The Great Smoky Mountains

(Click on the pics to get a better view)

Back to Mountains Home

Park Entrances (TN) »

Cosby Creek
Greenbrier
Roaring Fork
Sugarlands
Wear Valley
Tremont
Rich Mountain
Parson Branch

Park Entrances (NC) »

Big Creek
Cataloochee
Balsam Mountain
Oconaluftee
Deep Creek
Bryson City
Fontana Dam
Twenty Mile
Deals Gap

Things To See »

Cades Cove
Cataloochee
Chimneys
New Found Gap
Oconaluftee
Sugarlands

Smoky Interests »

Notable Smoky-ians
Further Reading

Gateway Communities »

Smoky Park Entrances
Gateway Communities
Cosby, TN
Gatlinburg, TN
Pigeon Forge, TN
Pitman Center, TN
Sevierville, TN
Townsend, TN
Asheville, NC
Black Mountain, NC
Bryson City, NC
Cherokee, NC
Dillsboro, NC
Franklin, NC

Ahh... The Great Smoky Mountains. I can't think of any other place I'd rather be. I could spend the rest of my days there and I don't think I could be happier anywhere else.

As for the Smokys becoming a national park, accounts vary as to who started the movement. Some accounts credit Horace Kephart, author of "Our Southern Highlanders," and George Masa, a photographer, with starting the movement in 1904 while others credit Mr. and Mrs. Willis P. Davis for it's beginning in 1923. I suspect there to be a little truth in both accounts. Regardless, I'm grateful to both... or either. What is not disputed is that on June 15, 1934, Congress established the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and it was dedicated by president Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 2 of the same year. As bad as it must have been for the families that were displaced in the 30's to make way for the park, I'm glad it's there for the rest of us to enjoy today.

The "Around The Park" links to the left will take you to various areas of interest within the park. Those links marked as either North Carolina (NC) or Tennessee (TN) also denote the various park entrances. Also, take a look at the "Smoky Towns" links. They'll connect you with my take on the towns and hamlets that surround the Smokys and act as the gateway communities.

If you've never been or you've been and can't get back as often as you'd like, you can visit Smoky Photos. They were gracious enough to supply most of the pictures on this page. They have hundreds of pics and it's a wonderful site. If you want to do more, you can start by looking at Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains or take a look at Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association. All proceeds are for the preservation of the park.

One more thing... Anyone that views the full contents of this site will know that I love old things, including maps. I think they're interesting in that they tell a tale based on our knowledge, or lack of it. One of the things I find most interesting is the names of places as histories change. Take for example these: Here's an 1864 Civil War map actually signed by President Millard Fillmore. Compare that to the place names found on this 1926 map proposing the boundaries of the park. Or, compare this to the 1935 park map and the actual park boundaries. They're remarkably different. The Park Service has published many maps of the park over the years, but just to compare, here are the maps from 1941, 1951, 1953, 1963, and 1997. Of all of the Park Service maps, the 1941 and 1951 are my favorites. Both list names of places that have long since been renamed. The maps of the 1970s and 1980s were kind of dull to me. And, thanks to the Library of Congress for their wonderful care and stewardship of these great old maps. If you're interested in a more in depth study, high resolution versions of all of these maps can be downloaded at the links listed. For an up-to-date, basic road map, complete with all of the new road and highway numbers, click the link.

Some Interesting Smoky Information:

Area: The park encompasses 520,976 acres of land.

Elevations: The low point is the mouth of Abrams Creek at 840 feet above sea level.
The high point is Clingmans Dome at 6,643 feet above sea level and is the second highest mountain east of the Mississippi river.
The variance between Abrams Creek and Clingmans Dome is 5,803 feet (or just over a mile).
The tallest (*1) mountain in the eastern United States, Mount LeConte, is 6,593 feet high.

Plants: Over 1600 flowering plants including 125 species of native trees.

Animals: 200 species of birds, 50 species of fish, and 60 species of mammals.

Activities: Activities in and around the Park include hiking, bicycling, fishing, picnicking, campfire programs, horseback riding, snow and cross-country skiing, park ranger exhibits, white water rafting, early pioneer life exhibits and annual festivals.

Visitors: The GSMNP is the most visited national park east of the Mississippi and annually attracts around 10 million visitors.

Back to Mountains Home

The Smoky Mountain timeline:

-270M Years: Yeah, 270 million years ago (give or take a few minutes), what are current day North America and Africa collide to form the Appalachian mountains making them the oldest mountain range on Earth. For more, see the USGS article here.
1540: Hernando De Soto explores the southern Appalachian mountains and meets indians of the Cherokee nation who had already been in the region for many centuries.
1775: Botanist William Bartram roams the southern Appalachians.
1795: The Hughes and Mingus families homestead in the Oconaluftee River Valley.
1814: Caldwell family homesteads in the Cataloochee Valley.
1818-1821: First non-Indian settlers arrive in Cades Cove. None own land leagally until 1819. March, 1821, William Tipton gets 1280 acres in land grants.
1819: Cherokee relinquish claims to the last of their lands in the Smoky mountains through Calhoun Treaty, thus clearing the way for legal ownership of land by settlers.
1838-1839: Majority of the Cherokee tribe is moved to Oklahoma on the infamous "Trail of Tears."
1861-1865: American Civil War. Mountain residents are deeply divided. Raiders on both sides often steel food and other supplies from mountaineers.
1870-1875: John P. Cable mill is built in Cades Cove. The mill still operates today with the original mill stones. At peak production, GSMNP guides tell me it can grind up to 150 lbs. an hour.
1882: Little Greenbrier school is built.
1886: Mingus mill is built.
1903-1904: Lumber companies start harvesting timber in Hazel creek and Eagle creek.
1908: Elkmont logging camp is built.
1913: Horace Kephart's "Our Southern Highlanders" is written and published.
1934: Great Smoky Mountain National Park is established.
1939: Little River Lumber Company finishes cutting timber in Tremont.
1999: April 5, 86 year old Kermit Caughron passes away. Caughron was the last of the original pre-park residents who had the right to live in the park.

Note (*1) - I've gotten a few e-mails telling me all about Mt. Mitchell... and how dumb I am. Tall is a functional measurment of elevation from an object's base to its apex. Height is a functional measurement of elevation from some "magical" point (usually, as in this case, sea level) to an object's apex. Mount LeConte has a base elevation of 1,292' and it's apex is at 6,593' making it 5,301 feet tall. Conversely, Mt. Mitchell, the highest point in the eastern United States, in the Black Mountains of North Carolina is 6,684' high. But, with a base elevation of approximately 2,700', it is only 3,984' tall. To put all of this into perspective, if you're 5' tall and standing on on 3' stump, you are 8' high. But, you are still only 5' tall!

Resources

DeLaughter, Jerry. Smokies Road Guide: A Complete Guide to the Roads In Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Gatlinburg. Great Smoky Mountains Association. 2006.

"Friends of the Smokys.", and linked articles. 2003.
<http://www.friendsofthesmokies.org>. (12 May 2003)

"Founding the National Park.", and linked articles. . 2009.
<http://www.nps.gov/grsm/historyculture/biographies.htm>. (08 Oct., 2009)

"Go Smokies.", and linked articles." KnoxNews: GoSmokies. 2005.
<http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/gosmokies>. (21 Apr. 2005).

"Great Smoky Mountains.", and linked articles. National Park Service. 2005.
<http://www.nps.gov/grsm>. (22 Mar. 2006).

"History and Heritage.", and linked articles. East Tennessee Historical Society 2009.
<http://www.east-tennessee-history.org>. (05 Oct., 2009).

"History: Great Smoky Mountains.", and linked articles. American Park Network. 2003.
<http://www.americanparknetwork.com/parkinfo/content.asp?catid=85&contenttypeid=32>. (12 May 2003)

"Maps of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.", and linked articles. Library of Congress. 2006.
<http://rs6.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/nphtml/gsmhome.html>. (22 Mar. 2006).

"National Park, The.", and linked articles. All the Smokies. 2005.
<http://www.allthesmokies.com/the_national_park.html>. (22 Mar. 2006).

"Smoky Mountain Ancestral Quest.", and linked articles. SmokyKin.com. 2007.
<http://www.smokykin.com>. (07 May 2009)

"Smoky Mountain Books.", and linked articles. Great Smoky Mountains Association. 2003.
<http://www.smokiesstore.org>. (12 May 2003)

"Smoky Mountains Magazine.", and linked articles. 2003.
<http://smokymtns.com>. (12 Jun. 2003)

"Smoky Pics: Photos of the Great Smoky Mountains." 2005.
<http://www.smokypics.com>. (17 Jun. 2004).

"Smoky Photos: Photos of the Great Smoky Mountains." 2005.
<http://www.smokyphotos.com>. (17 Jun. 2004).

Hiking and Guide Databases

"Great Smoky Mountain National Park Landforms.", and linked articles. 2007.
<http://www.cs.utk.edu/~dunigan/gsmnp>. (27 Jun. 2004).

"Hike database.", and linked articles. KnoxNews: GoSmokies. 2005.
<http://trails.gosmokies.com/index.cfm>. (17 Jun. 2007).

"Smoky Mountains Guide and Information ", and linked articles. Rod's Guide 2006.
<http://www.rodsguide.com>. (27 Jun. 2004).

"Wayhoo.", and linked articles. Wayhoo.com 2006.
<http://www.wayhoo.com>. (27 Jun. 2004).

GSMNP @ Trails.com
Peak Bagger
Summit Post