Foothills Parkway: our five-minute drive to the best sunset in the Smokies

This is the drive we take when we have one free hour and want everyone to remember it. Five minutes after leaving the house the road starts to climb, the trees open up, and suddenly you are looking down on ridge after ridge, fading from deep green to soft blue to almost white.

My husband has chased light all over this country, from Galveston sunsets over the water to fall color in the Northeast. The first evening we drove the Parkway, he pulled into an overlook, set up his tripod, and then just stood there without taking a single picture. Our three-year-old stood next to him with his hands on his hips, copying him exactly. That is the photo I took, and it is framed in our hallway.

What makes this road special

The Foothills Parkway is a scenic road managed by the National Park Service. The section from Wears Valley to Walland is about 16 miles long and only opened in November 2018, after decades of work on a stretch locals called the "Missing Link." There are no billboards, no gas stations and no stoplights. Just pull-offs, each one framing a different view.

On one side, the Great Smoky Mountains roll south toward North Carolina. On the other, the Tennessee Valley stretches out flat and far. On clear evenings you can watch the sun go down over the valley while the mountains behind you turn pink.

Up there, nobody checks a phone. The view simply does not leave room for it.

How we do it with kids

• Leave about an hour before sunset. That gives you time for three or four overlooks before the light goes.
• Pick two favorite overlooks and stay a while. Hopping out at every pull-off loses little ones fast. We let the boys choose the first one, and we choose the last.
• Pack dinner. A blanket on the overlook wall, a bag of sandwiches and a thermos of hot chocolate is the most beautiful five-star meal in Tennessee.
• Bring a jacket. The ridge runs noticeably cooler than the valley, and the wind picks up after sunset.

Our seven-year-old now calls the Parkway "the road above the clouds." On our second visit the fog was lying in the valleys below us and the ridges stuck out like islands. He borrowed his dad's camera, took forty photos of the same view, and every single one is a keeper to him.

Keep going: Look Rock

If you have more time, the older western section of the Parkway continues past Walland to Look Rock, where a half-mile walk leads to an observation tower with a 360-degree view of the western Smokies. It makes a great half-day add-on for older kids.