John Cletheroe's
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee
Location
This park straddles the North Carolina and Tennessee border, east of Knoxville.
The name "Smokies" comes from the haze created by the moisture given off by the trees and other vegetation.
Size
813 square miles. For comparison, the size of the English county of Nottinghamshire is 835 square miles.
What to See and Do
The Newfound Gap road, the main road through the park and an extension of the Blue Ridge Parkway, offers many fine views, in places of ridge after ridge fading into the distance.
The spur road up to Clingman's Dome is also well worth exploring, but the walk up to the lookout tower at the end of the spur road is quite strenuous.
Cades Cove, in the Tennessee section of the Park, is extremely highly recommended. This is a very scenic valley up
in the mountains with many pioneer buildings to explore. If you do nothing else in the Smokies, visit Cades Cove. Photograph (22KB).
The remote and therefore less frequently visited Cataloochee area on the eastern side of the park is perhaps worth exploring, but access in and out involves a four mile stretch of extremely narrow, steep and winding unpaved road.
The various roads around the perimeter of the park are generally scenic, especially the Foothills Parkway. It will take the best part of a full day to circumnavigate the park.
An superb 360 degree view of numerous ridges of the Smoky Mountains can be had from the Waterrock Knob Overlook at milepost 451 of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Some Ideas for Places to Stay
Entrance Charge
Since there are no entrance booths, there is no entrance charge for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Number Of Visitors
According to a news story in the 1-Jun-01 edition of US Today, National Park Service figures indicate that the Great Smoky Mountain National Park had 10.1 million visitors in the year 2000, making it the third most popular National Park Service area.
North Carolina
Tennessee
Mountain Roads
Mountains
National Parks
Wildlife Sighting Possibilities
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Most recently modified 1-Jun-01