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America’s most visited national park, Great Smoky Mountains, noticed extra guests final yr than the subsequent two parks mixed, Grand Canyon and Zion.
A part of the reason being the situation. Many individuals drive by the park on the best way to a different vacation spot. However the park’s attraction can’t be underestimated. The Smokies are actually, effectively, nice.
“I have been right here nearly 24 years, and I actually perceive why it is not referred to as the So So Smoky Mountains,” chuckled park ranger Brad Free. “Actually, I believe it needs to be referred to as the Superior Smoky Mountains.”
Right here’s why and what vacationers ought to find out about Nice Smoky Mountains, the newest nationwide park in USA TODAY’s yearlong series.
What’s particular about Nice Smoky Mountains Nationwide Park?
“It is simply so numerous in so many alternative methods,” Free stated, citing the array of crops, animals, geology and human historical past throughout the park. “It’s only a stunning place.”
Together with that magnificence is a way of belonging many guests and rangers expertise on the park.
“It is like going dwelling to your grandparents,” he stated. “It is a excellent spot to return and simply say ‘Ah, I need to hug my mountains.’ “
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The place are the Nice Smoky Mountains situated?
The park stretches throughout greater than 522,000 acres of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina.
Its two customer facilities are situated close to Cherokee, North Carolina, and Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
The closest airport to the park’s Gatlinburg entrance is McGhee-Tyson Airport, which is about 45 miles away, close to Knoxville. The closest airport to the Cherokee entrance is Asheville Regional Airport, which is about 60 miles away.
Why are the Smokies referred to as the Smokies?
The title stems from the Cherokee time period for the realm, which interprets to “place of the blue smoke,” in line with Free and the Tennessee State Museum.
Sevier County Tennessee’s tourism web site, Visit My Smokies, explains that signature smoke is “really fog that comes from the realm’s vegetation.”
Did the Cherokee reside within the Smoky Mountains?
“The Cherokee have been right here for hundreds of years,” Free stated.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians nonetheless share their wealthy tradition with guests in Cherokee, North Carolina, a vacation spot unto itself simply exterior the park.
Free famous there doesn’t seem to have been any everlasting Cherokee villages throughout the park correct, however they hunted and gathered there, as evidenced by 9,000-year-old arrowheads discovered within the park.
“The early European explorers and settlers that got here by right here discovered a lot about the best way to survive in these mountains from the Cherokee that have been right here,” he stated.
What’s the entrance charge for the Nice Smoky Mountains Nationwide Park?
There are not any charges to enter the park. Nonetheless, parking fees are required for any automobile parking within the park for longer than quarter-hour.
Parking passes price $5 for in the future, $15 for seven days and $40 for annual parking.
Are you able to simply drive by Smoky Mountains Nationwide Park?
Sure. “Lots of people discover us accidentally. They don’t even know a nationwide park is right here. They’re simply driving by,” Free stated.
Different guests come only for a scenic drive, however Free stated to actually know the park, guests have to get out and hit the paths.
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Which entrance is finest for Nice Smoky Mountains Nationwide Park?
“It actually will depend on what you’re searching for,” Free stated.
The busy Gatlinburg entrance is widespread amongst guests coupling park time with vacationing in Gatlinburg or close by Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, dwelling of Dollywood.
The Cherokee entrance is much less crowded and really scenic, with quite a few streams. “It really takes you over the mountain and again over to this facet over right here, which is I believe a really fairly drive,” Free stated.
A 3rd possibility is a park entrance close to Townsend, Tennessee.
“It actually solely takes you into our Cades Cove space of the park, which might be one of many busiest locations within the park,” Free stated.
What’s the finest month to go to Nice Smoky Mountains?
The busiest months within the park are Might by October, however Free stated, “Every season has one thing, actually a present for everyone.”
He cited wildflowers within the spring, greenery in the summertime and the rainbow of colours within the fall. He loves the wintertime within the park, when crowds fade and the mountains actually become visible.
“It’s type of like if I shave my beard, you see my face. That’s type of what occurs when the leaves fall off,” he stated. “You possibly can see the faces of the mountains, you see the heartbeat of the mountains by the wintertime. And strolling by the woods with a bit of recent fallen snow and nothing else round, there’s nothing else like that.”
What must you not miss within the Smoky Mountains?
From Cades Cove to Clingmans Dome, the best level within the park, there’s a lot to see at Nice Smoky Mountain Nationwide Park. Nobody nook covers all of it, however Free stated Alum Cave trail comes shut.
“It is a five-mile spherical journey, however that path there has just about every little thing the park affords on the path, apart from a waterfall,” he stated. “It is obtained streams, obtained geology, obtained elevation, obtained views, obtained previous development forest … If you happen to do one path, do this path.”
What number of days do you want at Nice Smoky Mountains?
Free recommends not less than two days within the park, with in the future spent within the increased elevations and one other day within the decrease elevations.
“However all that is going to do is simply get your style buds prepared for one thing else,” he smiled, including that 5 days would offer a greater basis. “I’ve been right here a very long time, and I nonetheless have not finished every little thing.”
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