One of the most accessible of the country’s national parks, Great Smoky Mountains NP is by far the most visited--averaging some 10 million visitors each year (for comparison, Grand Canyon NP averages 5.5 million annually). It covers 814 square miles in Tennessee and North Carolina. The park offers a wide variety of outdoor activities for the visitor: great hiking and camping, scenic driving routes, wildlife watching, stunning photography opportunities, paddling, fishing, climbing, and streamside rambling, as well as a number of historic sites. Highlights of a visit to the park include: Climbing Clingmans Dome Fabulous Vistas at Cades Cove Wildlife Watching at Roaring Fork Photographing Grotto Falls Rafting Pigeon River Exploring Elkmont Ghost Town Camping at Cataloochee Picnicking at the Chimneys Fishing Little River Solitude of Upper Tremont Road Biking the Loop Road

The Ultimate Fly-Fishing Guide to the Smoky Mountains does more than any other book in print to bring success to a fishing trip. This newly updated landmark volume is an essential guide for anyone planning to fish the rivers, streams, and lakes in the Smokies - these fisheries are some of the greatest in the nation. For successful fly-fishing, this guide is as important as the right tackle.The fist half of this guide offers advice and history. The second half examines each of the thirteen watersheds found within the park. Don Kirk and Greg Ward provide information about trail access, fishing pressure and quality, species, fly hatch information, and campsite availability.

Bonnie Trentham Myers was born in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park before it became an American treasure. Her family produced nearly everything they needed on their 363-acre farm before they sold their property to the national park service. Her reflections, helpful hints, and insights into early life in the Smoky Mountains provide a truly authentic glimpse into a unique existence. From camp meetings and corn shuckings to tailholders and ¿tater holes Best Yet Life and Lore of the Smokies informs and entertains with topics that are too quickly passing from our memory.

Best Easy Day Hikes Great Smoky Mountains National Park includes concise descriptions and detailed maps for twenty-two easy-to-follow hikes in America’s most popular national park, home to one of the most pristine ecosystems on the East Coast. Featured walks lead to stunning scenery, from waterfalls and wildflowers to historic and interpretive sites, as well as spectacular views. Look inside for: • Thirty-minute strolls to full-day adventures • Hikes for everyone, including families • Mile-by-mile directions and clear trail maps • Trail Finder for best hikes for backpackers, waterfalls, history buffs, children, or great views • GPS coordinates

Johnny Molloy, who has spent more than 800 nights backpacking in the Smokies, has updated his classic guide Top Trails: Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This revised edition has been completely updated, including the new backcountry reservation system implemented in the park. He has also added some excellent hikes, some of them well off the beaten path. For example, the hike to Baskins Creek Falls takes you past a pioneer homesite and to a scenic cascade overshadowed by more popular waterfalls nearby, making it an ideal destination for those who want to escape the crowds. A longer trek traverses the regal pine-oak forests of the western part of the park, making a stop at Abrams Falls, mixing solitude with a must-visit waterfall on every Smokies bucket list. Johnny also explores early park history on a hike up Kephart Prong. Here, you can see the remains of a fish hatchery constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps, as well as a trail shelter erected by the CCC when the park was just coming to be. Backpackers will enjoy the new loop incorporating Walnut Bottoms along cascading Big Creek, coupled with a stop by historic Mount Cammerer tower, replete with stellar views, before overnighting at Davenport Shelter on the Appalachian Trail. Additionally, Johnny--who considers the Smokies his home stomping ground--makes sure that all the necessary information to help you execute a hike from directions to maps are correct. New photos add flair to the book.

Best Easy Day Hikes Great Smoky Mountains National Park provides 22 easy-to-follow hikes through all the Great Smoky Mountains have to offer. Explore exquisite vistas, enjoy wildlife in natural settings and explore trails ranging from Grotto Falls to Big Creek to Clingmans Dome. Look Inside to Find: Hikes suited to every ability Key points along every trail GPS coordinates Difficulty ratings, distances, and key elevation gains

Located astride the Tennessee-North Carolina border, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park contains more than one hundred trails that trace eight hundred miles of rugged terrain. This fact is certain to bewilder any newcomer who might be eager to explore the Park's backcountry but is unsure where to start. This book, intended as a beginner's guide to hiking the Smokies, offers lively, informative descriptions of twenty-two trails that can be completed in a day or less. For anyone who has yet to discover the beauty of the Smokies, the highest North American mountains east of the Mississippi, the trails described here offer a splendid introduction. Scenic overlooks at Mount Le Conte, Clingmans Dome, Gregory Bald, and other peaks are included along these pathways, as are some of the well-known waterfalls of the Park, such as Laurel Falls, Rainbow Falls, and Ramsay Cascades. In addition to vital data about the length of the trail, its elevation gain, and "how to get there," each trail description is packed with interesting facts and Smoky Mountain lore. Detailed maps are also included. In their introduction, the authors provide a brief overview of the park's history as well as useful tips for novice hikers. The Authors: Kenneth Wise, an administrator at the University of Tennessee Library, Knoxville, has hiked in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for more than twenty years. He is the author of Hiking Trails of the Great Smoky Mountains: A Comprehensive Guide. James Andrews,a partner in the firm of Andrews, Hudson & Wall, P.C., has hiked the Park trails for more than a decade. He is the coauthor, with Wise, of The Best Overnight Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains.