Everything you should know about Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Blue fog blankets some of the world’s oldest mountains at dawn’s first breath. Incredible biodiversity stirs within the towering trees, steep mountains, and lush vegetation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Black bears, massive elk, and giant hellbender salamanders call the 522,427-acre (2.1-billion square meters) park home, along with over 22,000 other life forms. 

The most visited national park in the United States spans across Tennessee and North Carolina  and remains free to enter. Hike to cascading waterfalls, drive scenic byways, and immerse yourself in the rich history of Southern Appalachian culture. Be dazzled by colorful wildflowers, pulsing fireflies, and warblers filling the forest with song.

(These are the 10 most popular national parks in the United States.)

Best times to visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Over 12 million visitors explore this national park each year, with July and October the busiest months. While summer’s warmth invites water play and hiking, the sunniest season can be crowded with vacationing families. Leaf peepers are lured by the tapestry of fall colors, which peak on the highest elevations in October and roll down the mountains into early November, explains Clayton LaPrees, owner of Smoky Mountain Guides.

Spring welcomes blooming wildflowers, gushing waterfalls, and fuzzy black bear cubs. Synchronous fireflies flash on late-May to early-June evenings, a phenomenon so popular it requires a lottery system to see. Winter is the season for solitude amongst stark mountains, but be aware that some higher elevation roads close.  

Visitation surges on weekends and holidays. Arrive before 8 a.m. to claim a parking spot and savor more peaceful trails and roadways. Consult this congestion calendar for advice on avoiding crowds. 

Where to find the best views in the park

Throughout Great Smoky Mountains National Park, expect dramatic vistas of layered ridgelines, often veiled by the area’s namesake mist, a dreamy effect of the temperate rainforest releasing harmless vapors. Kuwohi, formerly known as Clingmans Dome, is the park’s highest peak, and reveals the Smokies’ most iconic view. Cherokee for “mulberry place,” the mountain’s original name was restored to honor the Indigenous peoples’ deep connection to the site.  

Cruise around Newfound Gap Road, a popular scenic drive, for a visual feast of pine, oak, red spruce, and Fraser firs. LePrees suggests threading the Foothills Parkway along the park’s edge and marveling at the floating bridges. Then walk the half-mile (0.6 km) paved trail to peer out at Look Rock Tower over the undulating horizon. 

Where to find the best hiking trails

Mount Le Conte via the Alum Cave Trail stands as the signature Smokies challenging hike. This 10-mile (16 km) round-trip trek weaves through dense forest and concave cliffs before culminating on the park’s third-highest peak. Charlies Bunion, an eight-mile (13 km) high-elevation hike through a rocky outcrop named after a 1920s Appalachian Trail supervisor and his bony foot bump, rewards with panoramic views. Chase waterfalls on the five-mile (8 km) Abram Falls Trail in Cade’s Cove, where a cascade sweeps over sandstone cliffs to form a picturesque pool.   

Fancy shorter nature strolls? Look for “Quiet Walkways” signs, says Will Kuhn, director of science and research at Discover Life in America, one of the park’s non-profit partners. He also recommends the 0.75-mile (1.2 km) Cove Hardwood Nature Trail, the area’s easiest access to old-growth forest, where spectacular wildflowers, interesting insects, and lush plant life abound. 

The best spots to see wildlife

Visit wide-open spaces at dawn and dusk for your best chance to see animals in nature. Spot black bears with cubs tumbling behind, deer foraging, and turkeys with fanned feathers in Cades Cove. Massive elk graze in Cataloochee Valleyand Oconaluftee Valley, their antlers huge, thorny crowns. In fall, the guttural grunt of bulls bugling echoes through the hills. Maintain a safe distance, at least 150 feet (46 m), from any wild animal, for your safety and theirs.

Slick salamanders pad around streams, and white-tailed deer browse along the forested Roaring Fork Nature Trail. In May and June, synchronous fireflies glitter around the Elkmont Area, pulsing like a living constellation. Enter the lottery for a pass to witness this natural phenomenon.  

Expert recommendations and tips

While most people hike with their eyes on their path, don’t forget to look up, suggests National Geographic Explorer and forest canopy ecologist Meg D. Lowman. “Appreciate the highest biodiversity forest in the United States with all kinds of creatures living in a big condominium,” she says. Peek under shady ferns, see what lives on tree bark, and peer into the canopy to see birds singing in the sunlight. 

“See how amazingly different life can be atop of a mountain, where creatures have to survive winter, to the valleys and forest floors where organisms compete for light,” Lowman says. Take a stroll after dark, when the eyes of spiders, insects, raccoons, and flying squirrels glow under a velvet sky. 

Kuhn also recommends exploring on warm, early summer evenings. Mountain streams can reveal hundreds of salamanders, ranging from two-inch (5 cm) pygmy species to the hulking hellbender at 2.5 feet (0.76 meters) long. Watch for the blue, bioluminescent glow of foxfire fly larvae scattered like stars amongst the leaves.  

Things to do in Great Smoky Mountains

Hiking, wildlife viewing, picnicking, and scenic drives are the most popular activities within the park. Amp up your outdoor adventures by backpacking, camping, fly fishing, or kayaking. Many outfitters provide equipment along with seasoned, certified guides to ensure a successful trip. Ride horseback, in a carriage, or wagon through lush scenery from three stables throughout the park from March to November.

Deeper insights into Cherokee and Appalachian settler life can be found in visitors centers, museums, cemeteries, and the park’s 90-plus historic structures. Learn about 19th-century hardscrabble mountain life at the Cable Mill Historic Area or the Mountain Farm Museum, which includes grist mills, apple houses, and blacksmith shops. 

Ranger Recommendation: Hike Big Creek Trail along old railroad grades built to carry lumber out of the forest. Hikers will pass Midnight Hole, a deep pool below small waterfalls, then you'll come upon 45-foot Mouse Creek Falls—the highlight of the hike. Safety tip: Don't climb on the rocks along the four-mile round-trip hike; scrambling along the slick surfaces is dangerous.

Best things to do for families 

Ranger-led programs guide young visitors through the mountains’ tales and terrain from spring to fall. Kids can look, listen, predict, and share to become Junior Rangers—and hopefully be inspired to protect wild places. 

Float down Deep Creek in an inner tube in summer. LaPrees recommends the Gatlinburg Trail along the Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River for a flat, wheel-friendly trek or the Fighting Creek Nature Trail for a one-mile (1.6 km) loop to the narrow plume of Cataract Falls, cascading 40 feet (12 m). Cool down at Metacalf Bottoms picnic area on the Little River, where shaded riverbanks invite a restorative pause. 

Where to stay

The Smokies have just one permanent structure to sleep in, LeConte Lodge. Hike five to nine miles (8-14.6 km) for these accommodations, the highest in the eastern United States. Guests can enjoy hearty meals, clean sheets, propane heaters, and kerosene lanterns as they rest perched above the park. 

Camp amongst old-growth trees in ten frontcountry campgrounds or five drive-in horse camps. Restrooms, running water, and camp stores are available near most of these primitive sites, but showers and electricity are unlikely. Purchase heat-treated firewood to prevent harmful pests from entering this delicate, protected ecosystem. 

Find a variety of accommodations in the towns surrounding the national park. In Tennessee, immerse yourself in the misty mountains glamping at Under Canvas or catch some z’s aloft at Treehouse Grove. On the North Carolina side, indulge at an all-inclusive luxury resort, The Swag, or cozy up in a 1920’s farmhouse of Folkestone Inn.

(This 100-year-old lodge is in the Smokies—and getting there is half the experience.)

What else you need to know

Access: Two airports—Knoxville, Tennessee, and Asheville, North Carolina—serve this park, which is within a day’s drive of over half the U.S. population. Six entrances and four visitors centers welcome guests, with Sugarlands in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, being the busiest. Watch for majestic elk in the valley and visit the Mountain Farm Museum when you enter the park in Cherokee, North Carolina, near the lovely landscapes of Newfoundland Gap Road. For peak panoramas, Appalachian history, and abundant wildlife, access the “peaceful side of the Smokies” in Townsend, Tennessee, which stands along the most direct route to Cades Cove. 

While it’s free to enter the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, travelers must pay for parking. Purchase daily, weekly, or annual passes in advance online, at visitors centers, or at kiosks throughout the park.  

Are pets allowed: Leashed service animals are welcome in the park. Other leashed pets are only allowed in campgrounds, picnic areas, roadways, the Gatlinburg Trail in Tennessee, and North Carolina’s Oconaluftee River Trail. 

How accessible is the park? 

Find ADA-accessible parking, restrooms, and campsites throughout the Smokies. Roll wheelchairs and strollers through a hardwood forest near a flowing stream on Sugarlands Valley Nature Trail, a half-mile (0.8 km) ADA-accessible, paved, flat loop. Reserve complimentary off-road wheelchairs to explore select areas of the park and participate in summer’s accessible, ranger-led programs.