• 1. Where to Stay
• 2. Where to Eat
• 3. What to Do
• 4. Insider’s Tip
• 5. An Oddball Day

(Photo: Courtesy of LeConte Lodge)

There is, in fact, one hotel of sorts inside the Smokies—the hike-in-only LeConte Lodge (from $64) is a primitive cluster of cabins perched on one of highest summits in the park. The lodge is typically booked well in advance, but try your luck with the open lottery form online. If you can’t score a cabin, you can at least check out the scenery. Five routes lead to LeConte—Rainbow Falls trail is an mild one that sports an 80-foot-high falls at the 2.6-mile mark. Picnic on the eastern side of the property overlooking the Cumberland Mountains, or rest up in the rocking chairs on the lodge porch. If you’re lucky, the pack llamas will be hauling food and supplies that day. On the way down, the Alum Cave Trail provides a steep continuity of thrills. There’s a vast view of the Smokies at Inspiration Point, two miles down.

Published on Apr 16, 2008 as a web exclusive.