Where to Play, Eat, and Stay in the ‘Peaceful Side of the Smokies’

As I clambered up the riverbank, sketches in hand, I realized that so-called slow travel isn’t passive; it’s immersive, as much — if not more so — than high-adrenaline adventure. And slow travel isn’t simply sightseeing. It’s being.

The most biodiverse national park in the United States, Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddles the Appalachians — one of the world’s oldest mountain ranges — and offers an unusually unmediated connection to the rhythms of the natural world.

Although it’s the most visited park in the National Park System, with more than 11.5 million annual visitors, Great Smoky Mountains sees most of its traffic from the North Carolina side of its two-state territory. Without the crowds, visitors to the “peaceful side of the Smokies,” as the region is known, can experience a landscape softened by time and full of life. (Officially, the “Peaceful Side of the Smokies” is the slogan for Townsend, a city in East Tennessee that’s home to one of Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s entrances.)

That sense of stillness extends beyond the park boundaries into the Upper Cumberland of Middle Tennessee, where the endlessly rolling forests of the Smokies unfurl into pennants of pastureland crisscrossed by limestone canyons. Together with the slow pace of Southern small-town living, there’s no better place in the Southeast to slow down and unplug.

I’m not ordinarily a slow traveler. And yet it’s people like me who need it the most, to reset both our bodies and our understanding of what the world can offer.

Where to reset in Middle and East Tennessee

Explore Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Photo: Aaron Theisen

A naturalist from the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont led my journaling session in the park. The environmental education center’s name is known to generations of schoolchildren in the Southeast for its field program, but adults can nourish their connection to the natural world there, too.

Lying close to the shaded banks of the Little River just inside the park boundaries, the Tremont Institute provides a variety of experiential learning programs, from photography camps to naturalist-led backpacking trips. Day-trippers can stop at the visitor center to chat with a naturalist and get recommendations for hikes, several of which depart from the visitor center parking lot.

Experience small-town Tennessee

Photo: Aaron Theisen

Nashville and Knoxville, the mid-sized metropolitan centers of Middle and East Tennessee, respectively, exude Southern hospitality. But it’s the small towns that line the region’s byways that truly invite visitors to slow down.

Slowing down in Maryville, just outside of Knoxville, looks like a leisurely stroll, where the quiet alleys and patios linking its historic buildings beg for exploration. Check out J. Danforth Mercantile, a general store and vinegar-bar apothecary with an expansive selection of housewares. Dandy Lions Gifts occupies an old library building, with apparel and gifts filling the airy interior.

Flanked by the limestone cliffs of the Little River, which flows out of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Townsend serves as the entry portal to the quiet side of the Smokies. It’s the place to gear up before a day in the park and decompress after. The best place to wind down: Company Distilling. Co-founder Jeff Arnett — who spent nearly 20 years at Jack Daniel’s (and more than a decade as Master Distiller) before striking off on his own — respects Tennessee’s whiskey traditions while experimenting with aging processes using native hardwoods. Sip a maple-finished straight bourbon whiskey while lounging on the shaded lawn on the shore of the Little River.

Halfway between Nashville and Knoxville, Cookeville has a cosmopolitan college-town charm. Brick storefronts and old billboards abound. Reminiscent of my past visits to Tennessee, the locals of Cookeville were quick to kindle a kinship: whether over a tray of butter twists in Ralph’s Donut Shop, a bag of bespoke-blend herbal teas at Synergy Herbal Works, or locally grown cut flowers at Glass Tangerine, the proprietors made time to strike up a genial conversation.

Kayak to Burgess Falls

Photos: Aaron Theisen

In the early 20th century, to improve access to electricity throughout the region, the Tennessee Valley Authority created numerous reservoirs along the Tennessee River Valley. Today, the state’s lakes have a powerful pull of their own for recreationists.

We took in the expanse of one of the state’s largest bodies of water on a kayak tour to Burgess Falls, led by a guide from Canoe the Caney. An hour-long paddle through the slow-flowing current of the Caney Fork River where it pours into Center Hill Lake accesses the falls, where Falling Water River plunges nearly 140 feet into a limestone gorge. Hiking on the rocky shores of the river led us to the base of the cascades, and there, with the falls thundering in my ears and a gentle mist stippling my skin, I felt the true power of these Tennessee waterways.

Where to eat and drink in the Smokies and Upper Cumberland

The Restaurant at RT Lodge. Photo: Aaron Theisen

Some of the country’s original farm-to-table dining, Appalachian cuisine celebrates the remarkable diversity of the Southeast’s field and forage. And it’s having a moment, highlighted by the Michelin Guide in 2025 issuing its inaugural American South selections.

At Maryville’s Restaurant at RT Lodge, recognized in the inaugural Michelin American South selection, Executive Chef Trevor Stockton draws on his family’s farming roots to curate a sensitive yet contemporary take on Southern farmhouse favorites. The menu shifts with the seasons, highlighting local growers and long-cherished techniques in pickling and preserving. On a recent menu, pickled oyster mushrooms and house-made chimichurri crunch elevated an already succulent Painted Hills prime skirt steak, while horseradish trout roe spiced up a crispy hash brown the size of a butter dish.

Dancing Bear Appalachian Bistro. Photo: Aaron Theisen

In Townsend, Dancing Bear Appalachian Bistro showcases the cozy Southern comfort foods of Appalachia: corn, smoked meats, brined veggies. Executive Chef Jeff Carter elevates corn from staple to showstopper, and it stands out on the menu, from hushpuppies to the award-winning, goes-with-everything cornbread. The benne seed bacon, meanwhile, balances sweet and savory and will disappear quickly off the charcuterie board. A long, languid supper watching the setting sun in the smoke of a campfire feels timeless.

Housed in a historic building in Cookeville’s charming WestSide District, World Foods serves up a menu influenced by a century-old Brooklyn deli with a focus on pizza and a generous side of Southern hospitality. The pizza crust, with its perfect combination of chewy and oven-char, anchors a menu of classic and creative topping combinations. Your best bet: one of the pies that features the deli’s in-house smoked and shaved meats.

Where to stay in the Smokies and Upper Cumberland

RT Lodge. Photo: Aaron Theisen

For nature lovers and those looking to unplug, the best lodging in the Smokies and Upper Cumberland provides an elevated — sometimes quite literally — reimagining of camp life, blurring the boundary between indoors and out.

Set among the forest and historic buildings of Maryville College, RT Lodge has classic country-lodge style that honors its century-old roots as a retreat for a school benefactor. You can unwind with a massage and sauna at the Carriage House Spa at RT Lodge; stroll the soft woodland paths that crisscross the 140-acre Maryville Woods Stewardship Forest, home to more than 75 wildlife species; or simply sit in a rocking chair by the lodge’s pond and soak in the serenity.

Situated in the narrow, forested gorge that serves as the Townsend entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Little Arrow Outdoor Resort is an ideal basecamp for both the park and its periphery. The cozy tiny homes sleep four comfortably, with plenty of space to stretch out on the covered porch — or, better yet, get the lay of the land on the resort’s half-mile hiking trail to a viewpoint of the Little River Valley.

Your Glamping Adventure at Five Meadows Farms. Photo: Aaron Theisen

Set on a wooded plateau overlooking Center Hill Lake, the tree tents and glamping domes of Your Glamping Adventure at Five Meadows Farms combine boutique and backcountry. The glamping domes, with their panoramic windows, give an unfiltered view of their natural surroundings. Doze off to bird calls and the chirrup of crickets under the golden forest canopy and wake up with coffee in a private hot tub.

The resort can also host yoga and sound bath sessions led by a local practitioner. At our session — as our sound bath practitioner padded around our yoga mats, singing bowls ringing — I heard my surroundings in stereophonic clarity; in the span of seconds, birdsong moved from the level of background chatter to engaging conversation as the background noise of the modern world melted away. Diane, our practitioner, had led us through restorative yoga poses to prime us for the sound bath. But more than anything, it was our time in the buzzing and chirping woodlands of Tennessee that had prepared us.

Getting to and around Middle and East Tennessee

Photo: Aaron Theisen

Maryville and Townsend are located south of Knoxville and are a 15- and 45-minute drive from McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS), respectively. Cookeville lies roughly halfway between Knoxville and Nashville, less than three hours west; travelers focusing on Middle Tennessee may wish to fly in and out of Nashville International Airport (BNA).

The best way to get around the region is to rent a car. Note that Knoxville and East Tennessee lie in the Eastern Time Zone, whereas Nashville and Middle Tennessee lie in the Central Time Zone, so check your flight times in relation to your local time carefully.