The Great Smoky Mountains National Park
To wrap up our time in Tennessee, we were given the opportunity to hike through and experience different parts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The park was originally chartered by Congress in 1934 after local residents and the Rockefeller family donated roughly $10 million to purchase as much land for the park as possible. The 522,419 acres of the park cover a portion of the Appalachian Mountains along the Tennessee-North Carolina border. The origin of its name comes from the ever present fog that sits on the mountains most mornings, giving the range a smoky, hazy appearance.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited National Park in the US with an average of 10 million visitors a year. The park’s peak season starts in June and goes through Labor Day. While the majority of visitors come during peak season, the park is also busy during late spring and mid-autumn due to seasonal changes and activity in the flora and fauna. Visitors come from all over the world to hike through the mountains, see waterfalls and other gorgeous landforms; as well as to see the diverse flora and fauna found throughout the park.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited National Park in the US with an average of 10 million visitors a year. The park’s peak season starts in June and goes through Labor Day. While the majority of visitors come during peak season, the park is also busy during late spring and mid-autumn due to seasonal changes and activity in the flora and fauna. Visitors come from all over the world to hike through the mountains, see waterfalls and other gorgeous landforms; as well as to see the diverse flora and fauna found throughout the park.
Our group started our visit with a hike up the Abrams Falls Trail. The trail is 2.5 miles long and leads to Abrams Falls, a twenty foot tall waterfall. The trail head starts on the Western end of Cades Cove and heads east, following Abrams Creek, towards the falls. The trail is a relatively well groomed and easy to hike. Other than a few steeper inclines and a fallen tree that hikers had to crawl over, the hike was rather easy. Along the way to the falls, class members stopped along the creek to take photos and enjoy the view. One detail that caught some by surprise was the number of recorded deaths on the trail. A total of 29 people have died on the trail, all due to drowning in the creek. The hike too our class roughly two hours, and only one person fell into the creek. Overall the class really enjoyed the chance to get out in nature and leave the city life behind for a little while.
After hiking to Abrams Falls, the class drove to the Newfound Gap Overlook and the Sugarlands Visitor Center. At these stops, the class was able to freely explore and read all of the informative plaques and signs, as well as visit the exhibit of local flora and fauna inside the visitor’s center. The Newfound Gap Overlook has some gorgeous views and is an easy point of access to the Appalachian Trail. The Sugarlands Visitor Center had a number park rangers and volunteers there to provide information and aide visitors in traveling around the park. Within the center there was the exhibit, a sand table of the Great Smoky Mountains, and a gift shop. After picking up some souvenirs from the shop, the class drove to the park sign to take a family photo, and departed, traveling back to Knoxville.