Bryson City, NC

[kimberly]

My hubby and I are headed to Bryson City. Any suggestions for sunrise and sunset shots? Or anything else that would be interesting.

We are also going to do some day hiking but we will have our dog with us so any suggestion there would also be great.

Thanks! Kim

[epayne]

Hi Kim,

I have never been to Bryson City so I am no help on the sunrise and sunsets. Hopefully someone else will chime in with some info on that.

But I have read and seen a PBS special on the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad that offers rides through the area.

http://www.gsmr.com/

I would put it on my list to consider, especially this time of year with the fall colors. I do see you will have your canine companion along so I don't know how that would impact the train.

Edgar Payne
Charlotte Region

[tomdills]

Kim -

There are probably some good "secret" sunrise/sunset locations in the Bryson City area but I've not been to any of them. Whenever I'm in that area and looking for sunrise or sunset I head into the main part of the Smokies, like Clingman's Dome, Luftee Overlook or Morton Overlook.

Whenever I'm in the Bryson City area there are two places I head. Well, three as I'll explain, but only two for photography.

(1) Deep Creek Section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This area has trails leading to three nice waterfalls and some very nice forest areas. Check here (http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/deepcreek.htm) for details.

(2) Road to Nowhere. This is a 6-mile scenic drive in a part of the park that was partially developed in the 1940s with the development of Fontana Lake. There is a dead-end road leading to a tunnel that you can walk through. It's truly off the beaten path but is worth a visit. A Google search pulled up a number of websites, here (http://www.westernncattractions.com/roadto.htm) is one.

Lastly - and I obviously need to take Edgar here - no trip to Bryson City is complete without a visit to Pasqualino's Italian Restaurant. They don't seem to have a website but you can find some information here (http://www.greatsmokies.com/Pasqualinos/).

[kimberly]

Thanks Edgar and Tom- We did no a section of the Road to Nowhere. It was beautiful! Also spent a little time hiking around Deep Creek. No dogs allowed on those trails but we did hike one without him. Will post some photos soon. Colors were not changing alot yet but there were not alot of people so we really enjoyed it. As much as I would love to see the colors this week, I would not change the timing. It was wonderful to be able to drive on the parkway and not be stuck in traffic or surrounded by people.