News

Note: Originally posted in 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 thorough scientific inventory of all the park’s species that has been going on for the past 15 years.

Anyone who has spent time in the Great Smoky Mountains can appreciate the rugged beauty of this Southern Appalachian range. Steep mountainsides, craggy gorges and boulder-strewn waterways are part and parcel of the landscape.

For my last Experience Your Smokies, our class visited the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont and the National Park Service Collections Preservation Center in Townsend, TN. Appropriately, the focus of our day was on the value of experiential and outdoor learning.

As a Cub Report subscriber, you’ve probably uttered the following statement one way or another: “I want to be in the Smokies!” Am I right?

UPDATE: With the end of the partial government shutdown announced on Friday, January 25, Great Smoky Mountains National Park has reopened its visitor center facilities to the public. However, due to more than a month's absence, park rangers and other NPS employees will require time to get fully up to speed with programs and services. 

Thank you for making the effort to reach out to our country’s elected officials with your thoughts on how the partial government shutdown is impacting Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Great Smoky Mountains Association.

KODAK, Tenn. – Friends of the Smokies announced Thursday that it will temporarily fund the reopening of Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg, Tenn., and Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee, N.C., from Friday through Monday, Jan. 18-21.

When planning a visit to Great Smoky Mountains National Park during the government shutdown, here are some things to keep in mind:

During the extended government shutdown in October 2013, the public’s access to Great Smoky Mountains National Park was nearly non-existent. This time, however, if a government shutdown goes into effect at midnight on December 21, Great Smoky Mountains Association is committed to creating a different reality for park visitors during the upcoming holiday week.

GATLINBURG, Tenn. — Great Smoky Mountains Association has announced the launch of the first ever writer’s residency offered in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.