HikingintheSmokys.com launches new store targeted towards day hikers

HikingintheSmokys.com, the most comprehensive source for hiking trail information for Great Smoky Mountains National Park, announces the launch of a new online hiking gear store today.

The new store is dedicated to day hikers and offers quality gear and apparel from some of the best outdoor brands, including; Columbia Sportswear, Kelty, Garmin, Leki, Marmot, Mountain Hardwear and North Face. The store also sells books and DVDs for hikers and visitors of the Smoky Mountains.

The Smoky Mountain Day Hikers Store is unique because it focuses on the needs of the day hiker, and shoppers don’t have to sort through backpacking and camping gear to find the gear they need for their day hikes. Online shoppers also enjoy the convenience of shopping for gear and apparel from home or work on the Internet.

HikingintheSmokys.com offers free hiking information on more than 70 trails in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, including trail descriptions, key features, pictures, videos, maps, elevation profiles, and more. Additionally, the site is organized to make it easier for hikers to compare and choose trails that best suit their hiking preferences.

Before the launch of HikingintheSmokys.com, hikers had difficulty finding web-based trail information for the Smoky Mountains. Most existing sites list only 10 or 15 of the most popular trails, and provide only limited information without regard to individual hikers’ skill level or preferences.

Visit http://www.hikinginthesmokys.com/ for more information.

Great Smoky Mountains Fall Foliage Update - November 13, 2007

November 12-13, 2007 Courtesy of Steve Kemp, Tom Harrington and the Great Smoky Mountains Association

Fall colors are now near or at peak at the lower elevations of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. And they are impressive. Oak trees are showing amazing staying power and their color show may persist through Thanksgiving weekend. At the higher elevations (above 3,500’), colors are now past peak in most areas.

Good places to see fall color include: Newfound Gap Road, Little River Road, Foothills Parkway, and Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. Suggested hikes: Oconaluftee River Trail, Cucumber Gap Loop, Kephart Prong Trail, Old Sugarlands Road Trail, and Sutton Ridge Overlook.

Rabbit Creek (from Cades Cove to Hannah Mountain Trail) - Scattered areas with really beautiful fall foliage, especially on ridge tops and in washes.Hannah Mountain (From Rabbit Creek Trail to Abrams Falls Trail) - Pockets of foliage with nice colors.Abrams Falls (Beginning to End) - Little foliage with nice colors.

Suggested hikes: Oconaluftee River Trail, Cucumber Gap Loop, Kephart Prong Trail, Old Sugarlands Road Trail, and Sutton Ridge Overlook. Rich Mountain Loop, Chestnut Top Trail, Smokemont Loop, Kanati Fork, 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

The Hunt for Red October - Great Smoky Mountains Fall Foliage Update - 10/26/07

October 26, 2007 Courtesy of Terry Maddox, Julee (Crow’s Nest) Brown, and Steve Kemp and the Great Smoky Mountains Association

Colors are at or near peak from 3,000’-5,500’ and are very impressive. Reds are more pronounced now than in recent years, especially on the North Carolina side of the park.

Colors at the very highest elevations (above 5,500’)
are now past peak in some areas.

Good places to see fall color include: Newfound Gap Road from Alum Cave Trailhead to Kephart Prong Trailhead, 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, Gregory Bald Trail, and Mt. Cammerer.

At the lower elevations, fall colors are quickly developing. Black gum, dogwood, sumacs, and sourwood trees continue to show vivid reds. Golds are present on tuliptree, black walnut, birch, beech, spicebush, and hickories. The peak of color at the lower elevations is still a few days away and will probably spill over into November.

Suggested hikes: Rich Mountain Loop, Chestnut Top Trail, Smokemont Loop, Kanati Fork, 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

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

The Hunt for Red October - Great Smoky Mountains Fall Foliage Update

October 15, 2007 - Courtesy of Steve Kemp and the Great Smoky Mountains Association

Fall colors will be at peak this week in many areas of the Smoky Mountain high country (above 4,500'). Yellow birch, American beech, pin cherry, American mountain-ash, witch-hobble, and mountain maple are all showing excellent color. This high elevation color peak is later than average.

Good places to see fall color include: Newfound Gap Road, Clingmans Dome Road, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Heintooga Ridge Road to Balsam Mountain Campground.

Suggested hikes: the Appalachian Trail to Charlies Bunion, the spruce-fir self-guiding nature trail, Gregory Bald Trail, and Mt. Cammerer.

At the lower elevations, sunny days and cool nights are nudging fall colors along. Black gum, dogwood, sumacs, and sourwood trees continue to show vivid reds. Golds are coming along on tuliptree, black walnut, birch, beech, and hickories. A few scattered maples and oaks are showing the first signs of fall colors. The peak of color at the lower elevations is over a week away.

Suggested hikes: Rich Mountain Loop, Chestnut Top Trail, Smokemont Loop.

• Click Here for Basic Fall Color Information


• Click Here for Fall Drives


• Click Here for Fall Hikes


• GSMNP Fall Hikes & Drives

Smoky Mountains Photography

Visitors learn history of Park as Wildflower Pilgrimage winds down

Wildflowers are a part of every Wildflower Pilgrimage hike, even when the focus of the hike is the rich history of Great Smoky Mountains National Park according to The Mountain Press story by Candice Grimm - click here

But on a hike to the Walker Sisters' cabin and Little Greenbrier School, not even Pink Lady Slippers could steal the spotlight from the history of these hardy mountain women.

All during the moderate hike from the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area, leader Raymond Palmer pointed out places where buildings had stood and events had taken place.

Although some participants struggled a bit with the heat and the climb, all seemed refreshed by a short lesson learned while seated at a desk inside the cool, dimly lit Little Greenbrier School.

Through pictures of past classes, and long-told stories from students who had attended the school, hike participants learned what it was like to have attended the little log school, as well as some history on how the Park acquired the property.

The lesson was enough to lure the hikers on up the trail to the Walker Sisters' cabin, where Palmer described the lives of the five women who became famous for the way they lived - no running water, electricity or central heat, and by growing what they needed on the 122-acre farm.

Their fame was sealed after a writer mentioned in a 1936 National Geographic article about the new national park that he had come upon two women sitting on their porch paring apples, and they told him they made all their own clothing. The story did not include the women's names, but it had to have been the Walkers, and from then on thousands traveled the narrow road to their cabin to see them, visit, and buy their handmade items.

Walker Sisters of Little Greenbriar - Smokies Store - click here

Little River Road - Sugarlands Welcome Center to Townsend and Cades Cove - Click here