We had a great vacation; we used the cabin as a launching point to visit Dollywood, hike in the Cosby area of the mountains (to Henwallow Falls, and the Sutton Ridge overlook), and raft the Pigeon River (with Raft Outdoor Adventures). We stayed 10 days with our 18-year-old daughter and 20-year-old son.

With no breeze it was quite silent; other than some distant traffic on the highway, it felt isolated, even though you are only a few minutes away from a super Walmart. With a slight breeze the traffic couldn't be heard. No nearby houses were visible. (Also, there was some construction equipment working nearby sometimes during the day, but that might have been to address fallen trees from the storm.)

There was a recent windstorm, which put down some trees (the one on the right in the picture is gone, and the one on the left is mostly gone), but that opened up the amazing view even more, and I spent a lot of time taking pictures at all times of the day, and got some great shots of the morning "smoke" on the mountains.

We saw a raccoon on the porch our first day, and several lizards and two snakes; the neighborhood bear didn't pay us a visit.

We ate dinner once at Carver's Applehouse restaurant/orchard and it was delicious (with great cider). Also, English Creek Baptist church welcomed us like family the Sunday we visited (it's a small stone church with beautiful stained glass windows, just minutes away). The only drawback was that we were 45 minutes away from Gatlinburg and Dollywood, but that allowed us to take different routes and see more country, so we didn't mind. Our main focus was seeing GSMNP, and the Cosby section is much less crowded than the Gatlinburg area.

The cabin was very nice, with a rustic feel. There is no insulation between walls (you can see light through the planks in some spots), so be aware that noise travels. The offshoot to the cabin, with the sleeper sofa, was perfect for our 20-year-old son; it was like having his own apartment. The hot tub was wonderful, and we used it almost every night. Also, having the Walmart just down the hill is very convenient for when you run out of something (e.g. toilet paper) or want to pick up dinner to make on the charcoal grill.

(Note: Be aware that they are/were doing construction on Epley road by the Bojangles, so there is a temporary detour via Lewis; our GPS didn't know about that.)