Don’t leave without visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Courtesy of Great Smoky Mountains National Park The Clingmans Dome Observation Tower is a prominent landmark and destination as the highest point in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Don't leave without visiting

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Many would say a trip to East Tennessee without a stop in Great Smoky Mountains National Park would be a waste. They might very well be right, as it would certainly be a shame to miss out on the natural and historic splendors the nation’s most-visited national park has to offer, officials say. Regarded by some as the crown jewel of national parks, it has not only world-class scenery, abundant wildlife and vegetation, but a rich background of pioneer history. The park preserves the largest collection of historic log buildings in the East. It includes houses, barns and schools, located in Cades Cove, Cataloochee and the Oconaluftee Mountain Farm Museum. Want to see all of the interesting sights without missing any of the major scenic views? Plan a second trip to visit the Townsend/Great Smokies area. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is recognized as having natural resources of international significance. The Smokies have more old growth or “virgin” forest than anywhere else in the East — more than 100,000 acres — despite the fact much of the park area was timbered before becoming a park. According to the National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains is the most biodiverse park in the system. “Encompassing over 800 square miles in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, no other area of equal size in a temperate climate can match the Park’s amazing diversity,” the NPS maintains. “Over 19,000 species have been documented in the Park and scientists believe an additional 80,000-100,000 species may live here.” The Smokies also have more types of flowering plants than any other North American national park. As for its mountains? Mount LeConte isn’t the highest (feet above sea level) mountain in the East, but it is the tallest

From page 9 (distance from base to summit). Its elevation is 6,594; distance from base to summit is 5,301 feet. Want something a little higher? At 6,643 feet, the Clingmans Dome Observation Tower is the highest point in the park. Straddling the North Carolina and Tennessee state line, this site is a prominent landmark and destination. Since 1959, millions of visitors have climbed the tower, where they can see distances of up to 100 miles over the surrounding mountains and valleys. Cades Cove isn’t far, and it’s the most famous spot in the park. A valley of some 6,853 acres preserved as a historic area within the park, it was once Cherokee Indian domain. Three churches, log cabins and a mill can be visited here. Other pioneer structures such as barns, smokehouses and spring houses have been preserved and restored. You also will find native white tail deer, wild turkeys, red foxes, river otters and a few black bears, some of which may be seen, especially in the early morning and late afternoon. For more than 150 years, the scenic beauty of this area has been appreciated by visitors from around the world. Before that, it was the home of the Cherokees and other Native American tribes. Visitors from across the South and from Europe came to enjoy the Blount County area of the Smokies by the 1830s, some 70 years before the lumbering industry moved in around 1900 to cut much of the timber. Most visited of the nation’s 55 national parks, today the Smokies usually attract about twice as many visitors as any other park.

Above

Photo by: Great Smoky Mountain National Park Services White-tailed Deer Fawn

Below

John P. Cable Grist Mill located in Cades Cove