Grotto Falls and Our First Smokey Mountain Fall!

Part of our drive through Wears Valley. Adam and I at Grotto Falls.

(You can actually walk behind them!)

Me on the "wrong" trail.

Adam and I on the trail.

Adam on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.

Since the weather report promised a beautiful day, we decided to make the most of it today! I got up early (ie 6:30am....on Sunday), made rounds at the hospital, went home and quickly changed into church clothes and grabbed Adam, went to church, came back home and changed again, had a quick lunch at Sonic, and headed out to Gatlinburg. We decided to try the Roaring Fork Motor Nature trail driving route to enjoy the fall leaves. Off of this road is the Grotto Falls trail, which we decided to hike. (We also hiked for about a mile to discover that we were on the wrong trail...then drove to the correct one!) The hike to the falls was 2.8 miles round trip (plus that "wasted" mile) with a 560 ft elevation gain. Overall, we didn't see any animals but the falls were really beautiful! We then went back into Gatlinburg and had dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, which we both agreed was highly overpriced and over-rated! We then made a relaxing drive home through Wears Valley. Overall, it was a fabulous day full of beauty. Unfortunately the photos just don't do the mountains justice...they were amazing!