Come Celebrate The Great Smokies 75th Anniversary!

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson has worked closely with his partners, Great Smoky Mountains Association and the Friends of the Smokies, and with our neighboring communities, to develop the GSMN 75th Anniversary site as their “Virtual Visitor Center” to showcase “all things 75th”.

On their site you will find a rich and evolving variety of information on the Park’s history, current issues, and future visions. Throughout 2008 and 2009 you’ll find information about a wide array of activities and events in the Park as well as officially recognized events in all the neighboring communities.

You can even share YOUR photos and stories of your Great Smoky Mountains National Park adventures through the decades! Send your friends and family a cyber invitation to enjoy your approved image. After looking at your adventure, they can upload their photo and story to become a part of the Smokies Family Album, too! Images should contain people and a recognizable feature, overlook, or sign that ties the image to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Upload your story to the Smokies Family Album

Click here for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park 75th Anniversary Site!

The Hunt for Red October - Great Smoky Mountains Fall Foliage Update - 10/22/07

October 22, 2007 - Courtesy of Steve Kemp and the Great Smoky Mountains Association

Despite (or perhaps, because of) the severe drought conditions, fall colors are shaping up to be very good this year. Colors are at peak this week in many areas of the Smoky Mountain high country (above 3,500'). Yellow birch, American beech, pin cherry, American mountain-ash, witch-hobble, and mountain maple are all showing excellent color. Some maples are showing brilliant reds.

This high elevation color peak is a couple of weeks later than average and is more impressive than in many years.

Good places to see fall color include: Newfound Gap Road from Alum Cave Trailhead to Kephart Prong Trailhead, Clingmans Dome Road, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Foothills Parkway East & West, and Heintooga Ridge Road to Balsam Mountain Campground.

Suggested hikes: Thomas Divide Trail, Alum Cave Bluff Trail, Chimney Tops Trail, Sweat Heifer Trail, the spruce-fir self-guiding nature trail, Gregory Bald Trail, and Mt. Cammerer.

At the lower elevations, fall colors are gradually coming along. Black gum, dogwood, sumacs, and sourwood trees continue to show vivid reds. Golds are present on tuliptree, black walnut, birch, beech, spicebush, and hickories. A few scattered maples and oaks are showing colors. The peak of color at the lower elevations is at least a week away and will probably spill over into November.

Suggested hikes: Rich Mountain Loop, Chestnut Top Trail, Smokemont Loop, and Sutton Ridge Overlook (Lower Mt. Cammerer Trail).

Click Here for Basic Fall Color Information

• Click Here for Fall Drives


• Click Here for Fall Hikes


• GSMNP Fall Hikes & Drives

Smoky Mountains Cades Cove Photography

May 2 & 9 - “Mountain Communities: Fighting Creek, Forks of the River, and the Sugarlands”

May 2 & 9 - “Mountain Communities: Fighting Creek, Forks of the River, and the Sugarlands” - An interpretive one-mile, one-hour easy hiking program is presented at 10 a.m. at Sugarlands Visitor Center in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. (865) 436-1200 (Bicentennial)

Wildflower Pilgimage - Salamander Foray Fun For ALL Ages

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - The Mountain Press - Getting wet and muddy almost always appeals to children, but it apparently can also bring out the kid in adults of any age.

The Great Smoky Mountains are known as the "Salamander Capital of the World!" Salamanders are an especially abundant and diverse group in the Great Smokies. In fact, the great majority of vertebrate (backboned) animals, including human visitors, in the park on any given day are salamanders.


This week, "Adults comprised about half of the 25 participants in a Salamander Foray led Tuesday by Carey Jones as part of the Wildflower Pilgrimage, but not one of them shied away from splashing through streams or scrambling around the woods flipping rocks and rolling logs in search of salamanders."

Early in the search, an uncommon Spotted Dusky Salamander was captured by an older woman, who turned out to have a knack for locating the slippery little critters with big eyes and long tails.The little kids also caught their share of the 30 species of salamanders living in the Smokies, including a Southern Red-backed Salamander, a Seal Salamander, and many others.

Many guests at the Bear's Den cabin have reported seeing small salamanders up on the deck near the hot tub or on the front porch "sunning" themselves. They are rather elusive but be patient. They'll often come back day after day, so you'll want to keep your camera ready.

The article Photographing Salamanders by Richard D. Bartlett has some great photography tips and images. Click here for the article.

Click here for the complete Mountain Press story.