GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK

Long before the first pioneers came to their slopes, the Great Smoky Mountains were known to the Cherokee Indians. They called him sha-kon-o-hey (the land of blue smoke) because of the blue haze that constantly floats on the horizon.

It was with the help of private funds ($ 5 million was donated by John Rockefeller Jr.), added to the $ 15 million provided by the US government, and with a significant mobilization of the residents of Tennessee and North Carolina, that the park was created on June 1934. It was finally inaugurated by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1940. It was declared Biosphere Reserve in 1976 and then classified as UNESCO World Heritage in 1983. It covers a mountainous area ranging from 267 to 2 025 m (at the peak, the Clingmans Dome) and whose area reaches 2 110 km ². It houses 400 species of vertebrates (200 birds, 66 mammals and 55 fish), 5 000 plant species and 100 kinds of trees… Its forest is just one of the oldest in the world.

With over 10 million visitors each year, it is the most visited of all U.S. national parks. The main entries are in Cherokee (North Carolina) and Gatlinburg Tennessee. Between the two, the U.S. 441 (or Newfound Gap Road) passes through the park and gives access to many trails and viewpoints, such as the Rockefeller Memorial, which offers a beautiful view of the park from the Newfound Gap Pass (1 538 m) on the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. Roaring Fork, Cataloochee, Elkmont, Oconaluftee and Cades Cove, a valley west of the park that houses pioneers and preserved churches, are other points of interest in the park.

The park has four visitor reception centres. Two are located near Gatlinsburg and Cades Cove, in the part of the Tennessee side park, the third on the border of the two states (Clingmans Dome) and the last near Cherokee, North Carolina. Please note that a free email booklet is available for smartphones on the park website.