Glamping in the Smoky Mountains

Of course, you may ask What Exactly Is Glamping. It’s considered to be Glamorous Camping. Where present-day luxuries meet dazzling and spectacular nature. It’s especially popular with modern day tourists that seek the luxuries of accommodations that can be found in hotels but, want to be outdoors in nature without all the hard work, hassle and dirt. It’s for the person who wants to be in nature but, to be honest, don’t want to rough it.

Glamping in not a new concept. In the 16th century, a Scottish earl set up lavish tents and stocked them with food and wine from his own palace. In 1520, over 2,500 tents were set up with fountains of red wine  for a summit with Henry Vlll of England and Francis l of France. At approximately in the same time frame, the Ottomans had palatial tents moved from one military encounter to another. In the 1920s, an African safari was what wealthy Americans and Britons did for their vacations.

As you can see, glamping combines both the luxuries of yesterday and the hi tech amenities of today. There are many different structures that are used for glamping. You can vacation in a treehouse in a forest, enjoy sunrise from a yurt on a mountaintop, there are cabins, lodges, tipis, and of course tents. There are barns and farmhouses, airstreams and trailers, domes and eco-domes, private villas, wagons and shepherd huts, and many unique glamping experiences such as, caves, ice hotels, planes, and trains. There is little that can’t be experienced as glamping.

 There are glamping accommodations that have king-sized beds and a full bathroom with a flushing toilet, hot shower and a sink in your tent. All you need to take with you is your suitcase full of your personal items. Everything else is provided for you. Some glamping experiences even provide all your meals. There are hiking excursions, fishing trips, wildlife viewing, biking, kayaking, and so much more. You just have to search for the type of experience you are looking for.

 One such company that is providing the glamping experience in the USA is undercanvas.com. they are situated near seven major US national parks and attractions: the Grand Canyon, Moab, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, Zion National Park

and now the Great Smoky Mountains.

 I’m thinking autumn is the perfect time to go glamping in the Smokies. You can go ziplining, hiking, view the wildlife, hike up to Clingman’s Dome, white water rafting, and enjoy the beautiful fall colors. You will be only minutes from the most visited national park, the Great Smoky Mountain National Park with all it has to offer. There are no accommodations in the area quite like it!

In the years before it became Dollywood, it was first owned by the Robbins brothers from North Carolina. In early 1961, it was a small tourist attraction with a steam train, a general store, a saloon, and a blacksmith shop. It was called Rebel Railroad with a theme influenced by the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. The train riders encountered attacks by blue-coated Union soldiers, train robbers, and Indians. The train and riders were defended by the brave Confederate soldiers who fought off the various attackers.

 The year 1964 brought about a name change for the Rebel Railroad. It became Goldrush Junction and with minor modifications, it brought up images of gold prospectors and claim jumpers. Away went the days of sitting under a large Magnolia tree sipping on mint juleps. This time the bad guys were plundering Indians and disreputable gold thieves. After Goldrush Junction purchased half of the flume ride that was at the ’64-’65 New York World’s Fair, it became a bigger attraction than it ever had as the Rebel Railroad. It was destined to become bigger than anyone had imagined.

After the death of one of the Robbins brothers in 1970, the park was sold to Art Modell, who was also the owner of the Cleveland Browns football team!! Art owned the park for a few years and added a few attractions. Then, in 1976, the Brown’s interest was bought out by Jack and Pete Herschend. The brothers poured about $1,000,000 into the park renaming it Silver Dollar City as a sister park to the one they already had in Branson, Missouri. Jack and Pete didn’t set out to buy an existing theme park. But, after researching the area and learning that they couldn’t put up a sign pointing the way out of Gatlinburg to the apple orchard they were considering, they discovered Goldrush Junction was for sale. They bought the Goldrush because they thought a big buyer might buy that property and they’d have major competition on a main road.

 Ten years later, Dolly Parton, who had grown up in the area, appeared on a Barbara Walters tv show and said she was going to build a park somewhere in the Smoky Mountain and call it Dollywood. So, now Jack and Pete were faced with the idea of an even bigger competitor. To avoid that from happening, they came up with a proposal that would make Dolly part owner of Silver Dollar City and a name change. She took them up on their offer and in May 1986 Silver Dollar City became Dollywood.

And as they say, the rest is history.

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