I spent two days hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains and will share my experiences on three trails, including their difficulty levels and my top recommendation for what to do if you have limited time in the park.

If you've been following me for a while, you know that I usually write about things I love or recommend places to visit. This post, however, is not one of those. I really disliked my time in Pigeon Forge, and while Gatlinburg was slightly better, it wasn't great either.

Cades Cove is the number one place to see black bears. During my three days there, I saw over 12 bears, including many baby bears and a male bear trying to go after a mom and her cubs to kill the cubs! If you don’t know, male bears will try to kill the cubs to force the female bear back into heat.