Here are the top 5 reasons to visit the Smoky Mountains in the winter, according to a local In the Smokies, we often experience a relatively mild December. But January can have bit of a kick to the shins in winter. It’s can be quite cold, and whatever snow and ice we have even if it is not much, does
Repairs are now complete on US 441, aka Newfound Gap Road. The National Park Service (NPS) has fully reopened US 441/Newfound Gap Road as of September 12, 2025. This is over 18 days ahead of schedule. Single-lane closures may still be in place for several more days until all final work is completed. The project has been a big success,
Celebrating the legacy of expert tracker Dwight McCarter “It’s the first few thousand miles, after that a man gets limber with his feet!” – Sgt. Buster Kilrain, “The Killer Angels” by Michael Shara. It’s impossible to figure how many mountain miles Dwight McCarter walked in his 80 years. He was raised in the mountains by a family steeped in the
What do you do when an emergency strikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park? In early June, a couple of North Carolina teens on a hiking, fishing and camping trip in the Pisgah National Forest found themselves facing life and death. One of the boys stepped over a log and felt a prick on his foot. He turned around
Ways to beat the heat on your Smoky Mountain vacation East Tennessee was in the midst of one of the coolest springs and summers in recent memory until late June when someone kicked the thermostat up a couple of notches. We went from mild to wild in seemingly record time. It’s important to remember that when the temperature rises in
Tips from a local on the best way to enjoy the peaceful side of the Smokies A graduate of Heritage High School, I grew up a 20-minute drive from Townsend. Even then, known as the peaceful side of the Smokies. Except for me, it wasn’t terribly quiet. When I got my driver’s license and the freedom that came with it,
A local’s guide on what you shouldn’t skip on a trip to the Smokies The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a massive forest centered along the Tennessee-North Carolina state line. But it’s not quite as big as many assume. The national park is part of a larger range of national forests along the Appalachian Mountains. To the south, there’s
From the mountains to the attractions, how to have a great vacation with the littles Mountain coasters, ziplines, moonshine distilleries – so many of the new, hot attractions in the Smokies aren’t what you’d call toddler friendly. And while the Smokies are extremely family friendly, a lot of the things you can do are better built for kids five and
Things you can do to make your Smoky Mountain vacation unforgettable When I was a young man – somewhere around the Cretaceous period – I went on a school trip to Europe. It was 10 days in Holland, Belgium, Paris, and London. As it was in the ancient days, I didn’t have a cell phone camera with which to document
Back in Black: Modern technology makes it easier to share evidence of bear sightings, but is it skewing our perception? When we moved to Tennessee and first started going to the National Park, bear sightings were rare or at least they were rare for us. We were lucky to see a bear or two each summer. In the spring and