Activities For Your Smoky Mountain Vacation

The Smoky Mountains, in East Tennessee, attracts millions of visitors each year and it's no inexpressive as to why they come in droves. The Smoky Mountains contribute many reasons for travelers to visit. The scenery is spectacularly beautiful, the atmosphere is laid back, there are tons of natural and manufactured attractions and activities, and there is lodging galore.

Any visit to the Smoky Mountains, regardless of the season, must include sight seeing. The mountains contribute some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. Snow-capped mountain peaks in the winter and the colorful foliage in the fall are sights to behold. Summer hiking allows visitors to view remote waterfalls and panoramic views. Hiking is not the only way to take in the views. There are plenty of sights that can be viewed from the relax of an automobile. Cades Cove is an 11 mile, one-way road that allows visitors to view wildlife such as deer, bears, foxes and more. Foothills Parkway winds along the top of Chilhowee Mountain, providing amazing views of the Smokies. Winterfest transforms Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg into a sea of lights where millions of Christmas lights and decorations line the streets and buildings.

California Sky Diving

The great thing about vacationing in the Smoky Mountains is that there are no deadlines, no manifestos, and no to-do lists. The atmosphere is laid back and peaceful. Visitors can move at their own pace, either fast or slow. Sit all day on the front porch sipping coffee or hike a mountain trail. Take a relaxing ride down a quiet stream on an inner tube or take a brisk bike ride straight through the woods. Attend an evening show in Pigeon Forge or turn in early, it's up to you. Life in the Smoky Mountains follows your lead.

There are plenty of entertainment venues in the Smokies. The streets of Gatlinburg are lined with stores, restaurants, museums, and other attractions. Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies, Guinness World of Records Museum, Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum, and the 342-foot high Space Needle are just a few of the attractions in uptown Gatlinburg. Take a tram ride up the mountain and you can visit Ober Gatlinburg ski resort where you can snow ski, ice skate, and more. Take a zipline tour straight through the treetops at Gatlinburg Zipline Adventures.

Pigeon Forge is home to DollyWood and Splash Country, amusement parks owned by country music super star Dolly Parton. There are also activities such as go-carts, bungee jumping, petite golf, laser tag, indoor skydiving, arcades, and much more. Pigeon Forge is also illustrious for its shopping. It has some facility outlet malls as well as shopping centers and craft stores. Entertainment is plentiful with music, comedy, magic, and evening meal shows playing in theaters that line the streets of Pigeon Forge. Museums, restaurants, hotels and custom centers are also abundant.

There are lots of activities for nature lovers as well in the Smoky Mountains. Hiking trails saturate the Smokies and take you to some of the most favorite locales, like Mt. LeConte, Abrams Falls, and more. Fly fishing, tubing, swimming are favorite summer activities in many of the streams and rivers that rove straight through the mountains. Camping is also a favorite past time. Large campgrounds are numerous, as well as the smaller, off-the-beaten-path sites. The truly brave can hike deep into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and set up camp in the middle of the wilderness.

Lodging is always abundant in the Smoky Mountains. Bed and breakfast inns are always a favorite, as well as rental cabins. But there are plenty of hotels and resorts too. Chalets and condos are popular. There are even timeshares in the area. Those that like to rough it can find Rv parks and campgrounds.

With the number of activities, attractions, and beautiful locations, it is no wonder why the Smoky Mountains is one of the most favorite vacation spots in the Eastern United States. Come and check it out for yourself and you'll agree.

Activities For Your Smoky Mountain Vacation

10 Mountain Biking Facts You Didn't Know

As far as whatever can remember, riding a bicycle has been part of everyone's childhood. Remember that first time you had a go on one; it felt like a mountain of an achievement. Now that you have the power and the limbs for a more enhanced kind of cycling, that mountain is now indeed a part of it. It is an entirely separate kind of adventure as you traverse through involving trails and breeze through paramount and involving nature preserves. But where did this favorite sport come from? Who are the individuals that have attributed to the sport's popularity? Here are 10 facts to captivate your interest.

The history of this extreme sport goes way back to 1970 in California, Usa. It was on Mount Tamalpais that made that mark of being the origin of mountain biking. Founding fathers of this sport were considered to be Joe Breeze, Gary Fisher, Keith Bontrager, Charlie Cunningham and Tom Ritchie. Using coaster brakes on converted cruisers, the first prototype of mountain bikes were all downhill purposed. Meaning they never rode their bikes uphill, they had to transport them up to the beginning point and ride them downhill. These 5 individuals had to improvise a lot, things such as installing balloon tires that could adapt to any road conditions, and repacking improvised coaster brakes with grease because they had the tendency to overheat. Later on these 5 founding fathers additional industrialized the bikes and opened a shop. Bart Jen Brentjens of the Netherlands won the first mountain biking event at the Atlanta Olympics. The separate variations of the sport are; cross country, winter downhill, free ride, durableness and extreme. These separate disciplines of mountain biking furnish a wide variety and possibilities to tailor fit an activity to a riders specific adventure and adrenalin rush requirements. In 1995 downhill was introduced to the first ever extreme Games. In 1997 during the Winter X-Games, it was also one of the featured extreme sports. Braking in this sport requires the use of your head. No it doesn't indeed "use your head" per se. It means that braking is a skill that is industrialized through the proper knowledge of techniques that are applied to the art of safe stopping, and braking to avoid crashes and other potential risky scenarios. The International Mountain Bicycling connection (Imba). A non-profit club that was formed in 1988 is an advocate in the enhancement and preservation of trails for bikers all over the world. To date, Imba is affiliated with associations worldwide with Australia having one of the most memberships. Ibma educates on trail care, trail building and planning. It has been one of the most dependable sources of trail recreation. The World's highest Trans Himalayan Mountain Bike Race is held in the Tibetan part of Mount Everest which has an altitude of 17,160ft. The longest mountain bike race in the world was a ride from Canada to Mexico. With 2700 miles over the continental divide in the Rockies. Sam Hill, an Australian pro mountain biker (downhill competition) is the youngest Australian to ever win a world championship title. He won his first championship title at the age of 16 coming third at the Vail World Championships in 2001.

California Sky Diving

10 Mountain Biking Facts You Didn't Know