A Local Explains the Allure of Blount County’s Somewhat Secret Tourist Attraction

When we moved to Blount County in the summer of 1990, we got a lot of advice from locals. The best places to visit in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the secret spots where you can enjoy the mountains away from the throngs.

We were told never to stop in Cocke County under any circumstance, even if you had to get gas on the interstate. Seriously, this was still a thing, a leftover from previous generations of relative lawlessness where stealing tourists’ cars was something of a local passion. Happily, I can report everything in Cocke County is much better now. I go there frequently and recommend it to others.

But we were also told about the Dragon.....

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There's a lot of things blamed on me that never happened. But then, there's a lot of things that I did that I never got caught at.

Johnny Cash

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