Great Smoky Mountains National Park transferred its collection of more than 50,000 specimens from the basement of Sugarlands Visitor Center to the newly constructed Twin Creeks Science and Education Center, a project made possible in part by funding provided by Great Smoky Mountains Association, more than 10 years ago. At

Working with literary authorities George Ellison and Janet McCue to edit their new book, Back of Beyond: A Horace Kephart Biography, was like being a roadie for a dynamic singer-songwriter duo (imagine going on tour with Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell). George and Janet are so creative, so steeped in

By Elise Anderson Kemp Writer in Residence After attempting Ramsey Cascades as my first hike in the Smokies this year and turning around just ¾ mile shy of the top (wisely, or I’d have never made it back down), I decided to re-visit a classic for my second hike of

The White House has been home to more pets than people over its long history. First Pets have ranged from the commonplace, like Bo, President Obama’s Portuguese water dog, to the Scottish terriers, English springer spaniel, and cat that President George W. Bush. Others have included the bizarre and downright

In 10 feature-length stories, all of which examine Great Smoky Mountains National Park-specific themes, GSMA’s spring Smokies Life looks at some of the earliest efforts to establish a national park in the eastern U.S., business endeavours that failed to take root in and around the park, and the impact climate

Great Smoky Mountains National Park education branch chief Susan Sachs accepts her award for Agency Leadership and speaks to her years of partnership building during the Public Lands Alliance’s 2019 conference in Denver, CO. And the winners are… For Agency Leadership: Susan Sachs This award recognizes a public land management agency

Clingmans Dome Road, which carries passenger vehicles to the Top of Ol’ Smoky, is expected to open to the public about 48 hours ahead of schedule this spring. Weather permitting, look for the gate to swing on the morning of Saturday, March 30. When you find yourself in the Clingmans

Every spring people flock to the Smokies to view our park’s spectacular displays of wildflowers that begin blooming at the lower elevations and creep uphill as the temperatures warm and days grow longer. Did you know… Geographers calculate that every 1,000 feet of elevation gain in the Smokies is equal to traveling

The Saturday Evening Post printed an article titled “Time Stood Still in the Smokies” on April 27, 1946. It began, “Deep in the mountains of East Tennessee, the Walker sisters are still living in the early 19th century… and finding it not so bad, either.” The writer, John Maloney, had

Note: Originally posted on January 2014. Reposted here with permission from the author. Great Smoky Mountains National Park was my hiking destination yesterday. Leaving Asheville at 9 a.m., I traveled to Gatlinburg for a meeting with Todd Witcher, executive director for Discover Life in America, a nonprofit organization that manages a