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Participation High for Third Year of Cherokee Sochan Gathering in Park
By Frances Figart
While the word “harvest” usually brings autumn to mind, spring is the time of year for harvesting sochan. Also known as green-headed coneflower, sochan plays an important role in the cultural heritage of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who gathered food and medicine directly from the land in the Great
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Image for the Asking: Between the Campbells
Story and image by Don McGowan
One of the great joys of living in the Southern Appalachians and in close proximity to the beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains is the opportunity for close observation as the starkness of winter with its leafless deciduous hardwoods, slowly at first and then in a full-out run, brings to these old hills another
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Trailside Talk: The Waters of the Oconaluftee
By Mike Hembree
Attempting to rank rivers in one of the country’s most beloved national parks is a dangerous business.
Even listing a few wonderful streams and rivers in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is like shooting a family photograph and leaving out one of the children. A quick, off-the-top-of-the-head list might include Little
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Wildflowers 101: Blooming Shrubs
Story and images by Tom Harrington
Many wildflowers in the Great Smoky Mountains have very unique fragrances that can be helpful in identifying them. As an example, let’s examine dog-hobble and witch-hobble. These plants are technically shrubs, but their gorgeous blooms are worth searching for around this time of year.
Dog-
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Father–Daughter Duo Discovers New Aquatic Organism
By Frances Figart
A new aquatic organism has been discovered from a wetland near the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. It's a microscopic worm-like creature that feeds on algae and bacteria, and it appears to be pretty common across North America and much of the world, if one thinks to look for it.
This slide image of a hairybellied
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Trailside Talk: Counting on Le Conte
By Mike Hembree
If you have hiked to the top of Mount Le Conte, you have peaked Tom Layton’s interest.
A former journalist and master of the pun, Layton is the overseer, editor, and only employee of a website devoted to one of the Smokies’ legend-filled mountains and to the people who hike its trails repeatedly.
Layton, 66, gets
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Remarkable Women of the Smokies
By Sarah Shiver
Many inspiring and influential women have ties to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Some lived and died in the Smokies before the park was established, while others advocated for the park’s creation or drew artistic inspiration from it. In honor of Women’s History Month, here is a look at three women of the smokies
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Books Come to Life on the Storybook Trail of the Smokies
The Cosby Nature Trail, home of the Storybook Trail of the Smokies. Photo by NPS/ Katie Corrigan.
Reading is even more fun in the great outdoors. That’s the big idea behind the Storybook Trail of the Smokies initiative coming to the one-mile Cosby Nature Trail this spring.
Soon young readers, school groups, and families
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New Sepia Tones Series Adds Missing Liner Notes to Smokies Music History
The Great Smoky Mountains are positively full of music.
The songs begin with the music of the Cherokee—the Principal People who passed down their myths, songs, and dance long before the invention of a written Cherokee language. Later, in the 19th and 20th centuries, the music came to include the songs of settlers, the enslaved peoples who
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Team BUSAR Assists GSMNP with Search and Rescue Operations
By Sarah Shiver
Photos courtesy of Team BUSAR
When exploring Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it is not uncommon for visitors to find themselves momentarily disoriented. Usually this confusion is resolved by quickly glancing at a map or asking a fellow hiker for directions. But for backcountry explorers who stray from the trail, face
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