Great Smoky Mountains Natl Pk   

107 Park Headquarters Rd
Gatlinburg, TN 37738
865-436-1200
www.nps.gov/grsm

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Within the 800-square-mile Great Smoky Mountains National Park, you'll find diverse plant and animal life (including exotic, and intrusive, wild pigs), more tree species than in Northern Europe and the most salamander species anywhere in the world (one of which, the Jordan's salamander, can only be found here). You'll also find a lot of people. Between 8 million and 10 million people visit the Great Smokies every year, making it the most-visited national park in the United States. The 68-mile stretch of the famed Appalachian Trail that runs through the park features some of the highest elevations of the entire footpath. Visitors are drawn by not only the park's rich flora and fauna; they also come for the area's cultural history. Cherokee Indians moved into the area about 1,000 years ago; many of them were driven out of the mountains to Oklahoma during one of the worst incidents in U.S. history known as the Trail of Tears. A handful stayed behind, and their descendants today make up the flourishing Eastern Band of the Cherokees. White settlers began taking up permanent residence in the area around 1800 and survived mainly by farming - until commercial logging ravaged much of the area's forests. Today the park is one of the largest protected areas in the East, and it contains more than 75 historic structures. There are nine campgrounds, most of which are open from mid-March to around Nov. 1. Smokemont Campground is open all year. Camping reservations can be made by calling 800-365-CAMP.