Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks

Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains are sister national parks in the eastern US. Shenandoah was the first US national park I visited, and I visited it at least four times during the five years as it was only 70 miles away from where I lived. We had a department field trip there; I took my friends there, etc. The best time to see Shenandoah is fall. Great Smoky Mountains is pretty similar to Shenandoah, in part because they are both parts of the Appalachian Mountain chain. We visited the Great Smoky Mountains as a Chinese group with six people. We rented a full size van, and it was about eight hours to drive there. We stayed in a cabin. In the daytime, we drove and hiked in the park; at night, we enjoyed hot pot and hot tub, and played cards, etc. Wonderful experiences.

This was taken during my first visit to Shenandoah, which started my national park journey.

Shenandoah in fall.

Luray Cave in Shenandoah.

Shenandoah panarama.

Shenandoah in winter. I guess not many people would visit Shenandoah in winter. I got a chance to go there because a friend visited me and he wanted to see Shenandoah. It felt very different in winter.

In the forest of Great Smoky Mountains.

A lake in the Great Smoky area. We stayed in a cabin by the lake.

Great Smoky = Shenandoah + smoke.

View from the Chimney Top. Climbing the Chimney Top was exciting!

Woods in Great Smoky.