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The Smokies in Your Backyard: Crested Dwarf Iris, Foam Flower, and Columbine
By Steve Kemp & Janet Rock
It’s impossible not to get excited about wildflowers at this time of year. Out of the 1,600 species of flowering plants that can found in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, here are some that should thrive around your home if you reside in the Southeast, central Appalachians, and parts of the
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Mountain Time: Harvey Broome
By Arthur “Butch” McDade
In his Out Under the Sky of the Great Smokies—A Personal Journal, Harvey Broome wrote: “I have never wanted to leave the top of a mountain.” That sentiment permeated his productive life as a lawyer, hiker, conservationist, and co-founder of The Wilderness Society. A guiding principle in
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Charismatic Beetles Light up the Night
By Frances Figart, Creative Services Director
Great Smoky Mountains National Park announced Tuesday, April 27, that its popular synchronous firefly viewing event in Elkmont Campground will resume this year June 1–8 after a hiatus last spring to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
In 2019, the spectacle had attracted more than 28,000 people
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The monarchs are coming!
By Will Kuhn, Director of Science and Research with Discover Life in America
Monarch butterflies have begun their yearly northward migration and are due to arrive in the Smokies any day now.
This time of year, you may start to see Danaus plexippus flying around the region. These attractive orange and black butterflies have made the long
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Mountain Time: John Muir’s Lonely Way
By Arthur “Butch” McDade
Renowned conservationist John Muir never set foot in the highlands that became Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but he made an epic trek through the Unicoi Mountains south of the Smokies in 1867, and he visited the highlands of Roan Mountain along the TN/NC border in 1898. So, he’d seen the
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Share Your Old Smokies Photos for National Park Week: Wayback Wednesday
By Valerie Polk
Growing up in Townsend with parents who loved the outdoors, I have lots of childhood memories of picnicking and hiking in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Of course, life was busy even then, and my parents were spending every moment they could building our future house. The chance to leave the work behind and escape away to
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National Park Week: Transformation Tuesday
By Sarah Shiver
When you think about the transformations Great Smoky Mountains National Park has undergone, what comes to mind? Chances are you imagine the park’s creation—how it has changed from an area once populated by various communities to a swath of protected land that has largely been reclaimed by nature. But the park’
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National Park Week: Military Monday
By Mike Hembree
April 17-25 is National Park Week in the Smokies—and in every other national park. It’s time to celebrate spring, to break out hiking shoes and binoculars, to return to park roads and trails that many have missed for much of the past year.
Activities are scheduled throughout the park system with the focus on how
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How Oconee Bells Created a 200-Year Wild Botanical Goose Chase
by Frances Figart, Creative Services Director
This is the time of year when visitors flock to Great Smoky Mountains National Park to see a plethora of wildflowers such as bloodroot, hepatica, phlox, rue-anemone, spring-beauty, trillium, trout lily, and a variety of violets. Several celebrated Smokies wildflowers—such as Rugel's ragwort (
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Looking at Birds Through an Artist’s Eye
Story and artwork by Gaynell Lawson
With a fascination and enjoyment of birds, how do I go from studying a bird to painting a fanciful image of the bird? For that matter, why paint a fanciful bird instead of a true likeness?
Carolina Wren by Gaynell Lawson
As I determine the bird’s habits and attributes, an
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