| check-in time: 3:00 pmcheck-out time: 11:00 am. the casual rooms include free wi-fi and custom-designed beds, plus flat-screen tvs and coffeemakers. there's also an exercise room and an outdoor pool, as well as a business center. set on highway 19 on the cherokee indian reservation, this relaxed, modern hotel is 3 miles from great smoky mountains national park, and 2 miles from harrah's cherokee casino. hot breakfast and weekday breakfast bags to go are free, as is parking
McGhee Tyson Airport 2 hr 12
Clingmans Dome (51 min)
Mountain with a seasonal road, paved trail & observation tower, plus an information center & store. Mingo Falls (23 min)
120-ft. waterfall on the Cherokee Indian Reservation reached by a 0.4-mi. access trail. Oconaluftee Indian Village (10 min)
Re-creation of a traditional Cherokee community with live performers, tours, crafts & a gift shop. Waterrock Knob (39 min)
Highest peak in the Plott Balsams, with a visitor center, picnic tables, an overlook & hiking trail. Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (17 min)
Vintage steam trains with dining cars travel from a historic depot through scenic countryside. Museum of the Cherokee Indian (10 min)
Cherokee art, history & culture presented via exhibits, digital films, photographs & holographs. Mountain Farm Museum (16 min)
Group of historic log farm buildings, moved here in the 1950s, with living history exhibits. Oconaluftee Visitor Center (17 min)
Center with history exhibits on mountain life & a farm musuem with log structures, plus a gift shop. Andrews Bald (54 min)
Grassy double peak in the Smoky Mountains, with hiking trails through forest & meadows. Newfound Gap (39 min)
Alpine road featuring the Rockefeller Memorial, honoring the Great Smoky Mountains park financer. Santa's Land Fun Park & Zoo (17 min)
Year-round Santa Claus-themed park with rides, a gift shop, a zoo & paddle boating in a lake. Mingus Mill (18 min)
1886 grist mill with demonstrations of its still-functional sluice, turbine & other machinery. Charlies Bunion (43 min)
Bare-rock protrusion named for a bygone climber's food wound, now popular for hiking & views. | 
