The Adventures Of A Landscape Photographer

Trip Report of Spring Mountain Scenes

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Great Smoky Mountains National Park Photography

Clingman's Dome, Newfound Gap, The Little River, Tremont, Roaring Fork, Cades Cove and Dogwoods in bloom are great reasons to be in the Smoky Mountains in April for Landscape Photography.

Spring is a wonderful time for landscape photography in the Smoky Mountains. The temperatures are perfect for rambling around, the flowers and Dogwood trees are in bloom and it’s not at all crowded.

In previous years, I spent a fair amount of time on the main road that crosses the mountains (US 441) photographing overlooks such as Newfound Gap or Clingman’s Dome. I had not spent much time in the west end of the park.

This time, I based myself in Wears Valley, a small rural community that provided the best and fastest access to the west end of the park. This gave me convenient access to the west end of the Little River, the Tremont area with the Middle Prong of the Little River and, of course, Cades Cove.

I felt there was much that I had not accomplished in this area, and although it would take much more effort than going to overlooks, I would be rewarded with a variety of quality images. That’s exactly what happened.

Spring brings bright green colors in the trees overhanging the Little River. I searched around for the best locations to show the beauty of the river and came up with the following images.

A stone bridge over the Little River surrounded by green Spring trees — "Stone Bridge" - Click Photo To Purchase

a view down the Little River with cascades and overhanging green trees in the Spring — "Spring Flow" - Click Photo To Purchase

A footbridge over s small stream with overhanging bright green trees in the Spring — "Mystery Bridge" - Click Photo To Purchase

A view down the Little River with cascades with green Spring trees overhanging the river — "Spring Cascades" - Click Photo To Purchase

A branch of a tree in the Spring hanging over river rapids — "Spring Arrival" - Click Photo To Purchase

A view down the river in the Tremont area with a Dogwood Tree in bloom hanging over the river — "Tremont Spring" - Click Photo To Purchase

A trip to the Smoky Mountains just wouldn’t be complete without going to Cades Cove. This valley was inhabited by over 600 settlers from the early 1800’s to early 1900’s before being taken over by the government to be part of the National Park. There are a handful of the old houses and barns still standing today, which make great photographic subjects.

The John Oliver Cabin behind an old fence and surrounded by Dogwood trees in bloom — "John Oliver Cabin" - Click Photo To Purchase

An old barn in Cades Cove surrounded by colorful trees — "Spring Barn" - Click Photo To Purchase

A view down the fence lined Sparks Lane in the Spring with Dogwood Trees in full bloom — "Morning At Sparks" - Click Photo To Purchase

A lone tree with bare limbs against a background of an amazing sky with exploding clouds — "Cove Tree" - Click Photo To Purchase

The Spring bloom of the flowers and Dogwood trees were a challenge to capture and convey their beauty. To the eye, the Dogwoods would look great, but turn out thin and unimpressive on images. It was frustrating, but I managed to capture a few good examples.

Purple spring flowers surrounding a moss-covered log in the forest — "Color In The Smokies" - Click Photo To Purchase

a blanket of white Spring flowers surrounding a tree stump — "White Spring" - Click Photo To Purchase

A branch of Dogwood blooms hanging over the Little River — "River Dogwoods" - Click Photo To Purchase

A large Dogwood Tree branch in full bloom hanging over the Little River — "Spring Dogwoods" - Click Photo To Purchase

A closeup of a Dogwood tree in bloom in the dark forest — "Forest Dogwoods" - Click Photo To Purchase

It was a surprisingly successful trip adding some very nice images to the Fine Art Landscape Photography portfolio.

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