Welcome, again! To the Itinerary, the HiLite’s travel blog in which we—ads editor Ellen Peng and Acumen associate editor Stephanie Zhang—briefly relate our own travel experiences and, of course, fantasize about other potential travel destinations for you, though mostly the latter.

But we’ll switch it up this time and detail a few highlights from my past summer trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

They truly are the “Great” Smoky Mountains. Although I only went for a few days, and I definitely regret not staying longer, every day was jam-packed with enthralling activities, from hiking in the mountains to attending dinner shows home to only Tennessee. But it started with the eight-hour car ride (we stopped at rest stops to take breaks) from home sweet Carmel to Gatlinburg, TN. When I was younger, we rented a house in the mountains to stay in, and the view was breathtaking. But this time, we settled with Marriot SpringHill Suites in the small town of Pidgeon Forge. (Tip: Definitely do thorough housing research and look through all options before booking a hotel, because a few nearby hotels looked quite sketchy, with all due respect.)

Day two was consumed of a lot of driving through the Smoky’s (because we felt lazy) and subsequently a lot of hiking (because we felt bad about being lazy). Having driven for God knows how long, we arrived at Clingmans Dome, the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains, standing 6,643 feet above sea level. A steep, but short, half-mile trail leads to an observation tower at the top of the dome. Unless there’s a ridiculous amount of fog, you will definitely be able the seemingly endless sea of mountains and valleys from Clingmans Dome.

We also drove through the history-rich Cades Cove, a vast valley in the mountains. An 11-mile trail, for motor vehicles, circles the cove and showcases eighteenth and nineteenth-century historical buildings and vast expanses of land, where the Cherokee thrived. Driving along that trail is perfect for the lazy tourist who still wants a chance to see the picturesque landscape in the Great Smoky Mountains. However, there are constant traffic jams during tourist season, so planning for that would be a good idea.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to do some of the most popular activities I was looking most forward to, including white water rafting and zip lining. Although the national park itself doesn’t offer any of these facilities, a handful of companies, such as Rafting in the Smokies, Zip Gatlinburg and Wildwater, within the vicinity specifically cater to both activities. However, those are only a few of the plethora of places, events and activities offered in and around the truly Great Smoky Mountains.