If You Don't Do Anything Else In The Smokies...

Every year over nine million people visit the Smokey Mountain National Park every year. Over 275,000 overnight campers and over 400,000 annual hikers trek the trails in the park. Yet only a handful of people know of arguably the best sunset view in the whole park. About six or seven years ago I came across this spot. The Heintooga Overlook will not disappoint.

It is easy to be sucked into the popular locations within the park. If you follow the road up to Balsam Campground in the South Eastern part of the park, you will find what I'm calling the best view in the Smoky Mountains. Follow the road past the campground about half a mile and you will find yourself in a dead end of sorts. Not even a quarter of a mile down the Flat Creek Trail you will stumble across two benches and a clearing in the forest. The benches face west where you can see the sun kiss the mountains goodnight before turning the sky violent shades of red, pink, and orange. The purple mountains majesty loom ominously in the background giving you the perfect sunset. 

At the busiest of times, I have seen up to ten people at the Heintooga lookout. We swap stories of adventures that day and suggest hikes people should go on. Though we may not know each other nor maybe ever see each other again, for at least an hour, we are one enjoying the show nature is displaying for us. Nature has that way with people. It breaks down barriers and builds relationships with all kinds of people. And yet, there are times when it is just myself at this lookout. The mountains and I say our farewells until we see each other again in the morning.

"Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction." 

-E.O. Wilson