1. Established in 1934, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the largest national park East of the Rockies.
2. With more than 10 million visitors annually, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is also the most visited national park in the United States.
3. Designated an International Biosphere Reserve, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is home to 4,000 plant species and 140 tree species, as well as approximately 1,800 black bears.
4. Cades Cove – a 4,000-acre scenic valley that features preserved pioneer homesteads, a campground and hiking trails – is the most visited area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
5. The Cherokees referred to the Smoky Mountains as the “Land of the Blue Mist.”
6. At 6,643 feet, Clingmans Dome is the highest point in the Smoky Mountains, followed by Mount Guyot (6,621 feet) and Mount LeConte (6,593 feet).
7. Planned as a second entrance into Cades Cove during the 1940s, the so-called “Road to Nowhere” is today a 6-mile scenic drive in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that ends in the mouth of a tunnel.
8. The Rockefeller Memorial along Newfound Gap Road marks the spot where President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1940.
9. It takes a 5.5-mile hike to reach the rustic LeConte Lodge on Mount LeConte, which was built in 1924 and has no electricity or running water (reservations are usually made up to a year in advance).
10. The Great Smoky Mountains are known as the “Salamander Capital of the World” since approximately 30 species of salamander can be found here.
Source: Escape to the Smokies
Tags: black bears, Cades Cove, Cherokee Indians, Clingmans Dome, Franklin Roosevelt, Great Smoky Mountains, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, International Biosphere Reserve, Land of the Blue Mist, LeConte Lodge, Mount Guyot, Mount LeConte, Newfound Gap Road, Road to Nowhere, Rockefeller Memorial, Rockies, Salamander Capital of the World, salamanders, Smokies
