A local shares his biggest mistakes when visiting the National Park It’s easy to take it for granted when the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is in your backyard. I wake up every morning with immense natural beauty as the backdrop. I run up to the mountains on the weekends or summer afternoons and it becomes old hat. It’s easy
Social media revives rumors of feral humans in the Smoky Mountains linked to old cold case Dennis Martin was 6 years old in June of 1969. It was Father’s Day weekend and they hiked near the Tennessee-North Carolina border, a Martin family tradition. William Martin (his father) and Clyde (his grandfather) and the two boys started at Cades Cove and
Here’s how to enjoy Cades Cove without the annoying crowds, according to a local Cades Cove is among the most popular tourist spots in the country, if not the world. With its wide sweeping vistas of the mountains across the valley, wildlife viewing, historic settlements and trails, the Cove offers all that is great about the mountains in one, condensed
Ready to take the path less traveled? Here are three suggestions from a local In many ways, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park isn’t for the locals. Think back to the park’s founding. The people of the mountains were moved out so that the land could be preserved. It was a national movement led, in large part, by people who
A local reflects on mistakes and bad experiences he’s had in autumn time in the Smoky Mountains I’ve spent much of my life running around East Tennessee and Western North Carolina mountains. While the mountains are a destination for many, they’re just a part of my life. Go out the driveway, turn left, turn right and turn right again and
Here are 5 of the biggest mistakes you can make when trying to leaf peep in the Smoky Mountains Each fall, the Smoky Mountains explode in a kaleidoscope of color. When you live here, it’s a gradual process. It sneaks up on you. For months the mountains are a verdant green, and then you start to see spots of rusty
Below are this year’s estimates on when we expect East Tennessee to reach peak fall foilage by county There is a grove of trees somewhat near the entrance to Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains, and it is my favorite spot to view the fall foliage. I’m not sure what the type of trees are, but the grove is
National Park Service continues to follow impacts from Hurricane Helene The National Park Service (NPS) will reopen US 441/Newfound Gap Road by 8 am tomorrow morning, Oct. 2, 2024, to allow for access between Tennessee and North Carolina communities. Once US 441 reopens, all major roads, trails and facilities on the Tennessee side of the park will be open to
Kuwohi name restored to the highest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains Today, the U.S. Board of Geographic Names voted to change the name of Clingmans Dome to Kuwohi. This decision is in favor of the formal request submitted by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI). The National Park Service strongly supported the name restoration and applauds today’s decision, and added
The third slowest month in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park might surprise you As someone who has lived in East Tennessee for many years now, I was surprised to learn the third slowest month in the Smoky Mountains. The first was not surprising. But the third least visited month? I was mildly surprised, to say the least. According to