Tag Archives: Great Smoky Mountains

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced the spring opening schedule for park facilities for the 2016 season. As part of the schedule, officials also announced the Alum Cave Trail Restoration schedule, which includes a Monday through Thursday closure of Alum Cave Trail and the Mt. Le Conte Backcountry Shelter beginning May 2 through Nov. 17. Due to the construction ...

The Mill, which is located one half mile north of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee North Carolina, provides an opportunity for park volunteers to assist in educating visitors about the general role of milling in the Smokies and specifically the turbine wheel at Mingus Mill. Mingus Mill, built in 1886 offers visitors a unique look into see the inner ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is recruiting roving volunteers to assist park visitors along the Oconaluftee River Trail, Mountain Farm Museum, and fields along Newfound Gap Road near the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. Volunteers are needed from mid-April through mid-November and typically work one four-hour shift per week. Oconaluftee roving volunteers provide information to visitors about park regulations that best protect ...

A scavenger hunt is a great way to explore and learn about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont is holding a scavenger hunt inside the park this weekend. Participants who register for the scavenger hunt will receive 75 hunt questions/challenges via email by 3:30 p.m. on Friday, March 11 and must report to ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Appalachian Piedmont Zone fire staff plan to conduct a series of controlled burns in Cades Cove on Monday, March 7 through Friday, March 11, 2016. Weather depending, these prescribed fire treatments will take place in four field units totaling 502 acres between Sparks Lane and the Cable Mill Visitor Center area. “These controlled ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers are recruiting volunteers to adopt a phenology monitoring plot in areas throughout the park. Volunteers will collect information as part of an important research project tracking seasonal biological data such as plant flowering dates and the presence of migratory birds. Tracking this phenology data across the park allows scientists to better understand how plants ...

Friends of the Smokies has received a $21,500 grant from the Richard Haiman National Parks Foundation to support the Parks As Classrooms program and to resupply backcountry shelters in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Richard Haiman National Parks Foundation has supported Friends of the Smokies since 1999, contributing more than $400,000, nearly half of which has gone to fund ...

The National Park Service certified park visitation numbers yesterday, showing that Great Smoky Mountains National Park experienced the largest number of visitors in its history last year. Great Smoky Mountains National Park had 10,712,674 recreational visitors in 2015, breaking a visitation record set in 1999 and earning the title of #1 Most Visited National Park. The Top Ten Most Visited ...

Registration for the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is opening soon. Wildflowers in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park have lain dormant as the winter’s wet, snowy, and cold weather persists. As the season changes, the warming sun heats the earth, awakening new growth to paint the landscape with a magnificent display of color. Southern migratory ...

Sugarlands Distilling Company has announced the 2016 MoonShare Year of Giving Grant recipients and Appalachian Bear Rescue earned the top spot. Appalachian Bear Rescue and 49 other charitable organizations competed for the most public votes over a month-long period. While the Townsend, Tenn. based bear rescue came in first place, each of the top twelve organizations will receive a $5,000 ...