The
Great Smoky Mountains are a
mountain rangeA mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
rising along the
TennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
–
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the
Appalachian MountainsThe Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
, and form part of the
Blue Ridge Physiographic ProvinceThe Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
. The range is sometimes called the
Smoky Mountains or the
Smokey Mountains, and the name is commonly shortened to the
Smokies. The Great Smokies are best known as the home of the
Great Smoky Mountains National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North...
, which protects most of the range. The park was established in 1934, and, with over 9 million visits per year, it is the most-visited national park in the United States.
The Great Smokies are part of an International Biosphere Reserve. The range is home to an estimated 187000 acres (756.8 km²) of old growth forest, constituting the largest such stand east of the
Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. The
coveIn the central and southern Appalachian Mountains of Eastern North America, a cove is a small valley between two ridge lines that is closed at one or both ends....
hardwood forests in the range's lower elevations are among the most diverse ecosystems in North America, and the
Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forestThe Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest is a type of montane coniferous forest that grows in the highest elevations in the southern Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States...
that coats the range's upper elevations is the largest of its kind. The Great Smokies are also home to the densest
black bearThe American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
population in the Eastern United States and the most diverse
salamanderSalamander is a common name of approximately 500 species of amphibians. They are typically characterized by a superficially lizard-like appearance, with their slender bodies, short noses, and long tails. All known fossils and extinct species fall under the order Caudata, while sometimes the extant...
population outside of the tropics.
Along with the Biosphere reserve, the Great Smokies have been designated a
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
. The U.S.
National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
preserves and maintains
78 structures within the national park that were once part of the numerous small
AppalachiaAppalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
n communities scattered throughout the range's river valleys and coves. The park contains five historic districts and nine individual listings on the
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
The name "Smoky" comes from the natural fog that often hangs over the range and presents as large smoke plumes from a distance. This fog, which is most common in the morning and after rainfall, is the result of warm humid air from the
Gulf of MexicoThe Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
cooling rapidly in the higher elevations of Southern Appalachia.
Geography
The Great Smoky Mountains stretch from the
Pigeon RiverThe Pigeon River of western North Carolina and east Tennessee rises above Canton, North Carolina. Below this, it flows roughly parallel to Interstate 40 for many miles and is impounded by a dam -- Walters Dam -- belonging to Progress Energy before entering Tennessee, where it flows into the French...
in the northeast to the
Little Tennessee RiverThe Little Tennessee River is a tributary of the Tennessee River, approximately 135 miles long, in the Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States.-Geography:...
to the southwest. The northwestern half of the range gives way to a series of elongate ridges known as the "Foothills," the outermost of which include
Chilhowee MountainChilhowee Mountain is a low ridge at the outer edge of the Great Smoky Mountains that stretches between the Little Tennessee River to the west and the Little Pigeon River watershed to the east...
and English Mountain. The range is roughly bounded on the south by the
Tuckasegee River and to the southeast by Soco Creek and Jonathan Creek. The Great Smokies comprise parts of
Blount CountyBlount County is a U.S. county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Its population was 123,010 at the United States Census, 2010. The county seat is at Maryville, which is also the county's largest city....
,
Sevier CountySevier County is a county of the state of Tennessee, United States. Its population was 71,170 at the 2000 United States Census. It is included in the Sevierville, Tennessee, Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette, TN Combined Statistical Area. The...
, and
Cocke County in Tennessee and
Swain CountySwain County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2000, the population was 12,968. Its county seat is Bryson City.Swain County is home of the Nantahala River . The Nantahala is one of the most popular whitewater rafting rivers in the nation...
and
Haywood County-National protected areas:* Blue Ridge Parkway * Great Smoky Mountains National Park * Pisgah National Forest -Major Highways & Roads:* Interstate 40* U.S. Highway 19* U.S. Highway 23* U.S. Highway 74* U.S...
in North Carolina.
The sources of several rivers are located in the Smokies, including the
Little Pigeon RiverThe Little Pigeon River is a river located entirely within Sevier County, Tennessee.It rises from a series of streams which flow together on the dividing ridge between the states of Tennessee and North Carolina inside the boundary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The river is subdivided...
, the Oconaluftee River, and
Little RiverLittle River is a scenic river in Tennessee which drains a area containing some of the most spectacular scenery in the southeastern United States. The first of the river are all located within the borders of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park...
. Streams in the Smokies are part of the
Tennessee RiverThe Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
watershed and are thus entirely west of the
Eastern Continental DivideThe Eastern Continental Divide, in conjunction with other continental divides of North America, demarcates two watersheds of the Atlantic Ocean: the Gulf of Mexico watershed and the Atlantic Seaboard watershed. Prior to 1760, the divide represented the boundary between British and French colonial...
. The largest stream wholly within the park is Abrams Creek, which rises in Cades Cove and empties into the Chilhowee Lake impoundment of the Little Tennessee River near
Chilhowee DamChilhowee Dam is a hydroelectric dam located in Blount and Monroe counties, Tennessee, between river mile 33 and 34 on the Little Tennessee River. Construction began in 1955 and was completed in 1957. The dam's reservoir covers approximately at normal full pool and has a drainage area of . The...
. Other major streams include Hazel Creek and Eagle Creek in the southwest, Raven Fork near
OconalufteeOconaluftee is the name of a river valley in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, located in the Southeastern United States. Formerly the site of a Cherokee village and Appalachian community, the valley's bottomland is now home to the main entrance to the North Carolina section of the...
, Cosby Creek near
CosbyCosby is an unincorporated community in Cocke County, Tennessee, United States. Although it is not a census-designated place, the ZIP Code Tabulation Area for the ZIP Code that serves Cosby had a population of 5,201 as of the 2000 U.S. Census...
, and Roaring Fork near
GatlinburgGatlinburg is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, Gatlinburg had a population of 3,828. The city is a popular vacation resort, as it rests on the border of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park along U.S...
. The Little Tennessee River passes through five impoundments along the range's southwestern boundary, namely Tellico Lake,
Chilhowee LakeChilhowee Dam is a hydroelectric dam located in Blount and Monroe counties, Tennessee, between river mile 33 and 34 on the Little Tennessee River. Construction began in 1955 and was completed in 1957. The dam's reservoir covers approximately at normal full pool and has a drainage area of . The...
,
Calderwood LakeCalderwood Dam is a hydroelectric dam located along the Little Tennessee River in Blount and Monroe counties, Tennessee. Completed in 1930, the dam is owned and maintained by Tapoco, a subsidiary of the Aluminum Company of America , although the Tennessee Valley Authority controls the dam's...
,
Cheoah LakeThe Cheoah Dam is a hydroelectric complex located in Graham and Swain counties, North Carolina on the Little Tennessee River between river miles 51 and 52. The Cheoah Development consists of a dam and powerhouse, the first of several constructed by the Tallassee Power Company, now Tapoco...
, and
Fontana LakeFontana Lake is a reservoir impounded by Fontana Dam on the Little Tennessee River located in Graham and Swain counties in North Carolina. The lake forms part of the southern border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the northern border of part of the Nantahala National Forest. Depending on...
.
Notable peaks
The highest point in the Smokies is
Clingmans DomeClingmans Dome is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina, in the southeastern United States. At an elevation of , it is the highest mountain in the Smokies, the highest point in the state of Tennessee, and the highest point along the Appalachian Trail...
, which rises to an elevation of 6643 feet (2,024.8 m). The mountain is the highest in Tennessee and the third highest in the Appalachian range. Clingmans Dome also has the range's highest topographical prominence at 4503 feet (1,372.5 m).
Mount Le ConteMount Le Conte is a mountain in Sevier County, Tennessee located within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. At it is the third highest peak in the national park, behind Clingmans Dome and Mount Guyot...
is the
tallest (i.e., from immediate base to summit) mountain in the range, rising 5301 feet (1,615.7 m) from its base in Gatlinburg to its 6593 feet (2,009.5 m) summit.
| Mountain |
Elevation |
Prominence |
General location |
Name after |
Clingmans DomeClingmans Dome is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina, in the southeastern United States. At an elevation of , it is the highest mountain in the Smokies, the highest point in the state of Tennessee, and the highest point along the Appalachian Trail...
|
6,643 ft/2,025 m |
4,503 ft/1,373 m |
Central Smokies |
Thomas Lanier ClingmanThomas Lanier Clingman , known as the "Prince of Politicians," was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1843 to 1845 and from 1847 to 1858, and U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina between 1858 and 1861...
(1812–1897), surveyor |
Mount GuyotMount Guyot is a mountain in the eastern Great Smoky Mountains, located inthe southeastern United States. At above sea level, Guyot is the fourth-highestsummit in the eastern U.S., and the second-highest in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park...
|
6,621 ft/ 2,018m |
1,581 ft/482 m |
Eastern Smokies |
Arnold Guyot (1807–1884), surveyor |
| Mount Le Conte |
6,593 ft/2,010 m |
1,360 ft/415 m |
Central Smokies |
Joseph Le Conte or John Le ConteJohn Le Conte was an American scientist and academic. He served as President of the University of California, Berkeley.-Biography:...
, scientists |
| Mount Chapman Mount Chapman is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. It has an elevation of 6,417 feet above sea level. While the mountain is located deep within the Great Smokies, the Appalachian Trail crosses its eastern slope, coming to within of the summit...
|
6,417 ft/1,956 m |
577 ft/176 m |
Eastern Smokies |
David Chapman (1876–1944), park promoter |
Old BlackOld Black is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. While often overshadowed by Mount Guyot, its higher neighbor to the south, Old Black is the 4th-highest mountain in...
|
6,370 ft/1,942 m |
170 ft/52 m |
Eastern Smokies |
Spruce-fir stand at summit |
| Luftee Knob |
6,234 ft/1,900 m |
314 ft/96 m |
Eastern Smokies |
Oconaluftee River |
| Mount Kephart Mount Kephart is a mountain in the central Great Smoky Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. The Appalachian Trail crosses the mountain's south slope, making it a key destination for thru-hikers. The Jumpoff, a cliff on the northeast side of the mountain, allows for spectacular...
|
6,217 ft/1,895 m |
657 ft/200 m |
Central Smokies |
Horace Kephart Horace Kephart was an American travel writer and librarian, best known as the author of Our Southern Highlanders, about his life in the Great Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina.-Biography:...
(1862–1931), author |
Mount CollinsMount Collins is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. It has an elevation of above sea level. Located along the Appalachian Trail between Clingmans Dome and Newfound Gap, the mountain is a popular destination for thru-hikers. A backcountry shelter...
|
6,188 ft/1,886 m |
465 ft/142 m |
Central Smokies |
Robert Collins, mountain guide |
| Marks Knob Marks Knob is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains, in the southeastern United States. It has an elevation of , with of clean prominence. Its summit— located near the center of the Eastern Smokies amidst a dense stand of Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest— is a popular...
|
6,169 ft/1,880 m |
appx. 249 ft/76 m |
Eastern Smokies |
|
| Tricorner Knob Tricorner Knob is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. It has an elevation of 6,120 feet , with 160 feet of clean prominence. The Appalachian Trail and Balsam Mountain Trail intersect near the mountain's summit, making Tricorner Knob the great...
|
6,120 ft/1,865 m |
160 ft/48 m |
Eastern Smokies |
Intersection of Balsam crest and Great Smokies crest |
| Andrews Bald Andrews Bald is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. It has an elevation of above sea level, making it the highest grassy bald in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The mountain is one of two grassy balds maintained in the range by the park...
|
5,920 ft/1,804 m |
160 ft/48 m |
Central Smokies |
possibly Andres Thompson, early settler |
| Mount Sterling Mount Sterling is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains of Haywood County, North Carolina, located in the southeastern United States. It reaches an elevation of above sea level...
|
5,842 ft/1,781 m |
663 ft/202 m |
Eastern Smokies |
possibly leadLead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
at mountain's base mistaken for silver |
| Silers Bald Silers Bald is a mountain in the western Great Smoky Mountains, located in theSoutheastern United States. Its proximity to Clingmans Dome and its location alongthe Appalachian Trail make it a popular hiking destination....
|
5,607 ft/1,709 m |
337 ft/102 m |
Western Smokies |
Jesse Siler, who used the mountain for grazing |
Thunderhead MountainThunderhead Mountain is a mountain in the west-central part of the Great Smoky Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. Rising along the border between Tennessee and North Carolina, the mountain dominates the Western Smokies. The Appalachian Trail crosses its summit, making it a...
|
5,527 ft/1,684 m |
1087 ft/332 m |
Western Smokies |
constant cloud cover |
Gregory BaldGregory Bald is a mountain on the western fringe of the Great Smoky Mountains. It has an elevation of 4,949 feet above sea level. The mountain's majestic summit makes it a popular hiking destination....
|
4,949 ft/1,508 m |
1,107 ft/337 m |
Western Smokies |
Russell Gregory (1805–1863), Cades Cove Cades Cove is an isolated valley located in the Tennessee section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA. The valley was home to numerous settlers before the formation of the national park...
resident |
| Mount Cammerer Mount Cammerer is a mountain on the northeastern fringe of the Great Smoky Mountains, in the Southeastern United States. The mountain is situated on the state line between Cocke County, Tennessee and Haywood County, North Carolina...
|
4,928 ft/1,502 m |
8 ft/2 m |
Eastern Smokies |
Arno B. Cammerer Arno Berthold Cammerer was the third director of the U.S. National Park Service.Cammerer was born in Arapahoe, Nebraska in 1883. He was the son of a Lutheran pastor. He went to Washington, D.C in 1904 to work as a civil service bookkeeper, and earned a Bachelor of Law degree at Georgetown Law...
(1883–1941), NPSThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
director |
Chimney TopsChimney Tops is a mountain in the central Great Smoky Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. It has an elevation of 4,800 feet . It is one of the park's most recognizable geological structures and a popular hiking destination....
|
4,800 ft/1,463 m |
appx. 200 ft/61 m |
Central Smokies |
resemblance to cabin chimneys |
| Blanket Mountain |
4,607 ft/1,404 m |
appx. 500 ft/152 m |
Western Smokies |
blanket left atop mountain by surveyor Return Meigs Return Jonathan Meigs [born December 17 or December 28 , 1740; died January 28, 1823] was a colonel who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, was one of the founding settlers of the Northwest Territory in what is now the state of Ohio, and later served as a federal...
for a reference point |
| Shuckstack Shuckstack is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. It has an elevation of above sea level, and rises approximately above Fontana Lake, to the south....
|
4,020 ft/1,225 m |
300 ft/91 m |
Western Smokies |
|
Climate
The Smokies rise prominently above the surrounding low terrain. For example, Mount Le Conte (6,593 feet or 2,010 m) rises more than a mile (1.6 km) above its base. Because of their prominence, the Smokies receive heavy annual amounts of precipitation. Annual precipitation amounts range from 50 to 80 inches (130–200 cm), and snowfall in the winter can be heavy, especially on the higher slopes. For comparison, the surrounding terrain has annual precipitation of around 40 to 50 inches (100–130 cm).
Flooding often occurs after heavy rain. In 2004, the remnants of
Hurricane FrancesHurricane Frances was the sixth named storm, the fourth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. The system crossing the open Atlantic during mid to late August, moving to the north of the Lesser Antilles while strengthening. Its outer bands affected Puerto...
caused major flooding,
landslideA landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
s, and high winds, which was soon followed by
Hurricane IvanHurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde-type hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season...
, making the situation worse. Other post-hurricanes, including
Hurricane HugoHurricane Hugo was a classical, destructive and rare Cape Verde-type hurricane which struck the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe, Montserrat, St. Croix, Puerto Rico and the USA mainland in South Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane during September of the 1989 Atlantic hurricane season...
in 1989, have caused similar damage in the Smokies.
Geology
Most of the rocks in the Great Smoky Mountains consist of Late
PrecambrianThe Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
rocks that are part of a formation known as the
Ocoee Supergroup. The Ocoee Supergroup consists primarily of slightly metamorphosed sandstones, phyllites, schists, and slate. Early Precambrian rocks, which include the oldest rocks in the Smokies, comprise the dominant rock type in the Raven Fork Valley (near
OconalufteeOconaluftee is the name of a river valley in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, located in the Southeastern United States. Formerly the site of a Cherokee village and Appalachian community, the valley's bottomland is now home to the main entrance to the North Carolina section of the...
) and upper Tuckasegee River between
CherokeeCherokee is a town in Swain County, North Carolina, USA, within the Qualla Boundary land trust. It is located in the Oconaluftee River Valley, near the intersection of U.S. Route 19 and U.S...
and
Bryson CityBryson City is a town in Swain County, North Carolina in the United States. The population was 1,353 as of 2009, a decrease of 4.1% since the 2000 census...
. They consist primarily of metamorphic
gneissGneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
,
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
, and
schistThe schists constitute a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. Quartz often occurs in drawn-out grains to such an extent that a particular form called quartz schist is...
. Cambrian sedimentary rocks are found among the outer reaches of the Foothills to the northwest and in limestone coves such as
Cades CoveCades Cove is an isolated valley located in the Tennessee section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA. The valley was home to numerous settlers before the formation of the national park...
.
The Precambrian gneiss and schists— the oldest rocks in the Smokies— formed over a billion years ago from the accumulation of marine sediments and igneous rock in a primordial ocean. In the Late Precambrian period, this ocean expanded, and the more recent Ocoee Supergroup rocks formed from accumulations of the eroding land mass onto the ocean's continental shelf. By the end of the
PaleozoicThe Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...
era, the ancient ocean had deposited a thick layer of marine sediments which left behind sedimentary rocks such as limestone. During the Ordovician period, the North American and African plates collided, destroying the ancient ocean and initiating the
Alleghenian orogenyThe Alleghenian orogeny or Appalachian orogeny is one of the geological mountain-forming events that formed the Appalachian Mountains and Allegheny Mountains. The term and spelling Alleghany orogeny was originally proposed by H.P. Woodward in 1957....
— the mountain-building epoch that created the Appalachian range. The Mesozoic era saw the rapid erosion of the softer sedimentary rocks from the new mountains, re-exposing the older Ocoee Supergroup formations.
Around 20,000 years ago, subarctic glaciers advanced southward across North America, and although they never reached the Smokies, the advancing glaciers led to colder mean annual temperatures and an increase in precipitation throughout the range. Trees were unable to survive at the higher elevations, and were replaced by
tundraIn physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
vegetation. Spruce-fir forests occupied the valleys and slopes below approximately 4950 feet (1,508.8 m). The persistent freezing and thawing during this period created the large blockfields that are often found at the base of large mountain slopes. Between 16,500 and 12,500 years ago, the glaciers to the north retreated and mean annual temperatures rose. The tundra vegetation disappeared, and the spruce-fir forests retreated to the highest elevations. Hardwood trees moved into the region from the coastal plains, replacing the spruce-fir forests in the lower elevations. The temperatures continued warming until around 6,000 years ago, when they began to gradually grow cooler.
Flora
Heavy logging in the late 19th-century and early 20th-century devastated much of the forests of the Smokies, but the National Park Service estimates 187000 acres (756.8 km²) of old growth forest remains, comprising the largest old growth stand in the Eastern United States. Most of the forest is a mature second-growth hardwood forest. The range's 1,600 species of flowering plants include over 100 species of native trees and 100 species of native shrubs. The Great Smokies are also home to over 450 species of non-vascular plants, and 2,000 species of fungi.
The forests of the Smokies are typically divided into three zones— the cove hardwood forests in the stream valleys, coves, and lower mountain slopes, the northern hardwood forests on the higher mountain slopes, and the spruce-fir or boreal forest at the very highest elevations.
BaldsIn the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States, balds are mountain summits or crests covered primarily by thick vegetation of native grasses or shrubs occurring in areas where heavy forest growth would be expected....
— patches of land where trees are unexpectedly absent or sparse— are interspersed through the mid-to-upper elevations in the range. Balds include grassy balds, which are highland meadows covered primarily by thick grasses, and heath balds, which are dense thickets of rhododendron and mountain laurel typically occurring on narrow ridges. Mixed oak-pine forests are found on dry ridges, especially on the south-facing North Carolina side of the range. Stands dominated by the Eastern
HemlockTsuga is a genus of conifers in the family Pinaceae. The common name hemlock is derived from a perceived similarity in the smell of its crushed foliage to that of the unrelated plant poison hemlock....
are occasionally found along streams and broad slopes above 3500 feet (1,066.8 m).
The cove hardwood forest
Cove hardwood forests, which are native to Southern Appalachia, are among the most diverse forest types in North America. The cove hardwood forests of the Smokies are mostly second-growth, although some 72000 acres (291.4 km²) are still old-growth. The Albright Grove along the
Maddron Bald TrailThe Maddron Bald Trail is an American hiking trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park of Cocke County, Tennessee. Rising from the outskirts of the Cosby community, the trail ascends Maddron Bald, a mountain crowned by one of the park's most substantial heath balds...
(between Gatlinburg and Cosby) is an accessible old-growth forest with some of the oldest and tallest trees in the entire range.
Over 130 species of trees are found among the canopies of the cove hardwood forests in the Smokies. The dominant species include yellow birch,
basswoodTilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The greatest species diversity is found in Asia, and the genus also occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but not western North America...
,
buckeyeThe genus Aesculus comprises 13-19 species of woody trees and shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere, with 6 species native to North America and 7-13 species native to Eurasia; there are also several hybrids. Species are deciduous or evergreen...
, tuliptree (commonly called "tulip poplar"),
silverbellHalesia , also known as is a small genus of four or five species of deciduous large shrubs or small trees in the family Styracaceae, native to eastern Asia and eastern North America...
, sugar maple, magnolia, hickory, and hemlock. The
American chestnutThe American Chestnut is a large, deciduous tree of the beech family native to eastern North America. Before the species was devastated by the chestnut blight, a fungal disease, it was one of the most important forest trees throughout its range...
, which was arguably the most beloved tree of the range's pre-park inhabitants, was killed off by a blight in the 1920s.
The understories of the cove hardwood forest contain dozens of species of shrubs and vines. Dominant species in the Smokies include the redbud, dogwood,
rhododendronRhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...
,
mountain laurelKalmia latifolia, commonly called Mountain-laurel or Spoonwood, is a species of flowering plant in the blueberry family, Ericaceae, that is native to the eastern United States. Its range stretches from southern Maine south to northern Florida, and west to Indiana and Louisiana. Mountain-laurel is...
, and
hydrangeaHydrangea is a genus of about 70 to 75 species of flowering plants native to southern and eastern Asia and North and South America. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Japan, and Korea...
.
The northern hardwood forest
The mean annual temperatures in the higher elevations in the Smokies are cool enough to support forest types more commonly found in the northern United States. The northern hardwood forests of the Smokies constitute the highest
broad-leavedA broad-leaved tree or broad-leaf tree or broadleaf tree is any tree that has wide leaves, rather than slim, needle-like leaves as found in conifers...
forest in the eastern United States. About 28600 acres (115.7 km²) of the northern hardwood forest are old-growth.
In the Smokies, the northern hardwood canopies are dominated by yellow birch and
beechBeech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
. White basswood, mountain and striped maple, and buckeye are also present. The northern hardwood understory is home to diverse species such as coneflower, skunk goldenrod,
Rugels ragwortRugelia nudicaulis, or Rugels ragwort, a member of the genus Rugelia which blooms in summer, is a wildflower found only at higher elevations in the Great Smoky Mountains. It is a rare species in Tennessee. It was first placed in the genus Senecio, then moved to Cacalia and finally placed in a...
,
bloodrootBloodroot is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant native to eastern North America from Nova Scotia, Canada southward to Florida, United States...
, hydrangea, and several species of grasses and ferns.
One unique community in the northern hardwoods of the Smokies is the beech gap, or beech orchard. Beech gaps consist of high mountain gaps that have been monopolized by beech trees. The beech trees are often twisted and contorted by the high winds that occur in these gaps. Why other tree types such as the red spruce fail to encroach into the beech gaps is unknown.
The spruce-fir forest
The spruce-fir forest— also called the "boreal" or "Canadian" forest— is a relic of the Ice Ages, when mean annual temperatures in the Smokies were too cold to support a hardwood forest. While the rise in temperatures between 12,500 and 6,000 years ago allowed the hardwoods to return, the spruce-fir forest has managed to survive on the harsh mountain tops, typically above 5500 feet (1,676.4 m). About 10600 acres (42.9 km²) of the spruce-fir forest are old-growth.
The spruce-fir forest consists primarily of two conifer species— red spruce and Fraser Fir. The Fraser Firs, which are native to Southern Appalachia, once dominated elevations above 6200 feet (1,889.8 m) in the Great Smokies. Most of these firs were killed, however, by an infestation of the balsam wooly adelgid, which arrived in the Smokies in the early 1960s. Thus, red spruce is now the dominant species in the range's spruce-fir forest. Large stands of dead Fraser Firs remain atop Clingmans Dome and on the northwestern slopes of Old Black. While much of the red spruce stands in the Smokies were logged during
World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the tree is still common throughout the range above 5500 feet (1,676.4 m). Some of the red spruce trees in the Smokies are believed to be 300 years old, and the tallest rise to over 100 feet (30.5 m).
The main difference between the spruce-fir forests of Southern Appalachia and the spruce-fir forests in northern latitudes is the dense broad-leaved understory of the former. The spruce-fir understories of the Smokies are home to
catawba rhododendronRhododendron catawbiense is a species of Rhododendron native to the eastern United States, growing mainly in the Appalachian Mountains from Virginia south to northern Alabama....
,
mountain ashThe tree species Sorbus americana is commonly known as the American Mountain-ash. It is a relatively small deciduous perennial tree, native to eastern northern North America....
, pin cherry, thornless blackberry, and
hobblebushViburnum lantanoides is a perennial shrub of the family Adoxaceae growing 2–4 meters high with pendulous branches that take root where they touch the ground...
. The herbaceous and litter layers of the spruce-fir forests are poorly lit year-round, and are thus dominated by shade-tolerant plants such as ferns, namely
mountain wood fernDryopteris campyloptera, also known as the mountain wood fern, is a large American fern of higher elevations and latitudes. It was once known as Dryopteris spinulosa var. Americana. This species also has been referred to as D. austriaca and D. dilatata...
and
northern lady fernAthyrium filix-femina is a large, feathery species of fern native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, where it is often abundant in damp, shady woodland environments and is often grown for decoration.The plant is caespitose Athyrium filix-femina (Lady Fern or Common Lady-fern)...
, and over 280 species of mosses.
Wildflowers
Many
wildflowerA wildflower is a flower that grows wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. Yet "wildflower" meadows of a few mixed species are sold in seed packets. The term "wildflower" has been made vague by commercial seedsmen who are interested in selling more flowers or seeds more...
s grow in mountains and valleys of the Great Smokies, including bee balm,
Solomon's sealSolomon's Seal may refer to:*Seal of Solomon, a legendary object*Solomon's Seal , by Pentangle*Star of David, a hexagram symbol of Judaism*Polygonatum, a genus of flowering plants...
, Dutchman's breeches, various
trilliumTrillium is a genus of about 40–50 species of spring ephemeral perennials, native to temperate regions of North America and Asia....
s, the Dragon's Advocate and even hardy orchids. There are two native species of rhododendron in the area. The Catawba rhododendron has purple flowers in May and June, while the
rosebay rhododendronRhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...
has longer leaves and blooms white or a light pink in June and July. The orange- to sometimes red-flowered and deciduous
flame azaleaRhododendron calendulaceum , is a species of Rhododendron native to the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States, ranging from southern New York to northern Georgia....
closely follows along with the Catawbas. The closely related mountain laurel blooms in between the two, and all of the blooms progress from lower to higher elevations. The reverse is true in
autumnAutumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....
, when nearly bare mountaintops covered in
rime iceHard rime is a white ice that forms when the water droplets in fog freeze to the outer surfaces of objects. It is often seen on trees atop mountains and ridges in winter, when low-hanging clouds cause freezing fog...
(frozen fog) can be separated from green
valleyIn geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
s by very bright and varied leaf colors. The rhododendrons are broadleafs, whose leaves droop in order to shed wet and heavy
snowSnow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
s that come through the region in winter.
Fauna
The Great Smoky Mountains are home to 66 species of mammals, over 240 species of birds, 43 species of amphibians, 60 species of fish, and 40 species of reptiles. The range has the densest black bear population east of the Mississippi River. The black bear has come to symbolize wildlife in the Smokies, and the animal frequently appears on the covers of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park's literature. Most of the range's adult eastern black bears weigh between 100 pounds (45.4 kg) and 300 pounds (136.1 kg), although some grow to more than 500 pounds (226.8 kg).
Other mammals in the Great Smokies include the
white-tailed deerThe white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
, the population of which drastically expanded with the creation of the national park. The
bobcatThe bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...
is the range's only remaining wild cat species, although sightings of mountain lions— which once thrived in the area— are still occasionally reported. The
coyoteThe coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
is not believed to be native to the range, but has moved into the area in recent years and is treated as a native species. Two species of fox— the
red foxThe red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...
and the
gray foxThe gray fox is a mammal of the order Carnivora ranging throughout most of the southern half of North America from southern Canada to the northern part of South America...
— are found in the Smokies, with red foxes being documented at all elevations. European
BoarWild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...
s, introduced as game animals in the early 20th century, thrive in Southern Appalachia but are considered a nuisance due to their tendency to root up and destroy plants. The boars are seen as taking food resources away from bears as well, and the park service has sponsored a program that pays individuals to hunt and kill boars and leave their bodies in locations frequented by bears. The Smokies are home to over two dozen species of rodents, including the endangered
northern flying squirrelThe Northern flying squirrel is one of two species of the genus Glaucomys, the only flying squirrels found in North America . Unlike most members of their family, flying squirrels are strictly nocturnal...
, and 10 species of bats, including the endangered
Indiana batThe Indiana bat is a medium-sized mouse-eared bat native to North America. It lives primarily in eastern and midwestern states and in parts of the south of the United States. The Indiana bat is gray, black, or chestnut in colour and is 1.2–2 inches and weighs about 1/4 an ounce...
. The National Park Service has successfully reintroduced river otters and
elkThe Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...
into the Great Smokies. An attempt to reintroduce the red wolf in the early 1990s ultimately failed.
The Smokies are home to a diverse bird population due to the presence of multiple forest types. Species that thrive in southern hardwood forests, such as the
Red-eyed VireoThe Red-eyed Vireo, Vireo olivaceus, is a small American songbird, 13–14 cm in length. It is somewhat warbler-like but not closely related to the New World warblers...
,
Wood ThrushThe Wood Thrush, Hylocichla mustelina, is a North American passerine bird. It is closely related to other thrushes such as the American Robin and is widely distributed across North America, wintering in Central America and southern Mexico...
,
Wild TurkeyThe Wild Turkey is native to North America and is the heaviest member of the Galliformes. It is the same species as the domestic turkey, which derives from the South Mexican subspecies of wild turkey .Adult wild turkeys have long reddish-yellow to grayish-green...
,
Northern ParulaThe Northern Parula, Parula americana, is a small New World warbler. It breeds in eastern North America from southern Canada to Florida....
,
Ruby-throated HummingbirdThe Ruby-throated Hummingbird , is a small hummingbird. It is the only species of hummingbird that regularly nests east of the Mississippi River in North America.- Description :...
, and
Tufted TitmouseThe Tufted Titmouse, Baeolophus bicolor, is a small songbird from North America, a species in the tit and chickadee family . The Black-crested Titmouse, found from central and southern Texas southwards, was included as a subspecies but is now considered a separate species B...
, are found throughout the range's lower elevations and cove hardwood forests. Species more typical of cooler climates, such as the Northern Raven,
Winter WrenThe Winter Wren is a very small North American bird and a member of the mainly New World wren family Troglodytidae. It was once lumped with Troglodytes pacificus of western North America and Troglodytes troglodytes of Eurasia under the name Winter Wren.It breeds in coniferous forests from British...
,
Black-capped ChickadeeThe Black-capped Chickadee is a small, North American songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is the state bird of both Maine and Massachusetts in the United States, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick in Canada...
,
Yellow-bellied SapsuckerThe Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is a medium-sized woodpecker found in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.-Taxonomy:...
,
Dark-eyed JuncoThe Dark-eyed Junco is the best-known species of the juncos, a genus of small grayish American sparrows. This bird is common across much of temperate North America and in summer ranges far into the Arctic...
, and
BlackburnianThe Blackburnian Warbler, Dendroica fusca , is a small New World warbler. They breed in eastern North America, from southern Canada, westwards to the southern Canadian Prairies, the Great Lakes region and New England, to North Carolina....
,
Chestnut-sidedThe Chestnut-sided Warbler is a New World warbler. They breed in eastern North America and in southern Canada westwards to the Canadian Prairies...
, and
Canada warblerThe Canada Warbler is a small 13 cm long songbird of the New World warbler family.These birds have yellow underparts, blue-grey upperparts and pink legs; they also have yellow eye-rings and thin, pointed bills. Adult males have black foreheads and black necklaces...
s, are found in the range's spruce-fir and northern hardwood zones. Ovenbirds,
Whip-poor-willThe Eastern Whip-poor-will, Caprimulgus vociferus, is a medium-sized nightjar from North and Central America. The whip-poor-will is commonly heard within its range, but less often seen because of its superior camouflage...
s, and
Downy WoodpeckerThe Downy Woodpecker is a species of woodpecker, the smallest in North America.- Description :Adult Downy Woodpeckers are mainly black on the upperparts and wings, with a white back, throat and belly and white spotting on the wings. There is a white bar above the eye and one below. They have a...
s live in the drier pine-oak forests and heath balds.
Bald EagleThe Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
s and
Golden EagleThe Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...
s have been spotted at all elevations in the park.
Peregrine FalconThe Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
sightings are also not uncommon, and a Peregrine falcon eyrie is known to have existed near Alum Cave Bluffs throughout the 1930s.
Red-tailed HawkThe Red-tailed Hawk is a bird of prey, one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "chickenhawk," though it rarely preys on standard sized chickens. It breeds throughout most of North America, from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West...
s, the most common hawk species, have been sighted at all elevations in the range. Owl species residing in the Smokies include the
Barred owlThe Barred Owl is a large typical owl. It goes by many other names, including eight hooter, rain owl, wood owl, and striped owl, but is probably best known as the hoot owl.-Description:...
, Eastern Screech-Owl, and Northern Saw-whet owl.
Timber rattlesnakesCrotalus horridus, the timber rattlesnake, is a species of venomous pitviper found in the eastern United States. This is the only rattlesnake species in most of the populous northeastern United States. No subspecies are currently recognized....
— one of two poisonous snake species in the Smokies— are found at all elevations in the range. The other poisonous snake, the
copperheadCopperhead may refer to:Snakes:* Agkistrodon contortrix, a venomous pit viper species found in parts of North America.* Agkistrodon piscivorus, a.k.a. the cottonmouth, another venomous pit viper species found in North America....
, is typically found at lower elevations. Other reptiles include the
eastern box turtleThe eastern box turtle is a subspecies within a group of hinge-shelled turtles, normally called box turtles. T. c. carolina is native to an eastern part of the United States....
, the fence lizard, the black rat snake, and the
northern water snakeThe Northern water snake is a large, nonvenomous, well-known snake in the Colubridae family that is native to North America.-Behavior:...
.
The Great Smokies are home to one of the world's most diverse salamander populations. Five of the world's nine
familiesIn biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of salamanders are found in the range, consisting of up to thirty-one species. A type of
Jordan's salamanderWoodland salamanders are lungless salamanders of the genus Plethodon. They are so named due to their habitat, woodlands, and the fact that they have no aquatic larval stage. Eggs are laid underneath a stone or log and young hatch in the adult form....
known as the redcheek salamander is found only in the Smokies. The Imitator salamander is found only in the Smokies and the nearby
Plott BalsamsThe Plott Balsams are a mountain range in western North Carolina, in the southeastern United States. They are part of the Blue Ridge Mountain Province of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The Plott Balsams stretch from the city of Sylva in the Tuckasegee River valley to the southwest to Maggie...
and
Great Balsam MountainsThe Great Balsam Mountains, or Balsam Mountains, are in the mountain region of western North Carolina, United States. The Great Balsams are a subrange of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which in turn are a part of the Appalachian Mountains...
. Two other species— the Southern gray-cheeked salamander and the Southern Appalachian salamander— occur only in the general region. Other species include the shovelnose,
Blackbelly SalamanderThe Blackbelly Salamander is a species of salamander in the Plethodontidae family.It is endemic to the United States.Its natural habitats are rivers, intermittent rivers, and freshwater springs....
,
Eastern Red-spotted NewtThe Eastern Newt or Red-spotted Newt is a common salamander of eastern North America. Eastern newts dwell in wet forests with small lakes or ponds. They can coexist in an aquatic environment with fish, however, their skin secretes a poisonous substance when the newt is threatened or injured...
, and
Spotted Dusky salamanderDesmognathus is a genus of lungless salamanders known as dusky salamanders, ranging from Eastern USA to Southeastern Canada.-Species:This genus includes the following 21 species:...
. The legendary hellbender inhabits the range's swifter streams. Other amphibians include the
American toadThe American Toad is a common species of toad found throughout the eastern United States and Canada. It is divided into three subspecies—the Eastern American Toad , the Dwarf American Toad , and the rare Hudson Bay Toad...
and the American bullfrog,
wood frogThe Wood Frog has a broad distribution over North America, extending from the southern Appalachians to the boreal forest with several notable disjunct populations including lowland eastern North Carolina...
, Upland chorus frog, Northern green frog, and
spring peeperThe Spring Peeper is a small chorus frog widespread throughout the eastern USA and Canada.-Subspecies:There are two subspecies of the Spring Peeper, the Northern and the Southern Spring Peeper . The Northern is similar to the Southern except for a strong dark marking on the Southern frog's belly...
.
Fish inhabiting the streams of the Smokies include
troutTrout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
,
lampreyLampreys are a family of jawless fish, whose adults are characterized by a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth. Translated from an admixture of Latin and Greek, lamprey means stone lickers...
,
darterThe darters or snakebirds are mainly tropical waterbirds in the family Anhingidae. There are four living species, three of which are very common and widespread while the fourth is rarer and classified as near-threatened by the IUCN. The term "snakebird" is usually used without any additions to...
,
shinerShiner may refer to:*Shiner , an Atlanta based design firm*Esther Shiner, a deceased Toronto municipal politician* Lewis Shiner , an American writer*Shiner *Shiner, Texas*Shiner , a line of beers brewed by the Spoetzl Brewery...
,
bassBass is a name shared by many different species of popular gamefish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species. All belong to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes, and in fact the word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch."-Types of basses:*The temperate...
, and
suckerCatostomidae is the sucker family of the order Cypriniformes. There are 80 species in this family of freshwater fishes. Catostomidae are found in North America, east central China, and eastern Siberia...
. The
brook troutThe brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, is a species of fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. In many parts of its range, it is known as the speckled trout or squaretail. A potamodromous population in Lake Superior are known as coaster trout or, simply, as coasters...
is the only trout species native to the range, although Northwestern
rainbow troutThe rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....
and European
brown troutThe brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
were introduced in the first half of the 20th-century. The larger rainbow and brown trout outcompete the native brook trout for food and habitat at lower elevations. As such, most of the brook trout found in the park today are in streams above 3000 feet in elevation. Trout in the Smokies are generally smaller than other members of their species in different locales. Protected fish species in the range include the smoky and yellowfin
madtomMadtoms or stonecats are catfishes of the genus Noturus of the family Ictaluridae. It is the most speciose group of catfish in North America....
, the spotfin chub, and the duskytail darter.
The lightning-bug firefly
Photinus carolinusPhotinus carolinus is a species of rover firefly whose mating displays of synchronous flashing have fascinated both scientists and tourists. As individual males synchronize with males nearby, waves of alternating bright light and darkness seem to travel across the landscape...
, whose synchronized flashing light displays occur in mid-June, is native to the Smoky Mountains with a population epicenter near
Elkmont, TennesseeElkmont is a region situated in the upper Little River Valley of the Great Smoky Mountains of Sevier County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Throughout its history, the valley has been home to a pioneer Appalachian community, a logging town, and a resort community...
.
Ecosystem threats
Air pollutionAir pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
may be contributing to increased Red Spruce tree mortality at higher elevations and oak decline at lower elevations, while
invasive"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
hemlock woolly adelgidHemlock woolly adelgid , commonly abbreviated as HWA, is a true bug native to East Asia that feeds by sucking sap from hemlock trees . In eastern North America, it is a destructive pest that poses a major threat to the eastern hemlock and the Carolina hemlock...
s attack Hemlocks and
balsam woolly adelgidBalsam woolly adelgids are small wingless insects that infest and kill firs, especially Balsam Fir and Fraser Fir. They are an invasive species from Europe introduced to the United States around 1900....
s attack Fraser Firs.
Pseudoscymnus tsugae, a type of beetle in the ladybug family,
CoccinellidaeCoccinellidae is a family of beetles, known variously as ladybirds , or ladybugs . Scientists increasingly prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as these insects are not true bugs...
, has been
introducedBiological control of pests in agriculture is a method of controlling pests that relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms...
in an attempt to control the pests.
VisibilityIn meteorology, visibility is a measure of the distance at which an object or light can be clearly discerned. It is reported within surface weather observations and METAR code either in meters or statute miles, depending upon the country. Visibility affects all forms of traffic: roads, sailing...
now is dramatically reduced by
smogSmog is a type of air pollution; the word "smog" is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. Modern smog is a type of air pollution derived from vehicular emission from internal combustion engines and industrial fumes that react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary pollutants that also combine...
from both the
Southeastern United StatesThe Southeastern United States, colloquially referred to as the Southeast, is the eastern portion of the Southern United States. It is one of the most populous regions in the United States of America....
and the
MidwestThe Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
, and smog forecasts are prepared daily by the
Environmental Protection AgencyThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
for both nearby
Knoxville, TennesseeFounded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
and
Asheville, North CarolinaAsheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active...
.
Environmental threats are the concern of many non-profit environmental stewardship groups, especially The Friends of the Smokies. Formed in 1993, the friends group assists the National Park Service in its mission to preserve and protect the Great Smoky Mountains National Park by raising funds and public awareness, and providing volunteers for needed projects.
History
Prehistory
Native AmericansNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
have likely been hunting in the Great Smoky Mountains for 14,000 years. Numerous Archaic period (c. 8000-1000 B.C.) artifacts have been found within the national park's boundaries, including projectile points uncovered along likely animal migration paths.
Woodland periodThe Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures was from roughly 1000 BCE to 1000 CE in the eastern part of North America. The term "Woodland Period" was introduced in the 1930s as a generic header for prehistoric sites falling between the Archaic hunter-gatherers and the...
(c. 1000 B.C. - 1000 A.D.) sites found within the park contained 2000+-year-old ceramics and evidence of primitive agriculture.
The increasing reliance upon agriculture during the
Mississippian periodThe Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
(c. 900-1600 A.D.) lured Native Americans away from the game-rich forests of the Smokies and into the fertile river valleys on the outer fringe of the range. Substantial Mississippian-period villages were uncovered at
CiticoCitico is a prehistoric and historic Native American site in Monroe County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The site's namesake Cherokee village was the largest of the Overhill towns, housing an estimated population of 1,000 by the mid-18th century...
and
ToquaToqua is a prehistoric and historic Native American site in Monroe County, Tennessee, located in the southeastern United States. Along with the Overhill Cherokee village for which the site was named, Toqua was home to a substantial pre-Cherokee town that thrived during the Mississippian period...
(named after the Cherokee villages that later thrived at these sites) along the Little Tennessee River in the 1960s. Fortified Mississippian-period villages have been excavated at the McMahan Indian Mounds in
SeviervilleSevierville is a city in Sevier County, Tennessee, located in the Southeastern United States. Its population was 11,757 at the 2000 United States Census; in 2004 the estimated population was 14,101. Sevierville is the county seat of Sevier County, Tennessee....
and more recently in
TownsendTownsend is a city in Blount County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The population was 244 at the 2000 census. Townsend is one of three "gateways" to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the home of several museums and attractions relating to both the natural and human...
. Most of these villages were part of a minor chiefdom centered around a large village known as
ChiahaChiaha was a horticultural Native American chiefdom located in the lower French Broad River valley in modern East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. They lived in raised structures within boundaries of several stable villages. These overlooked the fields of maize, beans, squash, and...
, which was located on an island now submerged by
Douglas LakeDouglas Lake, also called Douglas Reservoir, is a reservoir created by an impoundment of the French Broad River in Eastern Tennessee. This lake is located only a few miles from the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area, and also the Great Smoky Mountains National Park...
. The 1540 expedition of
Hernando de SotoHernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who, while leading the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States, was the first European documented to have crossed the Mississippi River....
and the 1567 expedition of
Juan PardoJuan Pardo was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was active in the later half of the sixteenth century. He led a Spanish expedition through what is now North and South Carolina and into eastern Tennessee. He established Fort San Felipe, South Carolina , and the village of Santa Elena on...
passed through the
French Broad RiverThe French Broad River flows from near the village of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into the state of Tennessee. Its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville is the beginning of the Tennessee River....
valley north of the Smokies, both spending a considerable amount of time at Chiaha. The Pardo expedition followed a trail across the flanks of
Chilhowee MountainChilhowee Mountain is a low ridge at the outer edge of the Great Smoky Mountains that stretches between the Little Tennessee River to the west and the Little Pigeon River watershed to the east...
to the Mississippian-period villages at Chilhowee and Citico (Pardo's notary called them by their Muskogean names, "Chalahume" and "Satapo").
The Cherokee
By the time the first English explorers arrived in Southern Appalachia in the late 17th century, the Cherokee controlled much of the region, and the Great Smoky Mountains lay at the center of their territory. One Cherokee legend tells of a magical lake hidden deep within the range, but inaccessible to humans. Another tells of a captured
ShawneeThe Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
medicine man named Aganunitsi who, in exchange for his freedom, travels to the remote sections of the range in search of the Uktena. The Cherokee called Gregory Bald
Tsitsuyi, or "rabbit place," and believed the mountain to be the domain of the Great Rabbit. Other Cherokee place names in the Smokies included
Duniskwalgunyi, or "forked antlers", which referred to the Chimney Tops, and
kuwahi, or "mulberry place", which referred to Clingmans Dome.
Most Cherokee settlements were located in the river valleys on the outer fringe of the Great Smokies range. The Smokies, along with the Unicois, provided the main bulwark dividing the
Overhill CherokeeThe term Overhill Cherokee refers to the former Cherokee settlements located in what is now Tennessee in the southeastern United States. The name was given by 18th century European traders and explorers who had to cross the Appalachian Mountains to reach these settlements when traveling from...
villages in modern Tennessee from the Cherokee Middle towns in modern North Carolina. The Overhill town of
ChilhoweeChilhowee was a prehistoric and historic Native American site in Blount County and Monroe County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States...
was situated at the confluence of Abrams Creek and the Little Tennessee, and the Overhill town of
TallasseeTallassee is a prehistoric and historic Native American site in Blount County and Monroe County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Tallassee was the southernmost of a string of Overhill Cherokee villages that spanned the lower Little Tennessee River in the 18th century...
was located just a few miles upstream near modern
CalderwoodCalderwood was a community once located along the Little Tennessee River in Blount County, Tennessee, USA. Established in 1912 as a base for the Aluminum Company of America's Little Tennessee Valley hydroelectric development operations, the community continued to house construction personnel and...
(both village sites are now under Chilhowee Lake). A string of Overhill villages, including
ChotaChota is a historic Overhill Cherokee site in Monroe County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. For much of its history, Chota was the most important of the Overhill towns, serving as the de facto capital of the Cherokee people from the late 1740s until 1788...
and
TanasiTanasi is a historic Overhill Cherokee village site in Monroe County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The village is best known as the namesake for the state of Tennessee...
, dotted the Little Tennessee valley north of Chilhowee. The Cherokee Middle towns included the village of
KittowaThe Cherokee believe the ancient settlement of Kituwa or giduwa , on the Tuckasegee River is their original settlement and is one of the "seven mother towns" in the Southeast...
(which the Cherokee believed to be their oldest village) along the Tuckasegee River near Bryson City. The village of Oconaluftee, which was situated along the Oconaluftee River near the modern Oconaluftee Visitor Center, was the only known permanent Cherokee village located within the national park's boundaries. Sporadic or seasonal settlements were located in Cades Cove and the Hazel Creek valley.
European settlement
European explorers and settlers began arriving in Western North Carolina and East Tennessee in the mid-18th century. The influx of settlers at the end of the
French and Indian WarThe French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
brought conflict with the Cherokee, who still held legal title to much of the land. When the Cherokee aligned themselves with the British at the outbreak of the
American RevolutionThe American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
in 1776, American forces launched an invasion of Cherokee territory. The Middle towns, including Kittuwa, were burned by General Griffith Rutherford, and several of the Overhill towns were burned by
John SevierJohn Sevier served four years as the only governor of the State of Franklin and twelve years as Governor of Tennessee. As a U.S. Representative from Tennessee from 1811 until his death...
. By 1805, the Cherokee had ceded control of the Great Smokies to the U.S. government. Although much of the tribe was forced west along the
Trail of TearsThe Trail of Tears is a name given to the forced relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830...
in 1838, a few— largely through the efforts of
William Holland ThomasWilliam Holland Thomas was Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and an officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War....
— managed to retain their land on the
Qualla BoundaryThe Qualla Boundary is the territory where the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians reside in western North Carolina.-Location:...
and today comprise the
Eastern Band of Cherokee IndiansThe Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians , is a federally recognized Native American tribe in the United States of America, who are descended from Cherokee who remained in the Eastern United States while others moved, or were forced to relocate, to the west in the 19th century. The history of the...
.
In the 1780s, several frontier outposts had been established along the outskirts of the Smokies, namely Whitson's Fort in what is now
CosbyCosby is an unincorporated community in Cocke County, Tennessee, United States. Although it is not a census-designated place, the ZIP Code Tabulation Area for the ZIP Code that serves Cosby had a population of 5,201 as of the 2000 U.S. Census...
and Wear's Fort in what is now Pigeon Forge. Permanent settlers began arriving in these areas in the 1790s. In 1801, the Whaley brothers, William and John, moved from North Carolina to become the first settlers in what is now the
GreenbrierGreenbrier is a valley in the northern Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, located in the Southeastern United States. Now a recreational area, Greenbrier was once home to a string of Appalachian communities....
section of the park. The following year,
Edgefield, South CarolinaEdgefield is a town in Edgefield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 4,449 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Edgefield County.Edgefield is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area.-Geography:...
resident William Ogle (1751–1803) arrived in White Oak Flats where he cut and prepared logs for cabin construction. Although Ogle died shortly after returning to Edgefield, his wife, Martha Jane Huskey, eventually returned with her family and several other families to White Oak Flats, becoming the first permanent settlers in what would eventually become Gatlinburg. Their children and grandchildren spread out southward into the Sugarlands and
Roaring ForkRoaring Fork is a stream in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, located in the Southeastern United States. Once the site of a small Appalachian community, today the stream's area is home to the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail and the Roaring Fork Historic District.Like many mountain streams,...
areas. Cades Cove was settled largely by families who had purchased lots from land speculator William "Fighting Billy" Tipton. The first of these settlers, John and Lucretia Oliver, arrived in 1818. Two Cades Cove settlers, Moses and Patience Proctor, crossed over to the North Carolina side of the Smokies in 1836 to become the first Euro-American settlers in the
Hazel CreekHazel Creek is a tributary stream of the Little Tennessee River in the southwestern Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. The creek's bottomlands were home to several pioneer Appalachian communities and logging towns before its incorporation into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park...
area. The
CataloocheeCataloochee is a valley in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, located in the Southeastern United States. Now a recreational and historic area within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cataloochee was once home to a substantial Appalachian community and Cherokee hunting...
area was first settled by the Caldwell family, who migrated to the valley in 1834.
Like most of Southern Appalachia, the early 19th-century economy of the Smokies relied on
subsistence agricultureSubsistence agriculture is self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed their families. The typical subsistence farm has a range of crops and animals needed by the family to eat and clothe themselves during the year. Planting decisions are made with an eye...
. The average farm consisted of roughly 50 acre (0.202343 km²), part of which was cultivated and part of which was woodland. Early settlers lived in 16 feet (4.9 m) x 20 feet (6.1 m) log cabins, although these were replaced by more elaborate log houses and eventually, as lumber became available, by modern frame houses. Most farms included at least one barn, a springhouse (used for refrigeration), a
smokehouseA smokehouse is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.-History:...
(used for curing meat), a chicken coop (protected chickens from predators), and a corn crib (kept corn dry and protected it from rodents). Some of the more industrious farmers operated
gristmillThe terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
s, general stores, and sorghum presses. Religion was a central theme in the lives of the early residents of the Smokies, and community life was typically centered around churches. Christian Protestantism— especially Primitive Baptists,
Missionary BaptistsMissionary Baptists are a group of Baptists that grew out of the missionary / anti-missionary controversy that divided Baptists in the United States in the early part of the 19th century, with Missionary Baptists following the pro-missions movement position...
, Methodists, and Presbyterians; dominated the religious culture of the region.
The American Civil War
While both Tennessee and North Carolina joined the
ConfederacyThe Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
at the outbreak of the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
in 1861,
UnionDuring the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
sentiment in the Great Smoky Mountains was much stronger relative to other regions in these two states. Generally, the communities on the Tennessee side of the Smokies supported the Union, while communities on the North Carolina side supported the Confederates. On the Tennessee side, 74% of Cocke Countians, 80% of Blount Countians, and 96% of Sevier Countians voted against secession. On the North Carolina side, Haywood County, Jackson County, and Macon County (Swain was formed from parts of the latter two in 1870) voted for secession.
While no major engagements took place in the Smokies, minor skirmishes were fairly common. Cherokee chief William Holland Thomas formed a Confederate legion made up mostly of Cherokee soldiers. Thomas' Legion crossed the Smokies in 1862 and occupied Gatlinburg for several months to protect salt peter mines atop Mount Le Conte. Residents of predominantly Union Cades Cove and predominantly Confederate Hazel Creek routinely crossed the mountains to steal one others' livestock. Residents of Cosby and Cataloochee did likewise. One notable Civil War incident in the Smokies was the murder of long-time Cades Cove resident Russell Gregory (for whom Gregory Bald is named), which was carried out by
bushwhackerBushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, American Civil War and other conflicts in which there are large areas of contested land and few Governmental Resources to control these tracts...
s in 1864 shortly after Gregory had led an ambush that routed a band of Confederates seeking to wreak havoc in the cove. Another incident was George Kirk's raid on Cataloochee, in which Kirk killed or wounded 15 Union soldiers recovering at a makeshift hospital.
Logging
While selective logging occurred in the Great Smoky Mountains throughout the 19th century, the general inaccessibility of the range's forests prevented major logging operations, and lumber firms relied on the lowland forests in the northeastern United States and the
Mississippi DeltaThe Mississippi Delta is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. The region has been called "The Most Southern Place on Earth" because of its unique racial, cultural, and economic history...
in the southeast. As timber resources in these regions became exhausted, and as the demand for lumber skyrocketed after the Civil War, entrepreneurs began looking for ways to reach the virgin forests of Southern Appalachia. The first logging operations in the Smokies, which began in the 1880s, used
splash damA splash dam was a temporary wooden dam used to raise the water level in streams to float logs downstream to sawmills. By impounding water and allowing it to be released on the log drive's schedule, these dams allowed many more logs to be brought to market than the natural flow of the creek allowed...
s or
boomA log boom is a barrier placed in a river, designed to collect and or contain floating logs timbered from nearby forests sometimes called a fence or bag. The term is also used as a place where logs were collected into booms, as at the mouth of a river...
s to float logs down rivers to lumber mills in nearby cities. Notable splash dam and boom operations included the English Lumber Company on Little River, the Taylor and Crate operations along Hazel Creek, and the ambitious operations of
Alexander ArthurAlexander Alan Arthur was a Scottish-born engineer and entrepreneur active primarily in the southeastern United States in the latter half of the 19th century...
on the Pigeon River. All three of these operations failed within their first few years, however, after their dams and boom systems were destroyed by floods.
Innovations in logging railroads and band saw technology in the late 19th century made large-scale logging possible in the mountainous areas of Southern Appalachia. The largest logging operation in the Smokies was the Little River Lumber Company, which logged the Little River watershed between 1901 and 1939. The company also established company towns at Townsend (named for the company's chief owner and manager, Wilson B. Townsend),
ElkmontElkmont is a region situated in the upper Little River Valley of the Great Smoky Mountains of Sevier County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Throughout its history, the valley has been home to a pioneer Appalachian community, a logging town, and a resort community...
, and
TremontTremont is a region in the northwestern Great Smoky Mountains National Park, located in the southeastern United States. Formerly home to a pioneer Appalachian community and logging town, Tremont is now the location of the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont.-Geography:Tremont is situated...
. The second-largest operation was the Ritter Lumber Company, which logged the Hazel Creek watershed between 1907 and 1928. Ruins of Ritter's lumbering operations are still visible along the Hazel Creek Trail. Other lumbering operations included Three M Lumber and Champion Fibre, both of which logged the Oconaluftee watershed. By the time all operations ceased in the 1930s, logging firms had removed two-thirds of the virgin forests of the Smokies.
The National Park
Wilson B. Townsend, the head of Little River Lumber, began advertising Elkmont as a tourist destination in 1909. Within a few years, the
Wonderland HotelThe Wonderland Hotel was a hotel built in 1911 at Elkmont, Sevier County, Tennessee by the Wonderland Club Company and was dismantled and partially preserved in 2006 by the National Park Service.-History:...
and the Appalachian Club had been established to cater to elite Knoxvillians seeking summer mountain getaways. In the early 1920s, several Appalachian Club members, among them Knoxville businessman Colonel David Chapman, began seriously considering a movement to establish a national park in the Great Smokies. As head of the Great Smoky Mountains Park Commission, Chapman was largely responsible for raising funds for land purchases and coordinating park efforts between local, state, and federal entities.
The creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park proved much more complex than the creation of its predecessors, such as
YellowstoneYellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
and
YosemiteYosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
, which were already federally owned. Along with convincing logging firms to sell lucrative lumber rights, the Park Commission had to negotiate the purchase of thousands of small farms and remove entire communities. The commission also had to deal with the Tennessee and North Carolina legislatures, which at times were opposed to spending taxpayer money on park efforts. In spite of these difficulties, the Park Commission had completed most major land purchases by 1932. The national park officially opened in 1934, with President
Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
presiding over the opening ceremony at Newfound Gap.
Culture and tourism
The
cultureCulture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
of the area is that of
Southern AppalachiaAppalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
, and previously the
CherokeeThe Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
people.
TourismTourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
is key to the area's economy, particularly in cities like Pigeon Forge and
GatlinburgGatlinburg is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, Gatlinburg had a population of 3,828. The city is a popular vacation resort, as it rests on the border of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park along U.S...
in Tennessee, and
Cherokee, North CarolinaCherokee is a town in Swain County, North Carolina, USA, within the Qualla Boundary land trust. It is located in the Oconaluftee River Valley, near the intersection of U.S. Route 19 and U.S...
.
RaftingRafting or white water rafting is a challenging recreational outdoor activity using an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on white water or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers. The development of this...
, either leisurely
river tubingTubing is a recreational activity where an individual rides on top of an inner tube, either on water, snow, or through the air. The tubes themselves are also known as "donuts" or "biscuits" due to their shape.-Water:Tubing on water generally consists of two forms: towed and free-floating, also...
or in full whitewater, is common all summer. Downhill skiing is also done in winter, though for a short season, at places like
CataloocheeCataloochee is a ski area located near Maggie Valley, North Carolina. The area has fourteen ski slopes and trails. Approximately 25% of the slopes are rated beginner, 50% intermediate, and 25% advanced. With a top elevation of , Cataloochee has a maximum vertical drop of . The slopes are accessed...
and
Ober GatlinburgOber Gatlinburg is an amusement park and ski area, located in the mountains overlooking Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA. Established in 1962, the area contains a large mall with indoor amusements, a skating rink, snack bars, a full-service lounge, restaurant, and gift and clothing stores. Outside there...
.
Country musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer
Dolly PartonDolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
was born and raised on a small farm in the Smokies. She writes many songs concerning her Tennessee upbringing, and starred in the 1986 film,
A Smoky Mountain ChristmasA Smoky Mountain Christmas is a 1986 fantasy television film directed by Henry Winkler . It stars Dolly Parton and Lee Majors.-Plot:...
.
On September 17, 2010, the documentary reality television series
Man, Woman, WildMan, Woman, Wild is a cable television reality series which airs on the Discovery Channel. The show features former US Army Special Forces survival expert, Mykel Hawke, and his television journalist wife, Ruth England, who must survive a half week with limited supplies in wild and inhospitable...
featured an episode about survival in the Smoky Mountains.
External links