Carlos Campbell overlook (September!) easy stop with mountain views on the Newfound Gap Road drive ⛰🐻 Tennesee Smoky Mountains travel blog

Hi there!

 

So there are many scenic overlooks in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Carlos C Campbell overlook is one such overlook that you can stop at to take in the beautiful mountain views of the Smoky Mountains!

 

I went to the Carlos Campbell overlook in September. What the weather will be like from year to year can vary (which means the colors can vary!), but this is what it was like for me!

 

 

 

 

 

Who is Carlos Campbell?

According to the National Park Service:

The overlook is named for Carlos C. Campbell, director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce in the 1930s and a leading advocate for the creation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Read more about Carlos Campbell and the early days of the national park:

• National Park Service
• Knoxville History Project

 

 

 

 

Planning a trip to the Campbell overlook

If you’re staying in Gatlinburg, you’ll naturally come across this overlook when you make the drive from Gatlinburg to Clingmans Dome.

You’ll be driving the Newfound Gap Road aka US-441, which is the main road that runs north to south right through the national park. 

 

Explore the map.

 

So this can be a quick stop to make earlier on in the drive. 

Or, if it’s your first day in the Smoky Mountains and you’re eager to take in some mountain views and want to go somewhere that doesn’t require too much time, you can just make a relatively quick drive to the Campbell overlook.

 

It’s about a 15 minute drive from Gatlinburg to the Carlos Campbell overlook.

Explore the map.

 

 

⛰🐻

 

 

 

Finding the Campbell overlook

 

If you don’t want to take any chances of driving right past it, you can locate the Carlos Campbell overlook on google maps, and it will get you there.

You will want to download offline google maps before you go since you will likely not have data service in most of the park. GPS will still usually work.

Otherwise, when you’re coming from Gatlinburg, after you start driving on Newfound Gap Road, it will be the first main overlook that you’ll get nice views of the Smoky Mountains. So you can just start driving and you will come across it.

 

 

 

Quiet walkway near the overlook

And then after you’ve taken in the mountain views, if you want to stretch your legs a bit, there’s also a “quiet walkway” nearby if you want to get a bit of a nature walk in. There are many such “quiet walkways” in the national park (you’ll see many signs on the side of the road), and most of these are short hiking trails through the forest that you’ll likely see few people on.

In the case of the Carlos Campbell overlook, the Riverview Quiet Walkway intersects with the Bullhead View Quiet Walkway. If you were to take the quiet walkway from the overlook and keep walking, it’ll bring you back out to another part of Newfound Gap Road.

 

 

Explore the map.

 

And that’s a bit about the mountain views from the Carlos C Campbell overlook!

 

Be sure to see more of what’s along the way as you drive from Gatlinburg to Clingman’s Dome.

And then keep driving further south to the historic mill in the Smoky Mountains!

For another scenic drive, see what’s along the way as you drive from Gatlinburg to Cades Cove.

And the best hikes in the Smoky Mountains for mountain views!

 

HAPPY SEEING THE VIEWS FROM THE CAMPBELL OVERLOOK!