Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Gatlinburg Trail

Mom and Dad T are in town for Easter. With beautiful weather we decided to head over to the Smokies (again) for a nice family hike on the Gatlinburg Trail. We parked at the Sugarlands Visitor Center, checked out some of the exhibits inside and then started out on the trail which initially was more of a road walk. We checked out an interesting cemetery

behind the administrative offices and closely followed a stream.

We saw some dwarf crested iris in bloom,

along with lots of yellow trillium.

Sierra seemed to enjoy riding in her backpack as usual.

As we made our way closer to Gatlinburg, we saw a few signs of former habitations in the form of stairs
and chimneys.

We crossed the stream on a bridge

and took a short side trip to the official park entrance sign where we posed for a family photo.

We then hiked to the park boundary

where Sierra ate a snack on a rock.

After Sierra's snack we retraced our steps on the trail back to the visitor center.