"Spring" in the Smokies

Meigs Falls - Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

I USED quotes around "Spring" because I am not sure how best to describe or define that term as it applies to our recent trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) in late April. Certainly by most peoples' definition, April is springtime in much of the continental United States. I have made 2 trips to GSMNP over a period of about 18 months: one in fall and one in spring.

Sunset - Foothills Parkway - Townsend, Tennessee
Copyright Andy Richards 2023 - All Rights Reserved

THE FALL trip was a great time to photograph the park. However, it was not a great time to photograph in the park. In October, navigating the park is much like going to one of the popular amusement parks in high season. Thousands of people and their cars from west to east in the park. As much fun as it was, I vowed I would never again visit the park in the fall. Unfortunately, there are many places in the world that are like that these days.

Fall Foliage on Sparks Lane - Cades Cove - Townsend, Tennessee
Copyright Andy Richards 2023 - All Rights Reserved

SPRING WAS another story. Still plenty of people. But not nearly so many. Much more manageable. The challenge with a "spring" visit to the park is twofold: the weather; and how quickly things change. The first hint of spring - and color - come from the Eastern Redbud, with its purple blooms and the Dogwood with its white, starflower blooms. When I have seen them, it seems like the Dogwood dominates, often littering the forest view with its white flowers. We did not see a single blooming redbud, and we were at least a week (and maybe more) late for the prime Dogwood bloom. I am told by several local sources that not only did they bloom early this year, but it seems to be a pattern as of the past few years.

Lone Dogwood Branch Blooming on Rich Mountain Road
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

OUR ARRIVAL in the park was dictated by some non-weather related timing. My buddy, Rich from Vermont is a CPA. That makes it very hard for him to travel anywhere until after April 15. My other buddy (also Rich) from Michigan had some pressing family commitments. If I go back, I would probably target my trip in the first half (instead of our chosen, second half) of April to catch the bloom. There are also other wildflowers that bloom earlier than we were there.

Tree in the Meadow - Cades Cove
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

NOW ABOUT that weather thing. 😏 It is kind of a bittersweet phenomena. The time of year we were there is their rainy season. We got it, although fortunately never a full, steady downpour. But enough to get (and be) wet a few times. Anticipating in advance, I did carry raingear. For 4 of the 5 days we were there we saw very little of the sun. On Saturday - especially later in the afternoon - our last day, it did get quite nice and we were actually able to make some nice sunset images overlooking the Smokies from the Foothills Parkway, north of Townsend.

Tree in the Meadow - Cades Cove
Copyright Andy Richards 2023 - All Rights Reserved

THE APHORISM is that rainy, cloudy conditions are great for photography of flowers, foliage, and the like. There is little doubt that such conditions often create even lighting with no hotspots or deep shadows. As such, for photography they often create great conditions to make bright colors "pop," and render detail. Water on the subject is an added plus, whether it is droplets or just a slick which creates depth and shine. And these conditions are perhaps as good as it gets for photographing waterfalls and moving water. Deep water, being an extremely reflective subject, is difficult, if not impossible to photograph well under sunny conditions.

Roaring Fork - Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Copyright Andy Richards 2023 - All Rights Reserved

BUT (and you knew this was coming 😁) I  am not a 100% believer. I have some issues with rainy overcast. I do like the soft, even overall light. But its a fine line between soft, overcast ideal for certain photographic subjects and a dull gray which is often what is produced by rainy and cloudy conditions. To my eye, that gray look altogether too often casts a pallor on a scene which is very difficult to overcome - even with modern post-processing tools. Too much rain can also cause image problems. While I carry a dry cloth with me and try to be mindful, I have several instances I can point out where water drops on the lens (that I didn't notice at the time) ruined an otherwise nice photo. And any time you want to zoom back out for a more "landscape" and context-oriented image, a litte drama from sunlight (perhaps poking through the clouds, or light parts of the image) becomes - for me - a necessary element of a good image. The "Tree in the Meadow" image perhaps comes close for me - though I have trouble getting by the denuded branches of early spring.

Middle Prong - Little River - Townsend, Tenessee
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights reserved

WE DIDN'T get as much of the drama of changing weather and filtered sunlight as I would have liked. Some refer to the concept as "edge" photography (just as weather conditions change). We did get some, however, and when we did, we tried our best to take advantage. Don't get me wrong. While I would not chalk this trip up to one of my best ever, photographically, we did have some nice things happen on this trip. I blogged a few weeks ago about perhaps the "shining moment" of the trip for me: the reappearance of the Cades Cove Methodist Church shot from up on Rich Mountain Road. I'll let you read the account there if you haven't already. When we did find the elusive Dogwood branch in bloom we took advantage of it. We spent very little time down in the streams (I thought I got that pretty well covered during the fall trip - and you can see how the fall leaves add to the images).

Spruce Flats Falls - Tremont, Tennessee
Copyright Andy Richards 2023 - All Rights Reserved

OUR FALL trip didn't yield much in the way of dramatic waterfalls. The one exception was Spruce Flats Falls. I actually created some of my own drama there, taking a fall requiring three staples to a gash dangerously close to my eye. Fortunately, that was after shooting the waterfall, which is quite beautiful, but involves an extremely difficult hike up and then back down into the gorge. We had better luck on the spring trip, photographing several waterfalls. Some of the waterfalls in the park just don't lend themselves to good photographs. They are often down in a gorge which would involve difficult and at times dangerous bushwacking to get an unobstructed view. But there are some that are pretty easily accessed and provide a relatively clear view. Perhaps my favorite and very possibly my best image from the trip (the Meigs Falls opening image) was accessed rather easily right by the roadside. Because it was back over the much wider, main river (The Little River), and was part of a tributary entering the river at our viewpoint, it was set well back. I carry a 70-300 zoom lens for such shots, and was able to use that for this one. Because of the rather uniform nature and color of the surrounding foliage, I actually backed off a bit and shot the image at around 220mm.

Mingo Falls - Cherokee, North Carolina

WE DROVE a bit to find Mingo Falls, another waterfall that was rather easily accessed from the parking area. This waterfall was at the far side of the park from where were stayed in Townsend - near Cherokee, North Carolina. It did involve climbing a grade on rustic stairs, but once at the top, there was a nice little observation bridge/platform from which you could get a very decent view of the falls.

Middle Prong - Little River - Tremont, Tennessee
Copyright Andy Richards 2025

AS I have worked and reworked my archives and my website, I have always had a hard time deciding what to call a "waterfall" and what to call something else (e.g., "drops," "shelves," "rapids," etc.). We certainly shot a few other spots that could be characterized as "waterfalls." I think this park may have the highest concentration of these white water spots in the U.S. The shot just above, from the "horse bridge" at the end of the road in Tremont is not anything I would remotely call a "waterfall." But there certainly is whitewater (perhaps rapids), and it is one of the iconic "looks" the park yields in the spring.

Elusive Dogwoods - Cades Cove - Townsend, Tennessee
Copyright Andy Richards 2025

OUR PRIMARY quest, as I noted above, for this spring trip, was what locals and photographers call "the bloom." We were particularly hopeful to find the woods littered with blooming Dogwood branches with perhaps some Eastern Redbuds interspersed. We saw nary a Redbud and the Dogwoods were few and far between. So when we did see an opportunity, we "worked" is a best we could. One such shot was a cluster just in front of the Carter Shields Cabin in Cades Cove (above). We also found a single hanger-on-above the Little River, which we stopped to shoot as a framing tool for the moving water.

Little River - Tremont, Tennessee
Copyright Andy Richards 2025

ONE THING rainy, wet conditions can do is cause fog. Fog can be a very dramatic element to landscape images, and can be particularly prevalent in mountainous environments. With the numerous high overlooks in the park, we found some pretty great foggy conditions. My only negative here is related to my "weather" comments above. The grey conditions can produce strong color casts in the fog. Actually, that can be viewed as much a positive as a negative, if you like the colors. To me, dark grey and magenta don't look good for fog. I spent a fair amount of time during post processing, trying to bring the fog to a more neutral and natural look. The Dan Lawson Place in fog below was actually kind of purple looking. Even after some substantial desaturation and brightening, I still see too much magenta for my taste.

Dan Lawson Place - Cades Cove
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Righrts Reserved

THE SUNRISE shot from the Foothills Parkway, on the other hand, benefitted from a much brighter - though stil mostly overcast - sky, and the fog (I still desaturated it a small amount) looks much more natural to my eye.

Foggy Morning Sunrise - Foothills Parkway - Townsend, Tennessee
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

OVERALL, THE trip, though not rousingly so, was a success. On the last day, my two compadres were off on a "Wild Bear chase" (as opposed to "goose," as it was my understanding that they didn't have any success). Consequently, I was on my own. The only thing I have to show for that morning, which resulted from a largely aborted attempt at yet another tough hike in (an and underestimation on my part of how long the hike would be), was the White Trillum shown here. They were nice, and in places littered the forest floor and hillsides. I hate to be elitist here, but they are pretty tiny compared to the trillium I have seen and photographed in my former home: Northern Michigan. Nonetheless pretty and impressive.

(Mostly Mature) White Trillium - White Oak Sink Trail - Townsend, Tennessee
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

ADD TO all of the above: great company! I have always enjoyed spending time with my long-time buddy, Rich from Michigan. In more recent years, I have equally enjoyed the quality time I have spent with Rich from Vermont. And it is an added plus that the two of them get on great together. In addition to shooting side by side and often offering inspiration and pointing out things to "see," we enjoy each other socially. And, we spent a long and eventful day with noted local photographic guru and writer, Nye Simmons. We not only gleaned a great deal of "insider knowledge" of the area from Nye, but thoroughly enjoyed his company. There is no doubt that if and when another trip happens, I will reach out to Nye. My closing image here (made on my Samsung S24 "smart" phone) was 100% inspired by Rich Pomeroy.

Aspens in Spring - Cades Cove - Townsend, Tennessee
Copyright Andy Richards - All Rights Reserved