Cosby is the quiet corner of the Great Smoky Mountains, a scatter of farms and small houses along a creek in Cocke County, Tennessee, at the north-eastern entrance to the national park. While the western side of the Smokies is a carnival of mini-golf, go-karts and pancake houses, Cosby has a handful of stores, a church or two, and a road into the woods. It is about as far from Gatlinburg in spirit as you can get while still being in the same mountains.
The area has a rough history. In the early twentieth century Cosby had a reputation for moonshine, the illicit corn whiskey that mountain families distilled in hidden stills along the creeks, and stories of revenue agents and midnight runs still circulate. When the national park was created in the 1930s, many families were bought out and moved, and old cabins and chimneys still stand in the woods along the trails. In a way, the park preserves their world.
The forests above Cosby are some of the richest in the Smokies, with old-growth hemlock, tulip poplar and rhododendron around a clear stream. Albright Grove, a short hike from the campground, has trees that were already large when the first settlers arrived. The Smokies are famous for their salamanders, with more species here than anywhere else in the world, and for their synchronous fireflies, which flash in unison in June.
The Foothills Parkway ends nearby, a short section of high, curving road with views along the northern side of the range. It is gentler and emptier than the busy routes elsewhere, with little traffic, an easy gradient and quiet, shaded bends, and it is a pleasure on a weekday. Services are few, so top up your tank in Newport, about eighteen kilometres away, where you will find fuel, supermarkets and a decent selection of cafes. Gatlinburg lies farther south, and is best avoided on weekends. Autumn colour here is excellent, and in winter, the road can be icy and sections may close.