Metcalf Bottoms: the creek our boys ask for every single trip

Every trip, the first question in the car is the same: "Are we going to the creek?" The creek is Metcalf Bottoms, and it has become our family's favorite place in the Smokies. It is not fancy. It is a riverside picnic area with tables, grills and a stretch of the Little River that is wide, shallow and crystal clear.

The first time we came, our three-year-old stood at the edge for a full minute, staring, then turned to me and asked why he could see the bottom. I did not give him a science lecture, even though I could have. I just took off his shoes and walked in with him.

A perfect slow afternoon

Grab a picnic table under the trees, spread out lunch, and let the kids wade in the shallows. The water is cold even in July, which feels wonderful on a hot day. Kids splash, look for crawdads and little fish, and study the smooth river stones. Parents sit on a sun-warmed rock with their feet in the water and do nothing at all.

For years, "doing nothing" was not something I knew how to do. My days started early and ended late, and I spent too many evenings wishing I had more time with my boys. Sitting on that rock, watching them build a tiny boat out of a leaf, I realized I finally had it.

Two hours at that creek, and I felt more rested than after a week at the beach.

Walk to a one-room schoolhouse

From the picnic area, a trail climbs through the woods to the Little Greenbrier School, a log schoolhouse built in 1882. It served as both the community school and a church for more than 50 years. Kids can sit at the old wooden desks and imagine walking to school through these woods every day.

Keep going and the trail leads on to the Walker Sisters Place, the cabin where five sisters kept living the old mountain way of life into the 1950s, long after the park was formed. A magazine story about them in 1946 made them famous, and visitors came from all over to buy their handmade crafts.

Our seven-year-old was stunned there was no electricity, no bathroom and no TV. "What did they DO?" he asked. Then he spent twenty minutes sketching the cabin in his Junior Ranger notebook while his little brother lined up pinecones on the porch step. I think he figured it out.

Getting there

Metcalf Bottoms is just inside the park from the Wears Valley entrance. The park road in is narrow and curvy, so take it slowly and watch for cyclists. Parking fills quickly on warm weekends, so arrive in the morning if you can.