Spring Break in Gatlinburg

This year's Spring Break fell in March, so the Gulf Coast was still pretty chilly. Because of this, my friends and I decided to embrace the cold weather and travel north, to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, for our week off of school.

We booked a cabin on VRBO and spent the week hiking, horseback riding, and exploring during the day, and cooking, chatting in the hot tub, and enjoying the beautiful scenery at night.

Saturday

On Saturday we left Baton Rouge. We took two cars and had three people to a car - so we rotated drivers about every two-three hours and it worked great! As a southern girl who's used to pretty flat scenery, watching the hills and mountains get bigger as we drove was incredible, and so beautiful!

We arrived at our cabin in Sevierville late Saturday night (after only some minor confusion as to the location of the cabin), unpacked, and got some much needed rest.

Sunday

Today was probably our most relaxing day. We started the morning off at Pancake Pantry and had the most incredible brunch. (This place is well worth the wait, and I highly recommend the blueberry pancakes!)

After we ate, we walked around for a bit, before starting on the Rocky Top Wine Trail. This is a wine tour of the five wineries in a twelve mile area around Gatlinburg, and I absolutely recommend it (if you're of age and have a designated driver, of course!). Each stop gave us free wine tastings and a few of them even offered tours to show how they made the wine. It was so much fun to figure out all of our favorite wines, while exploring the area and learning a lot!

Monday

On Monday we visited Ober Gatlinburg, which is an amusement park and ski area in Gatlinburg. We were excited about the wide variety of activities the park offered, so we planned to spend the whole day there. We soon realized that it was a pretty popular tourist destination (which can be a good or bad thing depending on what you enjoy doing when you travel) and many of the things we wanted to do were not in season. Once we purchased tickets (and waited in some long lines), we took the aerial tramway up to the top and (after buying more tickets) ended up going though the wildlife encounter and rode the scenic chairlift.

Taking the chairlift up to the top of the mountain was our favorite thing to do at Ober. We were able to see the most incredible views of the nearby mountain ranges and take some great pictures

Tuesday

This was by far the most memorable day of our trip!

We decided the night before that we were going to hike the Chimney Tops Trail, because it's only 3.8 miles - which, we thought, was nothing compared to our usual 4-mile trail around the LSU Lake in Baton Rouge. We noticed, but didn't pay much attention to the note on the website stating that many hikers don't even reach the top because it is such a steep trail.

The hike started out leisurely and fun. We were taking pictures and playing in the snow that had fallen the night before...and then the trail curved and it immediately became so steep! Plus, because it had snowed, the ground was frozen solid. Imagine climbing up a 75-degree angle ice skating rink. We were slipping and sliding down the trail, but eventually got past the icy part. The rest of the trail had stars built into it, so we easily made it to the top. The views at the top of the trail were absolutely breathtaking and that made the hard climb worth it.

Our trip down the mountain was almost more exciting and exhilarating than the climb up. The trail was so slippery, that we ended up basically skiing and sliding down the mountain in our tennis shoes, instead of walking, but when we finally reached the bottom, we were soaking wet and exhausted.

After our hike, we drove to the nearby Sugarlands Riding Stables to go horseback riding in the mountains. The wait was a little long, but we didn't mind because it gave us a chance to rest after our hike. This ended up being one of my favorite things to do on our trip. I absolutely love horseback riding, and being able to ride though the mountain trail was such a cool experience.

Wednesday

We spent Wednesday exploring the local shops in Gatlinburg. We stumbled upon the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum, a jam shop, and a yarn shop - where the owner had just finished baking a loaf of homemade bread and she sold it to us.

We tried to go tubing or whitewater rafting today, but it was during the off-season and the river wasn't high enough - so keep that in mind if you plan a trip to Gatlinburg and want to experience water adventures.

Thursday

Thursday was our last day in Gatlinburg. We tried out another, much less intense hiking trial and got to see a couple of waterfalls and beautiful streams. We ended the day with dinner in Gatlinburg and playing board games in our cabin.

Friday

On Friday we started our long drive back to Baton Rouge. We were sad to leave, but happy that we were able to spend a couple of days in such an incredible place.

I highly recommend that everyone take a trip to Gatlinburg. I can't wait to go back!

Have you been to Gatlinburg and have any recommendations for my next visit? Let me know in the comments below!