Treehouse Grove at Norton Creek

by Warren Grant

Gatlinburg, Tennessee, would look a lot different today if not for the thousands of nickels, dimes, and quarters sent in the early 1930s to the United States National Park Service by shopkeepers, blacksmiths, children, churches, and friends of the forest in order to save one of the last and vast remaining pristine expanses of Old Growth Forest in the Appalachian Smoky Mountains from the sawmill.

With their coins, plus a large private donation and federal funds, a swath of over a half-million acres across East Tennessee and Western North Carolina was acquired in 1934 to keep the trees safe within the newly established Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). It is today the most visited national park in America, and it strives to preserve over 1,500 varieties of flowers, countless waterfalls, myriad historical sites, and the thousands-year legacy of precious Old Growth, itself. What a dime can purchase.

Today, you can walk a quarter-mile from the north gate of the GSMNP and get lunch in downtown Gatlinburg, which has sensitively blossomed into the gateway to one of America’s treasures.

But just five minutes west of downtown, another effort to respect and preserve trees is underway at Norton Creek Resort, a 500-acre mountain community being developed by the fourth and fifth generations of the Ayers family in Tennessee.

In addition to sensitively tucking vacation homes within the mountain, all with a stunning view of the 6,593-foot peak of Mount Le Conte in the national park, Joseph Ayers, the executive vice president and owner of the development, struck on a unique idea.

Says Ayers, “A colleague and I were remarking that for all the rental cabins and cottages in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, there isn’t a single treehouse.”

It seemed to Ayers that treehouses would be a natural fit for overnight lodging at the resort. And there was only one man for the job to design and build them.

In late 2018, Ayers called on the Treehouse Man himself, Pete Nelson, star of the highly acclaimed Animal Planet television show Treehouse Masters, and proprietor of his seven-treehouse bed and breakfast in Fall City, WA.

“Our first phone call lasted an hour and a half, during which we kind of bonded as we both run family businesses, we certainly both respect the natural world, and both deeply sense how a treehouse can bring the childlike wonder back into your heart,” adds Ayers.

By August of 2019, Pete was on the ground in a beautiful 15-acre holler through which the actual Norton Creek has babbled for centuries. He spent several days recording tree measurements and locations while sketching design ideas on his old-school graph paper. Pete ultimately located eight individual, custom treehouses on what would be called Treehouse Grove at Norton Creek Resort. The eight opened to guests on May 1 ... and boy, are they a hit!

According to Pete, “We’re very fortunate to work on single projects for individual clients, but we are most rewarded with the hospitality side of treehouses, where countless people can enjoy several restorative days in the trees. The mission for us is getting people into nature and becoming one with the trees. Once that happens, they appreciate them more and want them kept safe.”

The treehouses were pre-built in Washington and clad in the same western red cedar that graced so many of Pete’s amazing works. The rustic interior design was done by Christina Salway, who has also worked on many a Treehouse Masters project.

All eight treehouses, each named after a different tree species, offer two bedrooms, plus creature comforts of wireless internet, air conditioning, heating, television, refrigerator, and view deck. Upon booking, you will receive a link to the Treehouse Grove Concierge App, where you can request special amenities.

Guests of the treehouses have access to the resort’s miles of hiking trails, and there are 800 more miles within the national park. The resort also boasts one of the finest trout fishing streams in the Southeast.

Outside the resort, well, there’s just about every imaginable family entertainment activity you can think of, thanks to a 13-year-old wisp of a girl whose fame ignited after singing into a microphone at the Grand Ole Opry in 1959. Old Growth, meet Dolly Parton.

Parton was raised in Pigeon Forge, just five minutes from both Norton Creek and downtown Gatlinburg. Her family entertainment empire there includes the Dollywood theme park, complete with roller coasters, thrill rides, a sprawling water park, firework shows, steam engine train rides, and multiple festivals, shows, and holiday entertainment. It also houses the Eagle Mountain interpretive nature center.

The success of Dollywood has spawned dozens of other area attractions, including Ober Gatlinburg, a four-seasons amusement park and winter ski resort with a thrilling aerial tramway.

Other area attractions include Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, year-round Indoor Snow Tubing, and the Titanic Museum, a replica of the historic vessel. There is also zip-lining, beautiful mountain golf courses, eco-tours, and off-roading adventures.

In downtown Gatlinburg, you can even partake in the Moonshine Distillery walking tour and tastings, featuring the Ole Smokey and Sugarlands distilleries, and made possible in 2009 when the State of Tennessee allowed 41 counties to distill spirits legally.

After all that fun, it will be helpful to get back to the stillness of the holler and the background gurgle of Norton Creek, which can be heard from every treehouse. It is expected, by the way, that the original eight are going to have some company as several additional treehouses, plus two- to six-bedroom luxury cabins, are planned for a little higher up the mountain. So maybe look for Pete, his graph paper, and his unmistakable exuberance for trees the next time you’re up that way.

For more information on Treehouse Grove at Norton Creek, visit www.treehouse-grove.com or call 865-988-1864.