The wonderfully named Savage Gulf State Park is growing If you limit your Tennessee visits to the area around the Smokies, you’re going to miss out on some epic natural beauty. I learned this years ago. I was the sports editor for the Advocate & Democrat in Monroe County. The newspaper served Sweetwater, Madisonville, and Tellico Plains. We didn’t get
From Arbor Day to Presidents’ Day, we rank the best holidays to spend in the Smokies We don’t think about it much. But for many of us, the big clock of our lives is set to the coming and going of holidays. It started for many of us in school. From Labor Day to Memorial Day, our lives were set
Artist’s unique creatures to make U.S. debut at The North Carolina Arboretum There are a lot of strange creatures in the Smoky Mountains. Some of them are real – we’re looking at you Hellbender salamander – and others are rumored – we’d look at you feral people if we could see you. But a Danish artist is bringing something no
The Shutdown goes on but the Great Smoky Mountain National Park will be fully open Friday afternoon, the Sevier County government announced that the park – thanks to efforts of multiple government agencies – will fully reopen on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 4. The affected parts of the park – including the Sugarlands Visitor Center, Cades Cove, the Cades
The GSMNP warns visitors about disturbing this mostly unseen residents’ habitat Before we moved to the mountains of East Tennessee, I spent a significant time knocking around the woods of rural Southern Indiana. It was the ‘80s and I was given freedom to roam that would be considered shocking these days. I certainly wouldn’t give my own kids that sort
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
Top five tips for getting the most bang for your buck in the Smokies Vacations are expensive. We’re not breaking new ground here by saying it. Just about any getaway to a popular vacation destination is going to put a sizeable hole in your wallet. What can you do about it? Some people will tell you go in the off-season;
A pair of tragic animal encounters has been reported in Tennessee. Should you be concerned about your next vacation? Two incidents in the news recently have served as sobering reminders about observing recommended practices and exercising due care in the mountains of Tennessee. One incident involved a black bear that had to be shot and killed after invading a man’s
We’ve spent 30 years blundering our way around the mountains of East Tennessee, and now you can learn from our mistakes We spend a lot of our time on this Earth being reminded that mistakes – and learning from them – are part of the human experience. In fact, the great Canadian Philosopher Alanis Morrisette once told us: “You live, you
Try these can’t miss options when traveling to the “other” side of the Smokies I spend some time kicking around analogies for the East Tennessee – Western North Carolina tourism relationship. I noodled around the idea of a “Beaches” reference, the Bette Midler vehicle famous chiefly for launching the “Wind Beneath my Wings.” But I don’t think the idea that