I booked A Stroll Back in Time for my husband and me because it was described as "easy." We are both in our fifties, pretty much out of shape, and I had just finished a year of chemo treatments just 3 days before. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to keep up and would slow everyone down. But I was pleasantly surprised.
A friend of ours has lived in Tennessee for years and even though we visited often, we never "walked" in the Smokies; heck, we never even got out of the car before! This vacation was to celebrate the end of chemo and I wanted to actually go into the mountains. We met our guide, she provided walking sticks if needed ( for me? absolutely), and we set out. Along the way she pointed out different plants and explained their medicinal uses (who knew rhododendron was so dangerous), showed us "bear sign" (old claw marks in a tree's bark and, gulp, fresh claw marks on an overturned log), and pointed out edible berries. I now know what poison ivy looks like!
Our hike took us past old homesites now reclaimed by the forest except for the stone walls (the stone walls remind me of New England where I grew up), a cemetary and a cabin. In places the trail meandered alongside a crystal clear mountain stream. We stopped enough times for our guide to point something out and explain it that I didn't have any problem keeping up. I was actually disappointed when we ended up back at our vehicle.
I would highly recommend this particular hike if you are just starting out. Hiking this trail on our own wouldn't have been nearly as fun or informative. On our return visit we're going to book a longer, more adventuresome hike!