Scenic pullout · Great Smoky Mountains National Park
A quick pull-off for rolling hills and a broad Smokies panorama.
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Great Smoky Mountains audio tourRecorded for this place
Caylor Gap and Townsend Overlooks“You're coming up on Caylor Gap, with two close pull-offs for views across rolling hills and the Smokies. Treat the pair as one short stop; you don't need to park at both.”
Plays as you drive up to Caylor Gap Overlook in the Parkwolf Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Caylor Gap Overlook is a pair of roadside pull-offs between mileposts 26 and 27 on the Walland-to-Wears Valley stretch of the Foothills Parkway. It is an easy stop to add to the drive for a broad Smokies panorama. The main lot has 12 spaces, including one accessible parking space; the smaller lot has five parallel spaces. A Smokies parking tag is required if you park for more than 15 minutes. No restroom is listed at the gap; the nearest listed is at Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area.
The view reaches over rolling hills to the west and across the Smokies. The two pull-offs are close together, so treat them as one stop. For a photo, include some of the nearer hills with the distant ridge line; it gives the wide panorama depth.
The Walland-to-Wears Valley stretch is about 14.75 miles, reached from U.S. 321 south of Walland or northeast of Line Springs Road in Wears Valley. Near Caylor Gap, the road climbs to nearly 2,500 feet and crosses valleys on winding viaducts between Grassy Mountain, Rocky Mountain, and Davis Mountain. This section was completed in 2018.
Wildlife
1,569 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
900 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
13 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
142 sightingsTimber RattlesnakeMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
26 sightingsBobcatMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
42 sightingsRiver OtterMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Great Smoky Mountains. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateChestnut Top Trail8.6 mi · 5.5 hr · 3.6 mi awaySpring wildflowers and Smokies views reward a steady climb.
ModerateLittle Greenbrier Trail4.3 mi · 3.5 hr · 4 mi awayEasy woodland miles, then a steep climb to the Laurel Falls Trail.
ModerateRoundtop Trail7.4 mi · 4 hr · 4 mi awayA 7.4-mile one-way ridge hike ending at a Little River ford.
ModerateMeigs Creek Trail3.5 mi · 2 hr · 4.1 mi awayCreek crossings build to a waterfall, then the trail keeps going.
EasyMetcalf Bottoms Trail1.4 mi · 45 min · 4.3 mi awayA short forest walk to a one-room Smokies schoolhouse.
ModerateLittle Brier Gap Trail3.9 mi · 2.5 hr · 4.4 mi awayA forest walk to a schoolhouse and Walker Sisters homestead
ModerateCurry Mountain Trail6.7 mi · 4 hr · 4.5 mi awayQuiet forest miles lead to brief mountain views and a cemetery spur.
Scenic pullout · 0.8 mi awayTownsend OverlookA short roadside stop for Townsend and Smoky Mountain ridge views.
Scenic pullout · 3.4 mi awayCapshaw Branch OverlookA quick pullout for wide views across the Smokies.
Sight · 3.7 mi awayMeigs FallsA roadside waterfall view without adding a hike.
Sight · 3.7 mi awayTownsend WyeRocky Little River access just beyond Townsend's park entrance.
Sight · 4.1 mi awayThe SinksA logging blast opened the bend behind this rushing cascade.
Picnic area · 4.2 mi awayMetcalf Bottoms Picnic AreaA riverside lunch pairs with a 3.4-mile schoolhouse walk.Sight · 4.6 mi awayLittle Greenbrier SchoolhouseA little log school with a big role in Smokies life.Sight · 4.8 mi awayWalker Sisters PlaceA family farm where five Walker sisters kept their home.Parkwolf’s Great Smoky Mountains ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
