English: Therefore the name. Low clouds over Great Smoky Mountains national Park. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

• Where is it?: – Tennessee and North Carolina, NC,TNNational Park
• Special Topics: Mountains · Wildflowers
• Recreation Activities: Auto Touring · Biking · Camping · Educational Programs · Fishing · Hiking · Horseback Riding · Wildlife Viewing

Great Smoky Mountains National Park has more than 800 miles of maintained hiking trails, so whether you’re a short walk type of person, or the full blown hiking type – this place is definitely for you.  Some of these trails are great for those who want to get away from it all and do a spot of back-country camping. For those who like their creature comforts with perhaps just a short venture away from it all, there’s also plenty of opportunities to fish, take a picnic,  look for wildlife or simply drive through and enjoy the breathtaking scenery.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is also a great place to spot bears. Almost 1500 of them live there, so if it’s bears you’re after you’re in the right place, but there are also lots of other beautiful and remarkable things to see – wild flowers and shrubs (over 1,660 different types), as well as elk, deers and other animals. No wonder Great Smoky Mountains National Park has more visitors every year than any other park in America – between 8 and 10 million, but don’t worry, there’s plenty of room for everybody. 

The summers in Great Smoky Mountains National Park are generally hot and the winters are mild, but do remember that some parts of the park are over 6,000 feet high, and the weather can change quite drastically with the topography. Just because it’s nice at the bottom of the peak, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you won’t need a jacket at the top – you get my drift?

Isn’t it beautiful? Now, let’s see if we can spot a bear . . .

Yeh, we found one in a tree – brilliant.

How do the Great Smokey Mountains look now? Here is the Great Smoky cam view, east from Look Rock . . . and here’s the Great Smoky cam view from Purchase Knob to the north east.