Tag Archives: hiking

Great Smoky Mountains National Park joins parks, programs and partners across the country to encourage everyone to find their park and share their stories online at FindYourPark.com. Launched Monday by the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation, Find Your Park is a public awareness and education campaign celebrating the milestone centennial anniversary of the National Park Service in ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers and members of the Tennessee Highway Patrol Special Operations and Aviation Section rescued two individuals from the park’s backcountry near the Spence Field Shelter on Saturday. At 6:10 a.m. park dispatch received a call from an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker advising of a pair of hikers in distress near Spence Field Shelter. The hikers, a father and son, ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is recruiting volunteers to assist a Trails Forever trail crew on rehabilitation projects on the Alum Cave Trail every Wednesday from May 20th through October 28th, 2015. The Trails Forever program provides opportunities for both skilled and non-skilled volunteers to work along-side national park crews to complete various trail projects. Trail volunteers perform a wide ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials have reopened the Whiteoak Sink area with limited access effective April 1 through May 15 to limit human disturbance in critical bat habitat and help hikers avoid interactions with bats. Park biologists will continue monitoring bat populations near the site as they emerge from winter hibernacula to collect population, ecological and behavioral data that ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced plans to open Clingmans Dome Road this weekend beginning Friday, March 27, 2015 as weather permits. Due to mild temperatures this week, park crews have been able to prepare the road and facilities for the seasonal spring opening ahead of schedule allowing additional opportunities for visitors to reach the popular destination. Accessible by ...

After a cold and snowy winter here in Sevier County, the first daffodils coloring the landscape are a welcome sight and the best way to celebrate the arrival of spring is to take part in the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage. The 64th Annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage will be held April 21-25, 2015 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Gatlinburg, ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announce the spring opening schedule for park facilities for the 2015 season. Campgrounds and secondary roads will begin opening Friday, March 13. The schedule follows: Roads – Secondary Roads are scheduled to open as follows: Forge Creek Road will open on March 6; Clingmans Dome Road will open on April 1; Round Bottom/Straight Fork ...

Trail damage from recent storms has prompted the closure of Laurel Falls Trail, one of the most popular trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced Wednesday. March 11, 2015 the temporary closure of Laurel Falls Trail due to storm damage after a park volunteer discovered earlier in the day that a portion ...

Great Smoky Mountains the star of Wilderness Wildlife Week in Pigeon Forge, more than 400 programs on nature, culture and history offered. The 25th Annual Wilderness Wildlife Week runs Jan. 24 – Jan. 31, 2015 at LeConte Center at Pigeon Forge. The event features a series of exhibits, workshops, lectures, performances and walks celebrating the beauty, wildlife, culture and history ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park welcomed over ten million visitors in 2014 for just the fourth time in 80 years, and the first time since 2000. In 2014, 10,099,275 visitors enjoyed the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, an 8% increase over 2013. The numbers were spurred by strong July and August visitation as well as the highest October visitation in ...