Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most-visited national park in the United States — 12+ million annual visitors, three times Yellowstone and Yosemite combined — and a UNESCO World Heritage Site protecting 522,000 acres of old-growth forest, 800+ miles of trails, 2,900 miles of streams, 1,500 black bears, and 200+ elk. The park straddles the Tennessee–North Carolina line along the spine of the southern Appalachians, with 16 peaks above 6,000 feet.

The park has no entrance fee and is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A Park It Forward parking tag ($5 daily / $15 weekly / $40 annual) is required for any vehicle parked more than 15 minutes inside park boundaries, available online at recreation.gov or at visitor centers and automated kiosks. Roads: Newfound Gap Road (US-441) crosses the park in 33 miles; Little River Road, Cades Cove Loop, Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, Foothills Parkway, and the Heintooga Ridge Road add corridors on the TN side, with the Blue Ridge Parkway terminus at Cherokee anchoring the NC side.

Two notes for 2025–2026: Clingmans Dome was officially renamed Kuwohi in 2024, reflecting its ancestral Cherokee name. Chimney Tops Trail remains closed at the summit following the 2016 wildfires but reopened to a lower overlook at 1.75 miles. Check nps.gov/grsm current conditions before any hike — weather, ice, and maintenance routinely close roads and trails, especially at higher elevations in winter and during bear-activity seasons.