Great Smoky Mountains National Park
We are lucky to live about 5 hours from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It's been quite awhile since we visited the park, so in September 2007 we decided to spend a week exploring the park.
The park is anchored on the North Carolina side by the town of Cherokee, located on the Cherokee Indian Reservation and by Gatlinburg on the Tennessee side. The road between Cherokee and Gatlinburg is the only road that cuts across the park. This is somewhat similar to the situation in Glacier National Park where the Going to the Sun Highway is the only road across the park.
The attractions of the Smokies are:
- The scenary--often views of cloud or fog covered mountains.
- The old buildings especially atCades Cove and Cataloochee
- The hikes along streams and mountains
- The wild flowers
- And everything else.
Although there is great beauty in the mountains, the large trees, and waterfalls; there is also beauty in small things. You just need to take the time to look for it.
We had a great time visiting places like Cades Cove that we'd been to many times and new places, such as Cataloochee where the elk spend most of their time.
The fall colors are an especially beautiful time in the park. The hardwood forests that cover most of the mountains turn yellow, orange, and red. It's quite a show. I've often thought that if Ansel Adams had lived in the Smokies instead of in Yosemite, he would have worked in color and not black and white.
I hope you enjoy our pages and that you'll be inspired to vist Great Smoky Mountains National Park on your own.