Best fall drives to see the fall colors in the Smokies: Foothills Parkway

As each day passes the best fall colors are in smaller and smaller pockets such as the Foothills Parkway west starting just outside of Townsend on 321 which ends at US 129 which becomes the famous Tail of the Dragon.

Right now the best fall colors and long vistas of color in the Great Smoky Mountains are found on the Foothills parkway. This 14 mile stretch of beautiful roadway has little traffic, stunning overlooks and a short hiking trail with a stunning view.

This is one of the few places that is under national park control that you can look out at a spectacular long range vista of cities and towns all the way out past Knoxville.

The picture above was taken yesterday of one of the long vistas looking out over Maryville and beyond. There are 3 great pull offs on the right hand side of the Foothills parkway that all have spectacular views - stunning at night too!

The fall colors along the Foothills Parkway vary from bright glowing yellows to deeper gold and tans along with bright and deep reds. Some of the flame oaks are now showing off crimson red and deep maroons in pockets and slowly tuning brown.

Watch as you drive by the colorful fall leaves on the side of the road or there is a stiff wind and the leaves flutter like snowflakes. Take advantage of the pulls off to the right that look out over the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

At about 9.5 miles in there is a large pull off with an observation area near the parking lot as well as the trail head for the Look Rock observation tower.

The tower is little more than a 1/2 mile in on a small paved easy hiking trail that takes you through wooded area. Most of the leaves here on the nature trail have fallen but there is still color to be found.

The forest floor here has some pretty large builders and old rotting logs covered in dark green moss with light green lichen. These look beautiful against the browns, tans and yellows of the leaves on the forest floor.

Before you reach the Look Rock Observation Tower you will pass by 2 buildings that are fenced off. There building contain weather and air monitoring equipment to keep track of the air quality which is increasing being assaulted by ozone mostly from coal burning power plants and automobile exhaust.

The Look Rock Tower is a modern concrete structure and you ascend 2 ramps without stairs to get to the observation area up top.

As you walk up the ramps you are ascending up into the canopy of the trees to get your birds eye view at the top. keep your eyes out for squirrels racing around and jumping from branch to branch knocking down the fall leaves.

The view at the top of Look Rock is fantastic and the mountain right across as seen in this picture was glowing with reds and maroons as well as some of the valleys.

Up here you have a 360 degree view and when the visibility is good you can see all the way out to the Cumberland Plateau and across way into the Great Smoky Mountains national park and the of the beautiful fall colors.

Less than 1/2 an hour away from all this beauty you will find more than 150 top rated cabin rentals in the Smokies.