Deep roots in the smoky mountains

Rising along the eastern flank of Tennessee, the Great Smoky Mountains are known for their hiking trails, waterfalls and wild bears - this is, after all, the most naturally biodiverse pocket in the us. But a road trip through its old-growth forests reveals a more human story. Here, tight-knit communities are preserving ancient appalachian crafts and traditions, from pottery and broom carving to folk dancing, all alongside some of America's most bombastic resort towns

- By Zoey Goto

DRIVING THROUGH PIGEON FORGE IS NOTHING SHORT OF EUPHORIC

The small mountain city, deep in the beating heart of East Tennessee, boasts a main drag like no other, all twinkling lights, curious characters, gaudy billboards and eye-popping attractions. The kerbside carousel makes it hard to keep my eyes on the road.

I pass a gaggle of sightseers, among them Amish holidaymakers in bonnets and boaters, craning their heads back to admire a giant King Kong clinging to the outside of a tall building, his jaws frozen in an endless roar, his clenched fist grasping a retro aeroplane.

This is perhaps the kitschiest monument in the city - which has marketed itself as a 'family vacation hub' since the 1980s - but it's certainly not alone in vying for that title.

There's a replica of the doomed Titanic; a souvenir shop claiming to sell live alligators; and a waffle house boasting no fewer than 100 singing animatronic chickens.

Up ahead, a Bavarian-style mansion appears like a mirage. An actor dressed as Father Christmas stands out front, sweating in the blazing midsummer sunshine next to a colossal, bauble-decked fir tree. This hotel, I gather from a painted sign, celebrates Christmas every single day of the year. It's a lot to take in.

Yet, beyond this razzle-dazzle main drag of artifice and entertainment, waterfalls cascade in hushed 300-million-year-old woodland and hawks patrol the heavens. A road trip through the Great Smoky Mountains offers up almost impossible contradictions.