The Great Smoky Mountains is one of the most visited parks in the United States. It is the nation's busiest park with approximately 10 million visitors a year, more than twice the number of any other national park. This park was established on June 15, 1934.

The park is situated at the southern end of the Appalachian Highlands, between the states of North Carolina and Tennessee. It extends for more than 520,000 acres. This park is a sanctury preserving the world's finest examples of temperate deciduous forest and a matchless variety of plants and animals. There are more than 1,500 species of flowering plants, some found only here. Due to its environmental importance, it is now an International Biosphere Reserve area and a World Heritage Site. The name Smoky comes from the smoke-like haze enveloping the mountains, which stretch in sweeping troughts and mighty billows to the horizon as can be observed in the picture at the top of this page. The water and hydrocarbons exuded by the leaves produce this filmy "smoke" caracteristic.

The majority of its visitors, expend only few hours crossing the park from one side to the other. Their experience of the park is limited to what they can see from the highway or from any of the various stops along its way. However, the Great Smoky Mountains offers much more to anyone that decides to leave the car and strolls into any of the Quit Walkways or even ventures at many of the longer hiking trails available. A small effort in this regard will reward the visitor with an unforgettable experience of this "little bit of the world as it once was."

Information

There are no entrance fees. Backcountry camping permits are required and can be obtained at any Ranger Station or Visitor Center.

There is limited food and supplies in the park. Lodging is available at LeConte Lodge (atop Mt. LeConte), accessible only by various moderate to strenuous mountain hiking trails from 5 to 7 miles. Allow a half day to reach this lodge. Please reserve well in advance calling or writing LeConte Lodge, 250 Apple Valley Road, Sevierville, TN 37862, (615) 429-5704.

Information about campgrounds can be obtained from the Park Headquarters or at the visitors centers.

Visitors Center:

• Oconaluftee Visitor Center

This is the visitor center in the North Carolina side, located 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Cherokee. The center is open all year and has publications, information, and exhibits. Next to the visitor center is the new Pioneer Farmstead that would give you an idea of how the early mountain people lived.

The center is located at the Newfound Gap Road (US 441), a scenic drive across the Smokies crest (closed to commercial traffic). This two-way traffic road begins at 2,000 feet and ascends to 5,048 feet at Newfound Gap, through which runs the Tennessee-North Carolina state line and a long leg of the Appalachian Trail. The Newfound Gap Road passes from lowland hardwood timber to high-altitude spruce-fir forests. This offers to the visitor the opportunity of a vertical trip that is ecologically equivalent to a journey from Georgia to Canada.

The photograph at the left, shows our daughter Susana at the Newfound Gap, next to the sign that marks the Tennessee- North Carolina state border and the elevation at this point. The view from here offers a look at surrounding mountain peaks and varied forest types.

The road towards the Clingmans Dome starts next to the parking lot at the Newfound Gap.

• Sugarlands Visitor Center

This is the center at the Tennessee side 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Gatlinburg. In this visitor center you will also find extensive publications, information, exhibits and a film. The center is located at the intercesection of the Newfound Gap and Little River Roads.

• Cades Cove Visitor Center

This visitor center is located near Townsend, TN and is located in the Cades Cove Loop Road. The center provides information and exhibits that will allow the visitor to understand the Cove, its history and the lifestyle of the early settlers of the area.

Address:

Superintendent
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
107 Park Headquarters
Gatlinburg, TN 37738

Tel: (615) 436-1200



Contents

Please visit the following pages for more interesting information and photographs of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Cades Cove
Flowers
Waterfalls



Links to Other Pages with Information about this National Park

The National Park Service official page for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The GORP information page on the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Mountain People: How they lived page provides information about the original settlers of the area, mainly in the Cades Cove.



All photographs shown in these pages were taken by the author of this page, Antonio Fernandez, during our visit to the park on August 1996

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