Great Smoky Mountains: Elkmont Historic District Tour

Travel back in time to the Wild East of the First American frontier on a guided tour of the Great Smoky Mountains. Hear stories of rebellious mountaineers, early logging communities, and runaway trains as you explore the historic Elkmont area in a heated Pink Jeep.

Depart from Pigeon Forge and enjoy a scenic drive through Wears Valley, up Cove Mountain past the enchanting views of Metcalf Bottoms, to the Elkmont Historic District. Take a guided interpretive walk through the newly renovated cabins at Daisy Town. Visit the Appalachian Club and site of the Wonderland Hotel. See Mt. Le Conte from the Gatlinburg Scenic Overlook.

Walk in the footsteps of the first pioneers who settled the Smokies and built the vacation resort that gave rise to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As you travel along Wears Valley Road, your local certified adventure guide will share the history of the Great Indian Warpath and Samuel Wear.

Climb Cove Mountain to Metcalf Bottoms, where the self-sufficient Walker Sisters were among the last holdouts living in the national park. Winding along Little River Gorge Road in a custom, heated Jeep® Wrangler, hear the story of Colonel Townsend, who snapped up the homesteaders' land and introduced the mountain folk to a whole ‘nother world…logging timber. In 1901, he launched the Little River Railroad and Lumber Company and industrialism hit the hollers like a runaway train. Elkmont logging camps evolved, pioneers flourished, and hunting clubs sprang up and became vacation resorts for early travelers.

Your guide will lead an interpretive walk through the Elkmont Historic District. Tour the newly restored cabins at Daisy Town, home to the private Appalachian Clubhouse where Smoky Mountain tourism and the national park idea were born. Visit the site of the Wonderland Hotel and hear of its evolution from a public hotel to a private club and back.

During this tour, you'll meet a variety of characters and family clans along the way…the Wears, Townsends, Walkers, Ownbys, Trenthams and more: Levi Trentham, an early pioneer turned hunting guide and “Prophet of the Smokies;” Anne and Willis Davis, the First Family of GSMNP, who championed the cause to create the Park; and legendary wilderness guide, Wiley Oakley, “the Roamin' Man of the Mountains” born at the base of Mt. LeConte.

A stop at the Gatlinburg Scenic Overlook offers time to reflect on your journey through centuries past and the abandoned “Lost Town of the Smokies,” while snapping photos of the rolling hills and Mt. Le Conte behind the town of Gatlinburg.

Your tour ends with a hand-gripping, 4x4 off-road adventure on a private Bear Track course.