Great Smoky Mountains
National Park
Containing more than 500,000 acres of protected forest, the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park covers parts of North Carolina and Tennessee. Attracting
more than 9 million visitors each year, it is the most
popular park in the country.
Once a part of the Cherokee
homeland, the park is now a hiker's paradise with over 800 miles of trails.
The park was created on June 15, 1934. It became an International Biosphere Reserve in 1976 and a World Heritage Site on December 6, 1983.
Address: Great Smoky Mountains National Park,
107 Park Headquarters Road, Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738; 865-436-1200; Fax: 865-436-1220. Web: http://www.nps.gov/grsm.
Mile High Swinging Bridge
The Mile High Swinging Bridge, the only swinging bridge at a mile high, was
built to give visitors easy access to the breath-taking view from Grandfather
Mountain's Linville Peak. The 228-foot suspension bridge spans an 80-foot chasm
at more than one mile in elevation. The nearby Grandfather Mountain Nature
Museum features a billion-year-old rock that you can touch!
Grandfather Mountain is the highest peak in the Blue Ridge Mountain range, with
an elevation of 5,964 foot. Grandfather Mountain is located on US Highway 221,
two miles north of Linville, North Carolina, and one mile south of the Blue
Ridge Parkway.
Address: Mile High Swinging Bridge,
Grandfather Mountain, P O Box 129,
2050 Blowing Rock Highway, Linville,
North
Carolina 28646; 828-733-2013;
800-468-7325; Fax: 828-733-2608.
Email: nature@grandfather.com.
Web: http://www.grandfather.com.
