Bear Paw Cabin

Some Smoky Mountain cabins look the part from the driveway and lose the thread the moment you step inside. Bear Paw Cabin holds it all the way through. Warm wood runs across the walls and up into the ceilings, the windows do their job, and by the second morning you'll have picked a chair, a mug, and a view and stopped questioning any of it.

The main floor is where the day starts and ends. The kitchen is properly outfitted for real cooking rather than reheating, with a drip coffee maker for the people who want a pot going and a Keurig for the ones who wander down at ten. The dining table seats eight, so dinner is one table and one conversation instead of a kitchen shift and an overflow table in the corner. When the weather cooperates --- and in the Smokies it usually does --- everything moves outside to the outdoor dining table and the fireplace, where the evening tends to stretch well past when anyone planned on going in. The hot tub is out there too, waiting for whoever's legs are done after a day on the trails. This far from the glow of the Parkway, the stars actually show up.

Downstairs is the part the group will argue about. A full billiards table on one side, a multicade arcade cabinet on the other, and a living room with a TV between them. It's the room where the teenagers who swore they'd be on their phones all week end up defending a high score, where old family pool rivalries get a fresh airing, and where the rain-day problem quietly solves itself. There are board games in the mix as well, for the nights when everyone's outvoted the screens.

The bedrooms split cleanly between the two floors. Upstairs, two king rooms sit on either side of the stairwell, each with a private bathroom and a desk --- useful if someone's stealing an hour of work while everyone else is out. Downstairs, one bedroom is a dedicated bunk room with a twin-over-twin, and the fourth room just off the arcade pairs a king with a second twin bunk and its own private bath. That's the configuration that makes multi-generational trips work: the adults get their own doors and their own sinks, the kids get a floor of their own with the game room attached, and nobody's negotiating over a shower at eight in the morning.

The small things are handled too. A washer and dryer for the muddy-boots and wet-swimsuit cycle every mountain week eventually demands. An iron and board. Ceiling fans throughout. A pack-n-play and a high chair already on site, which is one less carload for families traveling with little ones. TVs in the living rooms and the bedrooms, including one with a DVD player for the movies the kids have watched four hundred times.

The setting earns its keep. You're on the quiet, wooded side of Gatlinburg, minutes from the Greenbrier entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park --- a gorgeous and far less crowded way into the mountains, with river-hugging trails, swimming holes, and wildflowers in spring. The Great Smoky Arts & Crafts Community loop is close by, an eight-mile stretch of potters, woodworkers, broom makers, and leather shops run by families who've been at it for generations. Downtown Gatlinburg is a short drive for the SkyBridge, SkyLift Park, Anakeesta, and Ober Mountain, and Pigeon Forge with Dollywood makes an easy day out. Then you drive back up, the noise falls away, and the mountains are right where you left them.

Come for the hikes, stay for the pool table, and give the hot tub the last word.

AvantStay provides a personalized hospitality experience to elevate your stay. With our Concierge Service, guests have access to our tech-enabled services like fridge stocking, private chefs, massages, transportation, special occasion celebrations, baby gear rentals, ski gear, beach gear, and more. For anything you need, we're at your fingertips.

If you love spending time in nature, staying active, and celebrating wildlife, a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains is a must. Located along the Tennessee/North Carolina border and home to the country's most visited national park, the Smokies provide over 800 miles of hiking trails, rivers, and a good chance at a black bear sighting. The ancient mountains invite you to connect with one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world and walk among century-old trees. Talk about a step back in time!

Local Attractions: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, The Island in Pigeon Forge, Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies, Dollywood, Cade's Cove, The Comedy Barn Theater, Legacy Mountain Ziplines, Rocky Top Wine Trail, Sugarlands Distilling Company, The Local Goat.

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