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Great Smoky Mountains National Park
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| Moss-covered stream in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee/North Carolina (Adam Jones/Photodisc) |
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Established: 1926
Acreage: 521,490
Average Yearly Visitors: 9,216,000
Location: East Tennessee, 50 miles east of Knoxville, and western North Carolina, 60 miles west of Asheville
Contact Details
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
107 Park Headquarters Road
Gatlinburg, TN 37738
Phone: 865-436-1200
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- The most visited of all U.S. National Parks, Great Smoky Mountains National Park sits astride the Tennessee-North Carolina border amid the majestic southern climax of the Appalachian Highlands. The Smokies are within a day's drive of a third of the U.S. population, and very few places in the East are in their league as an outdoors-recreation destination. See a map of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
- This national park literally has hundreds of miles of trails for equestrians, including the only sections of the Appalachian Trail open to horseback riders. Also, five auto-accessible horse camps make riding the Smokies even easier. More than 40 backcountry campsites also welcome equestrians.
- The Foothills Parkway was created for scenic driving. It begins at the western end of the park, near Chilhowee Lake, and travels atop Chilhowee Mountain. Look Rock observation tower is a must-stop. A short hike leads to a 360-degree vista. Continue past numerous other overlooks. Look Rock Campground makes for a good overnighting venue next to the Foothills Parkway. A disjunct section of the parkway travels a short distance on the eastern end of the park.
- Nearly 500 miles of fishable streams criss-cross the Smokies, from the upper prongs of Forney Creek at over 4,000 feet to the mouth of Abrams Creek, where it spills into Chilhowee Lake at less than 900 feet. Brook trout are the only native trout, but after the logging days of the late 19th and early 20th century, both brook and brown trout were stocked. Now, these three species, along with smallmouth bass in the lowest streams, thrive here.
- Learn more about Great Smoky Mountains National Park at our sister site GORP.com.
- Above 4,500 feet, Smokies footpaths leave the hardwoods and tunnel-like rhododendron thickets and climb into fragrant Fraser fir and red spruce forests populated by juncos, boreal chickadees, red squirrels, and other creatures usually associated with the Canadian north woods. Higher still on some peaks are expansive heath meadows with great views known as balds, so named because pioneers periodically burned them to create grazing areas for cattle.
- Fish for trout in the backcountry, a sublime sanctuary of overhanging birch, fir, maple, and chestnut trees, mossy boulders, dark-green pools, and shadowy, flitting quarry. For rainbows, strike out along Upper Abrams Creek; for browns, try Little River/Fish Camp Prong; for brookies, hike from Clingmans Dome to the headwaters of Hazel Creek.
- The Smokies are home more than 1,500 species of blooming plants, more than any other national park. The blooming season ranges from late winter (hepaticas) to late autumn (goldenrod), and in the interim you'll see blooms of purple-and-white-crested dwarf irises, brilliantly red notch-petaled fire pinks, the Fraser magnolia tree's large creamy-white flowers, and blue phlox. Through most of the warmer months, the sheer profusion of blooming flowers, bushes, and trees boggles the mind and eye, and any tramp through the backcountry will be amid a blaze of color.
- Backpacking is one of the best ways to see the Smokies' many faces. If you walk from low to high, you’ll enjoy much the same diversity of flora and fauna as a backpacker hiking the entire Appalachian Trail (AT) from Georgia to Maine. The AT is the master path of the park, offering stone camping shelters, spectacular scenery—and no solitude.
- Ten campgrounds are distributed throughout the Smokies, and a few of them (Abrams Creek, Cosby, and Big Creek) allow for a car-camping experience that's worlds away from the stereotypical RV-park crowd scene.
Published: 22 Oct 2008 | Last Updated: 25 Aug 2011
Details mentioned in this article were accurate at the time of publication
Details mentioned in this article were accurate at the time of publication
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