We rested a spell at this little 72-site park tucked up against some hills near town and apparently a creek… down the hill and across the street. We stayed at Mill Creek Resort and Campground a week as Stop #8 of Road Trip 2017, arriving on June 27 and departing July 3, 2017. Plenty of time to do some exploring!
We thought the sites were a bit tight together here (and this was when we were still using our travel trailer!) and there were a lot of trees, but it was a convenient location due to a trolley that stops by the campground to take you into Pigeon Forge.
As for the campground, this was the first time we had encountered (or at least noticed) a significant number of long-term sites. But remember – at this point, we were still only less than a month into our travels so we were still relatively inexperienced in the RV lifestyle.
Here’s the view from our site. We’re at the the top of a hill and can see over the tips of the other RVs… until we get neighbors in front of us but 2 nights in and so far so good. Of course that can change daily.
GoT anyone? Not quite the same but I was imagining tree talk… or maybe there was too much moonshine when I took this photo! There were definitely lots of trees here. More than I prefer now as a seasoned RVer.
Pigeon Forge
The drive through town was something else. It’s even more over the top than Vegas if you ask me. I didn’t think that was possible!
But there’s plenty to do here. Including wine tasting and dining and there are parts of town that are beautiful. This part shown below is the Old Mill District.
Gatlinburg
You can even transfer to take another trolley from Pigeon Forge to Gatlinburg. The flowers along the river when you arrive are beautiful.
While there, we rode the Skylift which allowed us to see the devastation of the November 2016 fires. And we got stuck on the lift for about 10 minutes. It was a nice view, but my fear of heights did not add to my enjoyment of the experience. So I took a picture to try to alleviate my anxiety by doing something rather than just sit.
It’s a loooooong way down. I was pondering the logistics of a rescue operation if we never get moving again.
Oh, look–moonshine sampling next door at Sugarlands Distilling Company… this girl needs sumpin’ after that skylift!
This place was primo in service and experience! Absolutely my favorite stop of the day (and the fact that it was right after my anxiety attack on the Skylift in no way influenced my opinion!)
After lunch, we visited Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery. This place has interesting whiskeys, but no pizzazz in the tasting experience. Nonetheless, we procured provisions.
We sampled the various wines available for tasting around town as well. We stopped in at Sugarland Cellars and tried the flavor flight and cheese/truffles tasting. We liked some of the wines here, but the service was not the best on this visit. And the presentation of the cheese leaves something to be desired. (We revisited in 2018 and 2019 and had better experiences but did not partake of the cheese or truffles.)
There were purchases made throughout the day, however. It was “interesting” to bring this haul back via trolley.
Muscadine wine was a new experience.
Smoky Mountains
Of course, a drive into the Smoky Mountains is easy from here! We spent one afternoon on horseback at the nearby Sugarland Stables.
We also took a nice drive through the Smoky Mountains National Park. Here’s Maloney Point. There are a lot of overlooks along the drive and each one has its own special beauty. We love this part of the USA!
In addition to overlooks of the mountain views, there are plenty of places to pull over to admire the water flowing by.
Another day we went hiking. Here is Laurel Falls which is a relatively easy 1.3 miles (one way) hike.
Cade’s Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains park had a bear sighting which caused quite a traffic jam. Hard to see the bear though! By the way, Cade’s Cove is quite popular, so consider getting an early start.
We definitely had a lot of fun in this area and there’s still so much more to do. So we came back in 2018 and 2019, although we stayed in another location for those road trips.
For 2017, we continued on from Pigeon Forge to visit friends in Virginia for the Fourth of July and then we went to Shenandoah Hills Campground for a few days.
