Christine Hoyer has been named Employee of the Year at Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The award, which recognizes outstanding work of park employees, was presented at a public ceremony at park headquarters in Tennessee on May 7. Hoyer is the Trails & Facilities Volunteer Coordinator in the park and she is in charge of four main park volunteer programs:...
Learn MoreStarting on Oct. 30, 2012 the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will close the Chimney Tops trail Monday through Thursday every week for roughly three years to do trail maintenance and recovery. The Chimney Tops trail has been a favorite for nearly all visitors that grace the Smokies. The trail will still be open on weekends. Chimney Tops is long overdue for trail...
Learn MoreWhenever the National Park Service has surveyed visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park about their planned activities while in the Park, the number one response has always been “viewing scenery – scenic views.” Over the years the number and quality of those scenic viewpoints along Park roads has gradually declined. When Park roads were...
Learn MoreThe local Tennessee chapter of the Sierra Club is so anxious to introduce newbies to the great outdoors that they’ve set up a hiking program just for them. The Take-a-Hike program offers 13 hikes over the course of the year. Organizers hope participants will attend about half of them, experiencing gradually more difficult hikes at various times of the year. The...
Learn MoreJoin Friends of the Smokies for a guided hike along Kephart Prong Trail, followed by a visit to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center and Mountain Farm Museum, Saturday, March 17. The four-mile hike will be led by hiking enthusiast and outdoors author Danny Bernstein, who will share cultural history along the route, including a former CCC camp. The hike is part of the Friends of...
Learn MoreHikers on the Appalachian Trail may never tell campfire stories about the renovation of all 15 backcountry shelters in the Smokies, but they benefit from some amazing partnerships after a hard day’s trek. Joint efforts of labor and funding from Friends of the Smokies, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club improved cooking and sleeping...
Learn MoreIn the trail guide, Hiking Trails of the Smokies, the description of Forney Ridge Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park starts out, “The first section of Forney Ridge Trail is eroded and uneven.” After a couple of paragraphs, it continues, “After more rocky descent with roots to trip you …” Now the trail guide will need to be updated....
Learn MoreThere are roughly 850 miles of hiking trails in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There’s also a lot of history beneath those trails we walk along today. How were they established? Who blazed them, and why? Some of the earliest trails in what would become the national park were simple game trails, created by migrating bison, elk, and other large animals. Many of...
Learn MoreThree days a week — Monday, Wednesday, and Friday — he leads the llama team to LeConte Lodge atop Mount LeConte, the third highest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After delivering clean linens and fresh food, he repacks the panniers with dirty laundry and garbage and returns to the parking lot. Householder and the llamas hike 40 miles a week while the...
Learn MoreAdd a little outdoor joy to the holiday season with a guided hike of the Mingus Creek Trail, followed by a trip to the new Oconaluftee Visitor Center for some Great Smoky Mountain history and holiday shopping. Friends of the Smokies members receive 15% percent off purchases. Tuesday, Dec. 6, hiking enthusiast and author Danny Bernstein (Hiking North Carolina’s Blue...
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As Washington policymakers await action by the Congressional Super Committee, the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) released a new report titled “Made in America: Investing in National Parks for Our Heritage and Our Economy,” which details how national parks and visitors could be impacted if the Super Committee fails and mandatory...
Learn MoreOne of the best things about the Rich Mountain Loop is that it’s a Cades Cove hike without the traffic woes: to reach the trail head, you park at the entrance to the Loop Road and walk a short ways in. Loop trails are always nice, and the 8.5-mile Rich Mountain Loop is one of the best in the Smokies. The hike offers some terrific views of Cades Cove along the ridge...
Learn MoreGreat Smoky Mountains National Park announced the approval of a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) of the Environmental Assessment (EA) on a proposed plan for managing a permanent herd of elk in the Park. The approved plan, signed on October 20, 2011, culminates a 10-year effort to reestablish elk to their native range. In June 2010, the Park published the EA...
Learn MoreNot rain, nor cold, nor wind, nor injuries will keep the Fortunate Sons from attaining their goal. A group of 18 Marines are three weeks into a 42-week hike that will take them from Clingman’s Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains to Jockey’s Ridge State Park in the Outer Banks along the Mountains to Sea Trail to benefit the Semper Fi Fund. These Marines are participating...
Learn MoreWith the Autumn season in full swing, the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks, announced the 2011 “Great National Parks for Fall Foliage” list. This year’s list includes some iconic parks and a few lesser-known treasures. Each national park location, however, offers unique ways in which visitors can view the colorful foliage....
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You don’t have to climb to 6000 feet to get spectacular views of the Smoky Mountains. In fact, Mt. Cammerer has some of the best views in the national park, yet doesn’t even reach 5000 feet. You can see Snowbird Mountain and the Pigeon River Gorge to the east, and Mt. Sterling south, and the full expanse of the national park to the west. Mt. Cammerer was...
Learn MoreOn Saturday, September 24, Great Smoky Mountains National Park will celebrate National Public Lands Day by hosting several volunteer projects in a unified effort with many public lands across the country. National Public Lands Day is the nation’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance the public lands that Americans enjoy. Those interested in...
Learn MoreHumans aren’t the only ones getting excited about blueberry season in the mountains. So are the black bears. Land managers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Mount Mitchell State Park and in the Pisgah National Forest have closed campsites and hiking trails due to increased bear activity, and want to remind visitors not to further tempt bears by leaving...
Learn MoreManagers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park are considering some changes in the process by which backpackers make reservations for overnight camping at the Park’s nearly 100 backcountry sites and shelters. The proposed changes, which would update the reservation procedure as well as increasing Ranger presence on the Park’s 800 miles of trails, would be covered by...
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Sitting right along the Tennessee/North Carolina border in the far northeast corner of Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an enjoyable section of forest and creek side trails that navigate the Big Creek area of the park. The Appalachian Trail goes through the area, as does the Benton MacKaye Trail, named for the planner of the AT. There are mountains in the region as...
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One of the great pleasures in the Tennessee portion of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is scaling the 6,593 feet of beauty that is Mt. LeConte. It isn’t quite the highest mountain in the park, but it is by far the tallest hike from its base. The summit is so popular, there are five distinct trails to the top, varying in distance and difficulty. My favorite...
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, publisher of Meanderthals, and a passionate hiker. I live in western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my doorstep, so the content will focus on these areas, but let me know what you would like to see on the site. 
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