Great Smoky Mountains
National Park
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, covering parts of North Carolina and
Tennessee, is the most popular park in the country. It contains more than 500,000 acres of protected forest.
“World renowned for the diversity of its plant and animal life, the beauty of its ancient mountains, the quality of its remnants of Southern Appalachian
mountain culture, and the depth and integrity of its wilderness sanctuary, the park attracts over nine million visitors each year. Once a part of the Cherokee
homeland, the Smokies today are 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.
