In September 2025, Jarrett and I embarked on another National Park trip! The first part of our trip would be spent checking out three National Parks and the rest of the trip would be spent exploring some spots in Kentucky that weβve been interested in seeing.
Our trip started with a direct flight from Boston to St. Louis, Missouri. Our first stop? Gateway Arch National Park. This to me is the weirdest national park. I could see it being a National Historic Landmark or National Monument, but the National Park designation is odd to me, but regardless, we had to check it off the list. It is an impressive feat of architecture, I will admit that. We took some pictures of the outside of the arch before heading inside the visitor center. We wanted to ride the tram to the top of the arch, so we spent a while waiting in the line for our turn. The tram is kind of sphere-shaped and is very small β the seats are in a horseshoe shape. Luckily it was just myself, Jarrett and one solo traveler. We were all hunched over a little bit and our knees were all touching in the middle of the horseshoe. We saw larger groups all crammed in some trams, so it is possible to fit more, but I canβt imagine itβs very comfortable. It takes about 4 minutes to get to the top of the arch. The tram is like a combination of an elevator and an escalatorβ¦you go up a bit, then over, then up, etc. Once at the top, we had 15 minutes to read the informational signs and take pictures before we headed back down. The return trip is about 3 minutes long. I didnβt have high hopes for the park and while itβs my least favorite of the 30+ parks weβve visited, I still had a lot more fun there than I thought I would!Β
After we finished up at the park, we walked to Sugarfire BBQ for lunch. They had some of the best brisket Iβve ever had! After lunch, we said goodbye to St. Louis and started our long drive to Kentucky. We crossed through the very bottom of Illinois so to break up the drive we stopped at Garden of the Gods in Shawnee National Forest. We did a quick hike there and got some lovely views. We continued along until we made it to Mammoth Cave National Park. We arrived right as it was starting to get dark so we set up our tent as fast as possible and headed to bed shortly after.
Day two started with a ranger-led tour of Mammoth Cave. There were multiple tours to pick from but we did the extended historical tour as it fit our schedule the best. I had learned a lot about the caves from National Park After Darkβs second podcast episode (titled βMammoth Mysteriesβ), so I was excited to hear more from the park ranger on the tour. We learned a lot of interesting history and saw some cool things; however, I felt like the tour was really rushed and we didnβt really get a chance to take pictures or really take in the visual details. We were in a group of probably 30-40 people and one of those people actually had a cat with her in a backpack so the ranger would be talking to us and then weβd randomly hear the cat yowl, it was pretty funny. Once we were back above ground, we actually got to meet Merlin the cat – he was a very good boy!
After the tour, we ate lunch in the parking lot and then started the drive to our next destination β Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We reached Crosby, Tennessee in the late afternoon and checked in at Roamstead, the cutest accommodations. We had reservations in one of their yurts for three nights. I was lucky enough to work with them and they provided me with a discount code for my followers, so if you are interested in staying there, use code ADVENTURESOFSUZE for 10% off your stay (I donβt get commission, itβs just a fun perk for you for reading this!).
Once we checked in and freshened up, we drove into downtown Gatlinburg. It wasβ¦a lotβ¦so many people and very touristy. We did visit a popular tourist spot though β the Gatlinburg SkyPark β which we loved. We went for sunset and there werenβt a lot of other people there, so it was pretty peaceful. Walking across the SkyBridge was really neat, I loved that we could see the tree tops below our feet. We got beers and burgers from a vendor on the SkyDeck and then just relaxed for a bit, enjoying the beautiful views and nice weather. I was really bummed because Gatlinburg is supposed to be full of black bears so I was hoping to see one. Of course, as soon as we left the SkyDeck and hit the trail that would loop us under the SkyBridge, a bear showed up at the Skydeck! So, we just missed it. It was a fun spot though and I loved taking pictures of the SkyBridge lit up at night.
The next day I had wanted to get an early start because we needed to drive to Cherokee, North Carolina to enter the park from the south side. Unfortunately for us, the majority of the main road through the park was closed for repairs so to access the highest point in the park, Kuwohi, weβd have to drive about two hours around the park to get there. The road closure sadly ruined a few of our other plans, like doing the Alum Cave Trail, but we did our best to work around it. Not only was the road closed, but our GPS also took us a weird route that ended up being wrong and we had to turn around, so we ended up getting a later start than intended. Once we reached the south part of the park, we made some stops along the Blue Ridge Parkway for pictures and stopped at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center with hopes of seeing elk (no luck). Next, we did the short hike to the Kuwohi Observation deck. It was beautiful, but very windy! From there, we hiked out to Andrewβs Bald. There was another trail I had considered doing that extended from Andrewβs Bald, but because we had gotten a late start, and still had a two-hour drive back to our yurt, we turned around. It was a lovely trail though and we saw a bear print in the mud on the trail! As we started our drive back, we saw a young black bear on the side of the road! Right up the road from where we saw him was a bear trap so Iβm assuming he liked to hang out near the side of the road and the rangers were trying to move him to a safer spot. He was a little piggy and was feasting on grass. It was so cool! We were tired of being in the car after a long day with a lot of driving so for dinner, we just ate at Roamsteadβs lodge bar.Β
The morning of day four, I wanted to be up early, like close to sunrise, to get a jump on the day, however, I hadnβt been sleeping well so we got another delayed start. Our main goal for the day was to drive around Cades Cove, with hopes of seeing more black bears. I wanted to get there early before it was super busy and when the bears are said to be most active. Sadly, that didnβt work out too well. The drive out to Cades Cove was beautiful – everything was so green and lush. There was a creek running alongside the road too. We kept stopping to take pictures, which also slowed us down. We got to Cades Cove around the same time as everyone else in the park. Everyone drives really slowly on the loop so they can try to spot bears so it was a very slow-moving drive. Halfway through we stopped at the visitor center and checked out some old buildings at the Cable Mill Historic Area. During the second half of the loop, we did see one bear but it was at a distance and there was a park ranger moving traffic along so I couldnβt get a good picture of it. I was a little disheartened after our experience there because it was so busy.
We wanted to do a hike but I wasnβt sure what to do since most of the trails I wanted to do were closed. We picked a random trail at a small parking lot called Meigs Creek. We ended up loving it! It was so pretty! It wasnβt too hard, had lots of rhododendrons and a water crossing. The trail continued on for quite a few miles but we stopped when we reached Meigs Creek Falls. There were a ton of salamanders there so I had fun taking pictures of them. After we finished our hike, we enjoyed the drive back through the park on our way back to Roamstead to freshen up. We figured weβd try to find a place to eat in downtown Gatlinburg, but there was nothing that really excited us. We did go to Gatlinburg Brewing Co, which had some tasty beers but the restaurant we went to after that, wasnβt anything to write home about.Β
The following day, we had a small breakfast at Roamstead, savoring the last few moments at the yurt before checking out. Our next destination was back in Kentucky and would take us a few hours to drive there. We were going to explore the Red River Gorge area of the state. We were both excited to check it out as we had seen a lot about it online. Jarrett had found a place where you could kayak in an old mine so that was the first activity on the list. We arrived to Gorge Underground in the afternoon. You could pick paddleboards or clear bottom kayaks. We picked the kayaks. We had to wear life vests and helmets with a headlamp on it. It was a really fun experience. The mine had been vacant since the 1980s. The miners had been working in the mine and when they drilled into the ceiling, they accidentally drilled into an aquifer and the mine flooded. If you didnβt want to kayak or paddle, they also had an option to take a boat through the mine. The owner of the mine added some fish to the waters of the cave. They feed the fish and made sure to add lighting that replicated the fishesβ natural habitats in the area where they get fed so the fish stay healthy. After the tour finished up and we got pictures taken, we stopped at Thatcher Barbecue for dinner. It was pretty good! We stayed at a campground nearby, called Natural Bridges but it wasnβt my favorite. Our spot was right by campground driveway and when we had the tent set up, our heads were so close to the road I was so scared we were going to get run over. We couldnβt face the other direction because it would be downhill. The area wasnβt very large or very flat either. The bathrooms were nice though! We went to bed and fell asleep no problem, but around 11 PM, a large troop of boy scouts arrived and were SO noisy. There were probably about 100 people in the group, most of them pre-teen and teenage boys, so you can imagine how loud it was while they set up their tents. The ruckus went on for a long time – I was so cranky. They were up really early the next morning too and made sure everyone heard them making breakfast.Β
After leaving the campground, we did a hike at Grays Arch. It was so nice! It was a beautiful trail and reminded me of some of the hikes we did in West Virginia at New River Gorge National Park. The arch at the bottom of the trail was really impressive and it was cool seeing a rock formation like that in Kentucky. We said goodbye to the Red River area and then started our journey to the big city β Louisville! We stopped at the Bernheim Forest and Arboretum in Clermont, just outside of Louisville. I wanted to see the trolls there, part of Thomas Damboβs troll collection. We spent an hour or so walking around the arboretumβs trails and taking pictures of the trolls. Afterward, we drove about a mile down the road to James B. Beam Distillery. You canβt go to Kentucky and not do a bourbon tasting! The distillery campus was so nice! We had truffles fries at the restaurant (SO GOOD) and each did a flight of bourbon. Afterwards, we went to our hotel, did laundry and enjoyed having a room with a bathroom and shower after camping during the trip.Β
Our final full day of vacation was a busy one. We grabbed amazing breakfast sandwiches at Breakfast AF that my online friend told me about (follow @cryptic_tourist). It was such a great stop. We took our sandwiches to go and went to a place I had dreamed about visiting as a kid β Churchill Downs! I was a big horse girl as a kid and wanted to be a jockey. I used to watch all the Triple Crown races with my dad and wrote stories about being a world class jockey. Getting to see the racetrack in person was really special. We had a tour booked but before the tour, we watched a 20-minute film, which was done beautifully. I had goosebumps. I wish I couldβve shared it with my dad! Afterwards, we did a short tour which was pretty cool, then we got to explore the museum. We had a blast checking out the exhibits, watching historic Derby races on video, trying on jockeyβs clothing and more. When the races started, we grabbed a mint julep and then headed to the track to watch. It was a great way to spend the morning. We left the track around 2 PM and headed to our final stop, the thing that set the whole vacation in motion β Bourbon and Beyond Music Festival! The festival was four days long and honestly, I wouldβve loved to see the majority of the bands that were on the line up each day, but we opted to just go the final night, which was being headlined by Noah Kahan. We saw a bunch of great artists: Myles Smith, Lake Street Dive, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, and of course Noah! There were a few others we saw too but we werenβt as excited for them. It was a great show all around and B & B put on a great event. The longest lines were for food but even those werenβt too bad. We didnβt stay for Noahβs whole set because we had an early flight back to Boston the next morning, plus we didnβt want to get stuck in traffic leaving the venue, so we left about a half hour early.Β
Overall, it was a really fun trip and Iβm glad I got to check out some new places. I would love to go back to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, now that the park road is fully open again, so hopefully I can make that happen in the near future. We may need to go back to Louisville again too because we had so much fun at the music festival and they did such a great job putting it on!
Have you visited any of these spots?
πI acknowledge the lands mentioned in this post are the ancestral lands of the α£α³α«αͺαα± Tsalaguwetiyi (Cherokee, East), Sβatsoyaha (Yuchi), Miccosukee, Myaamia, Kaskaskia, Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo), ππ°ππ°ππ· πΌπππ» ππ»πΏπ· ππ°^ππ°^(Osage), O-ga-xpa Ma-zhoβΏ (O-ga-xpa) (Quapaw), OΔhΓ©thi Ε akΓ³wiΕ and Shawandasse Tula (Shawanwaki/Shawnee) people.
The Adventures of Suze 
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