Smoky Mountains

What Makes the Smokies So Special?

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is indeed a very special place. Here, we list some of the features making it special:

Diversity. More than 4,000 different species of plants grow here. Walking from the base to the peak of a mountain takes you through a climate changes that is equivalent to travelling 1,250 miles north. Several resident plants and animals live only in the Smokies.

 

Rich cultural history. From the Cherokee Indians, to the Scotch-Irish settlers, this land has served as home to a variety of cultures and people. Many historic structures remain standing. Subsistence turned to exploitation as logging concerns stripped the region of timber. Today we are restoring the legacy, and now recovery is now the dominant theme.

 

Nine million visits per year. The National Park Service balances the needs of the land--and the future--with the desires of today's visitors as well as future visitors.

The Park is an International Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site. These important international recognitions demonstrate the Smokies' importance to the planet. Neither designation results in a loss of national sovereignty or infringement on private land use, including development. The purpose of this United Nations program is to recognize and encourage preservation of the world's great cultural and biological areas. The National Park Service is proud to steward this world renowned natural resource.

 

The International Biosphere Reserve Program is voluntary, and is intended to help preserve and protect the world's biological resources. Each reserve has both core and buffer areas. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, shielded from development, provides the project's core area. Other public lands serve as the buffer. Education is the tool used to promote stewardship among private land owners. Other designated International Biosphere Reserves include Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Grand Canyon National Parks.

The World Heritage Site designation deals with the Park's inventory of Appalachian cultural items from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Park stewards a unique cultural resource. This program, too, is voluntary, working to preserve Earth's resources and history. Other World Heritage Sites are Yellowstone and Mammoth Cave National Parks.

Creation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park

In 1923, when Mrs. Willis P. Davis of Knoxville, Tennessee, visited the American West, she fell in love with America's National Parks. Mrs. Davis felt that the nearby Smoky Mountains were worthy of such status. It is with this thought the Park Movement was born.

Park support came slowly. Debates raged over who would buy the land and whether the Smokies should become a National Forest or National Park. Many local politicians in both North Carolina and Tennessee supported the Park, because they thought they could support it without consequences, because it would never happen. One of the sources of support was the construction of an improved road between Knoxville and Asheville, not the Park itself. After a long and difficult struggle, the concept of a park in the Smoky Mountains finally became a reality. Colonel David Chapman was the leading figure supporting the future National Park.

National politics proved to be as difficult as local resistance. The Smokies beat out more than 60 other proposed sites that were contending for National Park status. The Federal government provided no money for land acquisition. It was not until 1926 that Congress authorized a Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Park Commissions then raised the funds needed to buy the thousands of tracts of land that would comprise the new National Park. Through donations ranging from pennies from school children to thousands of dollars from large benefactors, the park movement raised almost $2.5 million in pledges. Another $2.5 million came directly from the state governments of North Carolina and Tennessee.

With the Great Depression, land values soared and pledges became difficult to collect. More money was needed. Desperate, the Park Commission almost appealed to Congress for additional funds. Relief came as the Rockefeller family donated $5 million to complete the Park. A memorial to commemorate this generous act was build at Newfound Gap. In 1933 the United States Government supplied another $1.55 million that allowed the land purchases to be completed.

What to See and Do In The Park

Mountain Farm Museum

The Mountain Farm Museum is a unique and fascinating collection of farm buildings assembled from locations throughout the park. Visitors can explore a log farmhouse, barn, apple house, springhouse, and a working blacksmith shop to get a sense of how families may have lived 100 years ago. Most of the structures were built in the late 19th century and were moved to the Park during the 1950s. The Davis House is a rare chance to view a log house built from chestnut wood before the chestnut blight decimated the American Chestnut throughout American forests during the 1930s and early 1940s. The museum is adjacent to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center.

Highlights:

• Free admission
• Historic buildings
• Farm animals
• Demonstrations with costumed interpretations

One half mile north of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center is Mingus Mill. Built in 1886, this mill uses a water-powered turbine instead of a water wheel to power all of the machinery in the building. Located at its original site, Mingus Mill has stood the test of time. Hours: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM daily mid-March through mid-November. Also, open Thanksgiving weekend.

Highlights:

• Water flows down a millrace to the mill.
• A working cast iron turbine.
• A miller demonstrates the process of grinding corn into cornmeal.
• Cornmeal and other mill-related items are available for purchase at the mill.

Cataloochee Valley nestles among some of the most rugged mountains in the southeastern United States. Surrounded by 6000-foot peaks, this isolated valley was the most prosperous settlement in what is now the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Once known for its farms and orchards, today Cataloochee is one of the most picturesque areas of the park. For more information on Cataloochee, please visit: www.cataloocheeheritage.com

Directions: The most direct route is to take Cove Creek Road (partially graveled) off route 276 near Dellwood, NC into Cataloochee. A more scenic route (not recommended for RVs) is to take a long winding road, route 32, from Cosby, TN to the TN/NC border. Here the road becomes gravel. It twists and winds into Cataloochee.

Highlights:

• Historic buildings: Cook Cabin has been reconstructed in Little Cataloochee.
• Fishing: Pick up a copy of fishing regulations at a park visitor center. A Tennessee or North Carolina fishing license is required to fish within park boundaries. A fishing license may be purchased in a nearby community.
• Camping: A rustic campground with 27 first-come, first- serve sites. Open mid-March - October. Tent or RVs up to 31 feet.
• Hiking: There are many trails to hike in Cataloochee. Several of these designated backcountry campsites (camping by permit only) are along many of these trails.
• Horse camp: Call (800) 365-2267 or visit http://reservations.nps.gov to reserve a site.
• Wildlife viewing area

An 11-mile loop road winds through the valley of Cades Cove, offering visitors beautiful scenery and the opportunity to tour historic buildings and view a great variety of Smoky Mountains wildlife. Visit the Cades Cove page for additional information about the cove.

Highlights:

• Historic buildings: Homes, churches, barns, and Cable Mill - a working grist mill
• Camping: A complete campground with 159 sites. Open year-round. Tents or RVs are welcome, up to 35 feet. Call (800) 365-2267 or visit http://reservations.nps.gov to reserve a site.
• Hiking: There are many great hiking trails in the area, including hikes to Abrams Falls, Thunderhead Mountain and Rocky Top (made famous by the popular song). Several designated backcountry campsites are located along trails.
• Horse camp: Call (800) 365-2267 or visit http://reservations.nps.gov to reserve a site.
• Wildlife viewing area