When you fly into the Great Smoky Mountains region, you’ll find there’s almost no end of things to do. With more than 850 miles of official trails in the national park that shares the region’s name—and many more outside the park’s boundaries—it’s a hiking, mountain biking, and camping haven. A more sedate way to experience the area is to travel the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway. One of the nation’s most scenic drives, the parkway’s southern gateway starts in the Smoky Mountains and offers unparalleled views that you can enjoy from the comfort of your vehicle—or aloft from your airplane as you follow along from a respectful altitude (2,000 feet agl over national parks in the U.S.).
For a more thrilling drive on terra firma and an interesting view from the air, travel the 11-mile stretch of U.S. Route 129 called the Tail of the Dragon. Aptly named, the two-lane road carves a jagged path between the Great Smoky Mountains and the Cherokee National Forest near Deals Gap, North Carolina, and gives motorcyclists and sports car enthusiasts 318 curves to navigate—uninterrupted by intersections or structures.
