Great Smoky Mountains
Location: North Carolina & Tennessee
Established: 1934
Located just beyond the southernmost end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. The park is unique in that unlike most of the older national parks in the western US, the land that became Great Smoky Mountains National Park required the purchase of thousands of acres of private lands (mainly from small farmers and a handful of large timber and paper companies). The park is also unique in that it doesn’t have a showstopper like the Grand Canyon, Crater Lake or Yosemite, but it does, however, have beautiful mountain vistas, waterfalls, rocky streams and arguably its most important feature - - an incredibly rich biodiversity. Encompassing more than 800 square miles, 95% of which are forested, no other area of equal size in a temperate climate can match the park’s biodviersity - - over 19,000 documented species (including flowering plants, birds and fish) and the belief by scientists that that number could grow by up to 100,000.
The “smoke” that gave the park its name is actually fog caused by the moisture and organic compounds emitted by the dense vegetation I can attest to this fog, as it clung to us from the moment we set out on our journey until we found our way back to the hotel. That said, it’s easy to see why Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited national park - - with nearly double the number of visitors as the next most visited national park, The Grand Canyon - - because it’s free (one of the only national parks that doesn’t charge an entrance fee), has the largest area of protected land east of the Rockies (including some of the tallest mountains in the East, with 16 peaks over 6,000 feet) and is within a day’s drive for nearly two-thirds of the US population.
