Some of our friends were discussing their vision of an ideal vacation. One (the husband) said, “Our daily life is too much on the go. I want to do nothing as much as possible on vacation.”

If your objective is to relax completely and do nothing, a remote mountaintop cabin offers far more value for your dollar than a tight hotel room.

-While absorbing a panoramic view of rolling hills, unwind with a long soak in a personal hot tub, or curl up and leisurely read a book on a covered deck in the rain.

-Take a nap (or not) by the fireplace, and watch a ballgame, movie, or a home improvement marathon on the flatscreen television. Lose some time exploring Pinterest on the leather couch.

-Grill a meal, or make whatever suits you in a fully-stocked kitchen. Sip coffee exactly as you like it, or bake your secret family recipe dessert.

Cabins offer plenty of space to live with your family “at home” on vacation, without workday responsibilities. Some pet-friendly rentals are also available, so the entire family can be together. No camping out in a cramped hotel room on top of each other! Do you really travel several hours to settle for that?

Another friend (the wife) said, “I can only sit still for so long. I want to do things I don’t get the chance to do at home.”

If you must be on the move to explore, a Wears Valley cabin makes a great home base for whatever activities you desire.

-Outdoor adventures abound with the National Park border literally next door: hiking and walking trails, fishing, river swimming, tubing, skiing, horses, picnic and historic areas, and more are all a short distance away.

-Pigeon Forge attractions are also just minutes from the front door: all the miniature golf, racing cars, and Dollywood theme park amenities you could want.

-Sevier County shopping also offers something for everyone: from great namebrand bargains at outlet centers to a world class craftsman community, to the tackiest gag gift souvenir for that poor coworker who needs a vacation.

Check out the special offers currently available at Volunteer Cabin Rentals. No hassles or regrets. Come relax your way with us. We hope to see you soon.

Motorcycle enthusiasts are among the fastest growing segments of visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains. It’s no wonder; the Smokies have hundreds of miles of scenic, twisty, curvy roads that are a biker’s dream.

At Volunteer Cabin Rentals, our Wears Valley cabins are ideally situated for any two-wheeler fan. We’re centrally located to all the major biker routes in the area, including the Tail Of The Dragon—that famously curvy 11-mile stretch of U.S. 129—as well as the Cherohala Skyway.

Of course, Wears Valley offers direct access to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, or you can head to other parts of the park through nearby Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Headed in the other direction, Wears Valley also offers easy traveling to Maryville, TN, home of one of the area’s most popular Harley Davidson dealerships.

And at Volunteer Cabin Rentals, many of our properties are ideally suited to motorcyclists. Some cabins have spaces to accommodate bikes on trailers, plus there’s a parking lot near our main office where you could also leave a trailer during the day.

Even if you’re not staying in one of our Pigeon Forge cabins this week, you can still experience some of the beautiful sights via two webcams that are operated by the National Park Service.

First check out the view from Purchase Knob, which is at the eastern end of the park and offers views to the northeast.

http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/webcams/parks/grsmpkcam/grsmpkcam.cfm

Also, take in the views from Look Rock, which is at the western end of the national park and offers great views of Mt. LeConte, Clingmans Dome and Cades Cove.

http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/webcams/parks/grsmcam/grsmcam.cfm

This time of year, you’ll see some great, clear views before the haze of summer sets in. Although overall, scenic views have degraded over the last 50 years thanks to man-made pollution. Since 1948, the average visibility in the southern Appalachians has decreased by 40 percent in winter and 80 percent in summer.

It’s a cold January day, and right now, you may be miles and miles and months and months away from your next trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. But you can do a little early looking and daydreaming if you get a look at what’s going on here courtesy of our Smoky Mountain web cam.

The view comes from our 1 In A Million rental cabin, which offers high-up views that stretch out across nearby ridges and valleys and distant mountains. In winter, the stark beauty of the landscape contrasts greatly with the abundant greenery of spring and summer, but it’s an awesome view any time of year. And if you can catch this view on a clear, sunny day (like the one we’re having on the day this blog post was written), you’re in for a real treat.

Speaking of 1 In A Million, it’s just one of the dozens of overnight cabins we have at Volunteer Cabin Rentals. We have everything from one- to 12-bedroom cabins located throughout the Wears Valley and Pigeon Forge area. The amenities are plentiful, the views are fantastic, and our properties are just minutes form Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Sevierville and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Give us a call today and we’ll help you turn those web cam views into real-life views from the deck of one our luxury cabins.

So here’s the scenario: You’re spending a few days or a week this winter with Volunteer Cabin Rentals, and it’s gotten awfully darned cold outside. The thought of getting out of the cabin isn’t very appealing, but at the same time, you don’t want to run the risk of being stuck inside together for so long that everyone’s starting to go a little stir crazy. What to do?

No worries. Our Smoky Mountain cabin rentals are designed to make sure that even the most quiet and lazy of days doesn’t necessarily translate into boredom. For example, consider marveling at the spectacle of snow-covered mountains from the warm comfort of your cabin’s main living room. Having a crackling fire going in the fireplace nearby will also help to cozy things up quickly. This would also be a great setting to curl up on the sofa with a good book and let your imagination run wild.

And even though it may be chilly outside, you’ll stay warm and relaxed while soaking in the hot tub. Day or night, this is a fun way to stay loose as a goose. There are also plenty of entertainment options in most of our cabins. Shoot a game of pool or start a foosball match in your cabin’s game room, or pop in a DVD (or three) and have a family movie marathon one night. Many cabins also come equipped with gaming systems that will keep fingers and thumbs clicking into the wee hours.

No matter what type of experience you may be seeking during a vacation in the Great Smoky Mountains, Volunteer Cabin Rentals is well positioned to help make your plans become a reality. Our location in scenic Wears Valley, TN, makes it convenient for you to access virtually any other destination in the region and without having to get involved in the heaviest arteries of traffic.

From Wears Valley, it’s only about a 10-minute drive to Pigeon Forge and Dollywood, and from there, it’s only another 10- or 15-minute drive to Sevierville or Gatlinburg, depending on which direction you take. If you want to get to the national park, you don’t even have to go through Gatlinburg. There’s an often-overlooked entrance to the park, smack in the middle of Wears Valley, which takes you directly to the Metcalf Bottoms picnic area in no time at all. From there, it’s a direct drive to Cades Cove and other park destinations.

From Wears Valley, you can also quickly get to historic and beautiful Blount County sites like Townsend, Tennessee, and if you continue further into Maryville, you can then easily access either Interstate 40 through Lenoir City or take a curvy ride on the famed Tail of the Dragon section of U.S. Highway 129.

For a lot of folks, the best time of the year to visit the Great Smoky Mountains is just around the corner. Smoky Mountain Harvest Festival gets kicked off in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Sevierville on September 15 and runs through the end of October. It’s a time to celebrate cooler weather fall colors with seasonal decorations, mountain crafts and lots of fun special events. If you’re staying in one of our cabins in Pigeon Forge, TN in the next six weeks, here are a few highlights of what’s going on through the rest of September in the surrounding area.

• Oktoberfest at Ober Gatlinburg. 9/28 – 10/31. Get a head start on next month’s celebration of Bavarian-style food, drink and music. Lederhosen optional.

• Fall Heritage Festival and Old Timers Day. 9/28 – 9/29. Come to nearby Townsend for bluegrass music, clogging, antique tractors, crafts, food and more.

• 13th Annual Fall Smoky Mountain Trout Tournament. 9/29 – 9/30. Cast your lines to compete for prizes as organizers stock area rivers with more than 5,000 trout.

• Smokies Half Marathon, 5K and Fun Run. 9/30. Get some exercise while enjoying great views of the Smokies at this first-ever event, which starts and finishes in Pigeon Forge’s historic Old Mill district.

www.volunteercabinrentals.com

One of the most popular activities that vacationers in the Smoky Mountains enjoy is shopping. And while there are plenty of the typical touristy places to spend your money—T-shirt shops, souvenir stands and the like—that’s just scratching the surface when it comes to the retail heaven that is the Smokies.

High on the list of retail destinations are the area’s outlet malls. Tanger Five Oaks Outlet Center in Sevierville is one of the most popular stops, and you’ll find the Governor’s Crossing Outlet Mall nearby as well. In Pigeon Forge, the biggies are Pigeon Forge Factory Outlet Mall (the red roof mall) and Belz Factory Outlet World. Others in Pigeon Forge include another Tanger property and the Z Buda Mall, which is behind the Pigeon Forge Factory Outlet Mall.

In Gatlinburg, crafts are a focal point of the retail market. In the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community, you’ll find dozens of shops, galleries and studios along the community’s eight-mile auto loop, and crafts abound at a host of specialty and craft shops on the downtown Parkway as well.

In Sevierville, you’ll encounter a number of flea markets and antique shops, particularly along Tenn. Hwy. 66 (Winfield Dunn Parkway), which runs between Interstate 40 and downtown Sevierville.

The good news is that guests staying in our Smoky Mountain cabin rentals are never far away when shoppertunity comes knocking.

Volunteercabinrentals.com

Most folks who come to the Smokies to stay in our Wears Valley, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg cabins are eager to see a black bear in the wild. But we always make a point of cautioning our guests when it comes to these iconic animals. Bears are wild animals. They’re not in a zoo, which means we urge all visitors to treat them with a healthy degree of caution and respect.

One of the biggest mistakes out-of-town visitors make is feeding the bears. This situation often comes up because there has been a recent surge in the baby bear population, which has put a strain on the supply of their natural mast foods. As a result, more and more bears wander into campsites and other human-populated places to get food. And that’s when it becomes tempting to feed the bears.

However, feeding wild bears is harmful to them. Our food is not good for their health, and it makes them dependent on humans for survival. So here are some tips that make your presence less tempting to the bears:

• Keep your public campsite or picnic spot clean and free of litter. Keep food stored securely in cars or suspended overhead from a tree.

• In the backcountry campsites and shelters, use food-storage cables, and never leave your backpack unattended.

• If you’re day hiking and leave the trail, never leave your backpack unattended.