Great Smoky Mountain National Park

The Great Smoky Mountain National Park is the most visited national park in the country. It has land in both Tennessee and North Carolina.

Created in 1934 by Franklin Roosevelt, it was a difficult national park to make. Unlike big parks like Yellowstone and Yosemite, the federal government didn't own all of the land. The process of buying the land began in the 20's. US settlers had been in the area since the mid 1800's. Many sold the land with the condition that they could live there until they died. The last people to live in the park were gone in the 40's. There are still log cabins, churches and graveyards in the park dating to the 1800's.

The Cherokee had been in the area for hundreds of years before the settlers, but did not live specifically in what became the national park.

When Tennessee and North Carolina sold the land to the US government, they stipulated that the park should always be free of charge.

It was beautiful! However, it is not better than Yellowstone. It is the only national park that is free to enter. I wonder if that helps. Plus, Dollywood is nearby. 😊

It is another park that you can spend many days exploring and we only had half a day. Still, we enjoyed it very much. We didn't get to Climgman's Dome, the third highest peak east of the Mississippi, but we did enjoy Cade's Cove, an 11 mile loop through the valley.

We saw a group that we think are Mennonites. They were in a big van and used digital cameras, so most definitely not Amish. We also saw lot of folks swimming and tubing in the river. Some people were jumping in from the high rocks where the park warned not to do that because people had died. Smart.

Our big hope is to see a black bear! Black bears can be brown or tan, but in the Smoky Mountains, they are always black. There're an estimated 1,600 black bears in the park. We feel our chances are good. 🐻Read more