Hey there Reader,

Last month, we spent a quick weekend getaway in the Smokies with our dogs Toby and Lily. If you've ever looked for dog-friendly hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, you probably already know that out of the 800+ miles of trails, dogs are allowed on exactly 2.

There's the Gatlinburg Trail, which starts right in Gatlinburg, and the Oconaluftee River Trail, which is about an hour south of Gatlinburg deeper into the mountains near Cherokee, NC.

While we do enjoy Gatlinburg (who can say no to the taffy?), we wanted this trip to focus more on getting outside and spending time in the mountains with the dogs, so we decided to drive south through the mountains for Oconaluftee.

We stayed in an RV in Pittman Center, TN (about 20 minutes east of Gatlinburg), packed up the pups and drove through the Smokies to hike the Oconaluftee River Trail together.

The trail follows the Oconaluftee River almost the entire way, which was perfect for Toby since he gets hot pretty quickly.

We even saw some elk on the trail!

After finishing the hike, we were curious if there were other dog-friendly places we could stop off at before heading back towards Gatlinburg for dinner.

That's when we found Mingo Falls, a beautiful 120-foot waterfall that was just 15 minutes from the Oconaluftee Visitor Center and the trailhead that we had just left.

The climb to Mingo Falls in Cherokee, NC is only 0.8 miles round trip, but you have to climb 163 stairs to get there.

Lily had no issues climbing the stairs. Toby, on the other hand, got carried the whole way since we try to avoid letting him use stairs now that he's older.

If you're planning a trip to the Smokies with your dog, these two spots pair really well together for an awesome half-day adventure!

Thank you for following along on our adventures,

Minerva & Sam