Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Introducing Great Smoky Mountains National Park

More than 10 million visitors a year come through this giant park, known for its beauty and biodiversity. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddles the border with Tennessee, which roughly follows the Appalachian Trail north to Virginia and the Shenandoah National Park.

Newfound Gap Road/Highway 441 is the only thoroughfare that crosses Great Smoky Mountains National Park, winding through the mountains from Gatlinburg, TN, near Sugarlands Visitor Center in the northwest, crossing the North Carolina border at Newfound Gap and descending to the gateway town of Cherokee and the Oconaluftee Visitor Center (423-436-1200; Hwy 441), in the southeast. The busy visitor center includes the Smokies Discovery Center, where visitors learn about the park’s ecosystems and biodiversity through interactive exhibits. The Oconaluftee River Trail, one of only two in the park that allows leashed pets, leaves from the visitor center and follows the river for 1.5 miles to the boundary of the Cherokee reservation.

Nearby attractions include the 1886 Mingus Mill (9am-5pm Mar 15-Dec 1; self-guided tours free), 2 miles west of Cherokee, a turbine-powered mill that still grinds wheat and corn much as it always has. A pleasant path enters the woods to follow the 100yd-long board-walled canal, which delivers water to the mill from Mingus Creek. The onsite Mountain Farm Museum is a restored 19th-century farmstead, complete with barn, blacksmith shop and smokehouse (with real pig heads!), assembled from original buildings from different parts of the park to give visitors an idea of what life was like for early British settlers to this isolated wilderness.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009