Looking for something to do in the Smokies that celebrates the area’s natural setting and would also be fun for the whole family? Then consider signing up for this Saturday’s Bird Watching In Cades Cove program, presented by the Great Smokies Institute at Tremont.

There’s no better birding in the park than in Cades Cove on a spring morning. Join Tremont Citizen Science Coordinator Tiffany Beachy for a stroll through various habitat types looking and listening for these enchanting forest jewels.

Those interested in participating will need sturdy walking shoes, water and curiosity about the natural world. Bring binoculars or feel free to borrow a pair from the Tremont folks. The cost is $18 per person, but since time is short, we recommend calling ahead for details soon.

You’ll find more info at www.gsmit.org/calendar.html. There you’ll find a calendar of all upcoming events at the institute, which is located in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. They have day programs and overnight/multi-night programs for children and adults, all dedicated to exploring and preserving native wildlife. Overnight programs usually include accommodations and meals.

For the purposes of the bird-watching program, however, we suggest staying in one of our Wears Valley cabins, and you’ll be conveniently located near the national park and have easy access to Tremont.

What are you planning for this Memorial Day? This year, consider going all out by hosting a large group gathering at one of our Smoky Mountain cabin rentals. Whether it’s a family reunion or a gathering of friends, we think you’ll find the accommodations at Brookstone Lodge to be more than up to the challenge.

Consider for starters that this magnificent cabin sleeps as many as 20 adults in six bedrooms, utilizing five king beds, a queen bunk bed, two queen sleeper sofas and one regular sleeper sofa. That’s plenty of space for everyone to catch a little shut-eye, but you’ll soon realize you’ll need that rest once you see what this cabin has to offer.

Play to your heart’s content with a game room featuring a pool table, air hockey table and foosball table. Or you might want to settle in for a marathon movie session in the media room, where a large-screen TV is the focus of attention. Elsewhere, Brookstone has nine satellite TVs and 8 DVD players throughout its multiple levels, and Wi-Fi access is free.

Outdoor relaxation comes courtesy of spacious covered decks with a picnic table, charcoal grill and hot tub. All the while, you can enjoy gorgeous mountain views that spread out into the national park.

The Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center offers guests unique insights into the different people and civilizations that have called this area home. The museum serves as both a vital educational tool and a reminder of the challenges faced by our predecessors.

Located on a three-acre site in Townsend—less than a mile from the Blount County entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and just a few miles from our cabins in Wears Valley, TN—the center consists of a 17,000-square-foot main building, a collection of historic out buildings and an outdoor amphitheater.

The self-guided tour utilizes both artifacts and interactive computers to illustrate different aspects of life for both Native American residents and white settlers. A partially reconstructed cabin, along with genuine articles once owned by early settlers, help illustrate the more recent history of Cades Cove and other communities that were eventually absorbed into the national park.

The grounds behind the main building showcase a number of preserved structures, including a log home, a setoff house from the Little River Lumber Company and the Montvale Station stage stop, which dates back to 1836. Visitors are allowed to step inside the different buildings to get an up-close look at pioneer lifestyles.

Last week, we started taking a look at great waterfall hikes in the Smokies. With warmer temperatures, waterfalls and cascades make great hiking destinations now, and spring is the best time to see them in the national park. As the winter snows melt and the spring rains arrive, the waterways of the mountains are often swollen, which means full, beautiful waterfall flow. Here are a few more suggestions about some of the more popular waterfall hikes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (all distances listed are round trip).

And don’t forget that when planning your next hiking trip, we have a great selection of Pigeon Forge cabin rentals that are conveniently located near the park.

• Laurel Falls – This paved 2.6-mile hike is one of the easiest and most accessible waterfall hikes in the Smokies. The trailhead is located on Little River Road, 3.5 miles from the Sugarlands Visitor Center. The walking/hiking is easy and kid-friendly. At the end, you’ll enjoy the mist and noise of the 80-foot-high Laurel Falls.

• Rainbow Falls – You access this trailhead by getting on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail from downtown Gatlinburg. Go past the Noah “Bud” Ogle place and look for signs for the Rainbow Falls parking area. The moderately strenuous hike is 5.4 miles round trip to the 80-foot-high falls, and you gain about 1,500 feet in elevation. If you continue past the falls for four more miles, you’ll be at the top of Mt. LeConte!

• Ramsey Cascades – this 8-miler is a difficult trek, gaining 2,000 feet in elevation. But the 100-foot drop at the end is worth the trip. You’ll find the trailhead in the Greenbrier section of the national park, about 4.7 miles from that entrance.

Right now, the conditions are ideal for hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains. It’s warm and pleasant out but not too hot, especially in the higher elevations. Another great thing about hiking in spring is that it’s the best time to see the waterfalls of the national park. As the winter snows melt and the spring rains arrive, the waterways of the mountains are often swollen, which means full, beautiful waterfall flow. Here are a few suggestions about some of the more popular waterfall hikes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (all distances listed are round trip).

And don’t forget that when planning your next hiking trip, we have a great selection of Gatlinburg cabins that are conveniently located near the park.

• Abrams Falls – A moderate five-mile hike to a wide, 20-foot-high fall. The trailhead can be found on the Cades Cove loop.

• Grotto Falls – A moderate three-mile hike to a 25-foot fall on Trillium Gap trail. The trail actually runs behind the fall, and the trailhead starts on Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.

• Hen Wallow Falls – A well-kept secret, this 4.4-mile, moderate hike takes you to a spectacular 90-foot-high cascade. The trailhead starts at the Cosby picnic area, near the Cosby campground in the park.

Once you book a stay in one of our cabins in Pigeon Forge and Wears Valley, you’ll want to take advantage of its proximity to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. One of the best and handiest ways to do that is to take a tour of the historic Cades Cove area of the park. Once a thriving rural community, Cades Cove was preserved with the formation of the national park, and today it serves as a time portal of sorts, where visitors can see how some of the area’s early settlers lived in harmony with their surroundings.

The easiest way to get to the cove is to take U.S. 321 to Townsend and turn left at the traffic light. From there, follow Highway 73 to Laurel Creek Road and turn right. That will take you directly to the entrance of the one-way auto loop road, which winds its way around the cove in an 11-mile loop.

Along the way you’ll see towering mountains, rolling and level valleys filled with deer and wild turkey, historic homesteads and churches. At the Cable Mill Visitor Center, you’ll want to stop and tour several other period structures that have been rebuilt on the site as well as a bookstore.

The tour also features several scenic nature walks and hiking trails, the most notable of which is the Abrams Falls trail. The fairly easy trail is a five-mile round trip hike that includes a stop at the beautiful 20-foot-tall Abrams Falls.