook views without the Newfound Gap traffic jam.
Where to avoid. Gatlinburg on a Saturday in October. I am serious. You will spend four hours in traffic looking at the back of somebody’s SUV. Pigeon Forge too. The mountains are beautiful. The parkway into the mountains on a fall weekend is a parking lot with gift shops.
Go on a Tuesday. Thank me later.
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