Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Players:  Jenny 

Date of Visit:  May 2009

Website:  www.nps.gov/grsm
Location:  North Carolina & Tennessee
Entrance Fee:  Free!
Type of Trip:  Weeklong camping trip
Park Passport Stamps Available:  10

Trip Report:  Great Smoky Mountain National Parks sits on the border between North Carolina and Tennessee, and is the most-visited park in the National Park System.  In addition to being a fabulous hiker's park (the great Appalachian Trail runs for nearly100 miles through the park), Great Smoky Mountain houses an amazing array of plant and animal life -- including black bears and the reclusive salamanders.  GRSM also houses hundreds of waterfalls, lofty mountain peaks, and an interesting feature known as the Appalachian Grassy Bald -- an open hilltop or mountainside whose origins are not really known.  There is also a human history to the area (not entirely pleasant as hundreds of people who had lived in the park for years were moved out upon the creation of the national park), and you can visit old settlements and cemeteries within the park boundaries.

Part of the reason it is home to such an abundance of wildlife is due to the climate in the Smokies.  Great Smoky Mountain receives a lot of rainfall every year, and my trip in May of 2009 was no exception to this.  It rained on me every day that I was there -- sometimes only at night and the sun did come out while I was there but it was rain nonetheless.  It is important for visitors to the Smokies to be prepared for all types of weather, and hikers/campers should plan on rain during at least part of their visit.

Classic View of the Smokies