Smokies slo-mo

If your idea of visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park is outlet shopping, miniature golf, country music shows, and fast-food restaurants, stay in Gatlinburg, Tenn., or its equally honky-tonk neighbor, Pigeon Forge. If, on the other hand, you would prefer quiet roads, log cabins, mom-and-pop restaurants, tubing down a lazy river, and a massive natural cave in your park gateway, head for Townsend, appropriately dubbed ‘‘the peaceful side of the Smokies.’’ Townsend’s star attraction is Tuckaleechee Caverns, where the temperature year-round is a cool 58 degrees. Check out the 24-foot stalagmites in the Big Room, follow a subterranean stream, and feel the mist from 200-foot Silver Falls. (And if you must visit Dollywood, it’s an easy day trip to Pigeon Forge.) Smoky Mountain Convention and Visitors Bureau, 7906 East Lamar Alexander Pkwy., 800-525-6834, www.smokymountains.org; Tuckaleechee Caverns, 825 Cavern Road, 865-448-2274, www.tuckaleecheecaverns.com
ELLEN ALBANESE