The Great Smoky Mountains are one of our favorite places to visit in our state. There is something incredibly life-giving about breathing in the fresh mountain air, staring at the majestic mountains, and looking for wildlife. It fills us with joy no matter the season, and we are always looking for another opportunity to spend the weekend in this jaw-dropping national park. We planned a weekend trip near the tail end of winter, and we had a blast. This trip allowed us to connect as a family, unplug, and enjoy all of the natural beauty surrounding us. With our bags packed, we jumped in the car and started our weekend adventure.

The first thing to do during any epic weekend getaway is to establish a home base. Usually, we end up camping in our tent, and we tend not to stay in one place for too long, so when we arrived at Camp Margaritaville, it was a huge improvement!

You can stay at this resort one of two different ways: bring your RV or stay in the lodge. Not having an RV, we choose the lodge, and we were blown away by our stay. The rooms were filled with personal touches, everything was clean and opulent. The staff was friendly, and — one of the best parts — we could bring our new puppy with us. He loved his stay just as much as we did.

One thing that sets Camp Margaritaville apart from other places to stay in Pigeon Forge is the Fin City Entertainment Center. Here, you will find a restaurant, store, arcade, pool tables, bowling, and activities throughout the week.

Outside, you'll discover an epic pool area, a lazy river, pickleball courts, and a community fire pit. Because it was winter, we stuck with mainly indoor activities. With two little kids, the arcade was an instant hit — plus, I am a bit of a big kid myself, so I had a lot of fun, too. We ate at the Fin City Bar and Chill, and our meal was fantastic. My wife’s burger was so big she had to cut it into quarters. We loved The Lodge so much we almost didn't want to leave to go to the Smokies — and that is quite a difficult task. Luckily, Camp Margaritaville is only five minutes away from the mountains, so we had no excuse not to enjoy our favorite national park. Check out this video we made of our experience at Camp Margaritaville.

Our trip to the Smokies was a little different than normal because it was winter, and we had our new puppy with us. Normally, we would plan a couple of epic hikes, but dogs are only allowed on two trails, so we opted to do something new.

We took off on a drive to the Foothills Parkway, and we were pleasantly surprised by how spectacular it was. The road is split into two sections, and while they plan on connecting the two in the future, for now, you can take them separately. The views of the Smokies were awe-inspiring — it was a chance for our puppy to rest and enjoy a car ride while we took in the views. The road reminded me of the Blue Ridge Parkway, with various pullouts to admire the views. For a good view of the overlooks and a couple of good laughs, check out our video on the Foothills Parkway.

When we finished the western section of the Foothills Parkway, we noticed we were close to Cades Cove, so we decided to extend the drive. Cades Cove is an 11-mile one-way loop trail that you can drive and is a great place to find wildlife.

We have been many times in the winter and spring, and you never know what you might find. The first time we visited during the month of May, we saw 17 bears! In the colder months, the bears in the Smokies do not hibernate, but they tend to lay low and only come out on warmer days. We didn’t see any black bears, but we did see plenty of deer. I also love the scenery in this area of the Smokies — the picturesque fields and looming mountains are just perfect. Check out our search for wildlife here:

As mentioned previously, Great Smoky Mountains National Park only allows dogs on two trails — the Gatlinburg Trail and the Ononaluftee River Trail. We have driven by the Gatlinburg Trail several times but have never walked it, so we decided this would be a great trip to take our puppy out and let him hike off some energy.

The Gatlinburg Trail is mostly flat, but there was a lot to see along the way. The forest in Gatlinburg is simply beautiful, and the river you walk beside ebbs and flows wonderfully. In some sections, it cascades down in rapids, and then other times, it is calm and almost unmoving in appearance. We opted to start the trail beyond the Sugarlands Visitor Center to avoid the section of the trail that follows the road because we thought it would be safer for our puppy.

No trip to the Smokies is complete until you take a ride on the New Found Gap Road.

This road is a through way from Gatlinburg, Tennessee, to Cherokee, North Carolina. This scenic tour will take you up close and personal with some of the best mountains in the park. You can pull off at several overlooks to witness the grandeur of the Chimmy Tops or overlook mountain layers in the higher elevations.

Many pull-offs are only big enough for one or two cars, but hidden in the woods, you can find seasonal waterfalls, mossy-covered rocks laid around a babbling brook, or quiet walkways.

If you slow down and take your time, you can find a plethora of hidden gems in the park. We randomly stopped at one early on and got out to enjoy a tranquil little seasonal waterfall covered in lush green moss. It felt like an oasis in the woods, especially when there was plenty of ice and snow we would later encounter in the higher elevation sections.

On the North Carolina side of the Smokies, you can find the Oconaluftee Trail, the other trail that allows dogs within the Smoky Mountains. We also have never hiked this trail before, but we have enjoyed watching the elk that roam the area from the visitor center.

We began hiking while elk were grazing in the fields and were careful to be respectful and not get too close to these majestic beasts. We were caught off-guard by one lying down on the other side of the fence we were walking by. The entire experience was incredible and made the trail one of our weekend favorites. Our footage of the trail gives you a good idea of what to expect.

We certainly had plenty of things to do in the Smokies on our weekend getaway. Staying at Camp Margaritaville was even better than we could have hoped, and we had high expectations. It was so good it almost kept us from exploring the Smoky Mountains, but the draw of adventure will always pull us in every time. We still have a lot of trails in the Smokies on our list for when we get a doggie sitter, so we would love to hear from you. What is on your bucket list of Smoky Mountain trails, or which one is the favorite that you have done so far? Let us know in the comments.

To discover more incredible boots-on-the-ground adventures across America from our team of local travel experts, check out all of the articles in OnlyInYourState’s Everyday Explorers series. What destinations would you like to see featured next on OnlyInYourState’s Everyday Explorers? Tell us where we should go on our nominations page.