If there’s a heaven, I’m convinced it sounds like a babbling stream in the Smoky Mountains and tastes like the water from their many natural springs. I had plenty of both over the long weekend, which is why I am a day behind my normal deadline.

I spent our semiquincentennial camping at Smokemont on the North Carolina side of our national park; because there are no limits to what a good man will do to spare a beloved border collie in his twilight years from the holy terror of fireworks. Good ole Trooper’s ears still perk up, though, when he hears “go for a ride,” “swimming” and “camping.”

We haven’t been on a camping trip since the “before times” in 2019. The decision was made to go with tents: climbing in and out of the camper being a bit much for arthritic hind legs. Words of advice for my fellow sexagenarians: do a practice run with your tents beforehand and get the bougie self-inflating air mattress, the 18-inch model. You don’t need to be sleeping on the ground. Also, take half the food you think you need, lean heavy into non-perishables, and keep the menu hassle-free. I don’t go to the mountains to chop vegetables and do dishes. This is car camping, not survival in the back country.

Though I have been over the mountains to Oconaluftee and into Cherokee many times, I have never camped at Smokemont. It’s always been Elkmont or Cades Cove. From Knoxville, the drive is roughly two hours, depending on which route you take and how heavy traffic is. Our operating rule of thumb is no matter where we are going in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, we don’t go there driving through Pigeon Forge. Especially not on the Friday of Fourth of July weekend.

It’s amazing how the traffic is cut in half once you cross through Newfound Gap into NC heading over 441. You really don’t see that much util you get down the mountain into the Oconaluftee Valley close to the visitor’s center. As Cades Cove gets overrun with crowds hoping to get a glimpse of a bear, people come into that side of the park to have a gander at the elk that migrated over from the Cataloochee Valley. And some can act just as stupid about it. Yes, mind the speed limit, slow down when you see elk near the road and stop if they’re in the road. But do not come to a sudden stop on 441 just because you saw one.

Smokemont or Lufty Baptist Church (Photo: Beth Kinnane)

The Smokemont Campground was originally a camp for the Civilian Conservation Corps during the development national park, which was authorized 100 years ago. Before the creation of the park, the area was managed and logged to the brink by the Champion Fibre Company. There was a railroad, mill, company store, hotel, school, commissary and other infrastructure to support operations and the hundreds of workers it took to strip the mountains of their ancient timber. Before that it was known as Bradleytown, named for an early settler of the area, Thomas Bradley, for whom the Bradley Fork that runs through the campground was also named.

The Baptist church up the hill across from the bridge that brings you into Smokemont predates the logging company days by decades. It is marked on the campground map as Smokemont Baptist Church, but the signage says Lufty, a nickname for Oconaluftee. Oconaluftee is the English interpretation of the Cherokee word Egwanulti which means “by the river.” It was first noted in English by the naturalist William Bartram when he was in the area prior to the American Revolution. The Cherokee (who were having a multi-tribe powwow on Saturday) consider the Oconaluftee River to be sacred. After spending several nights sleeping by it, I can understand why.

Source: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Beth Kinnane writes a history feature for KnoxTNToday.com. It’s published each Tuesday and is one of our best-read features.

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