Spanning more than 520,000 acres of the southern Appalachians, the Great Smoky Mountains is one of only three US national parks to straddle state lines (along with Yellowstone and Death Valley). Shared almost evenly between North Carolina and Tennessee, the Smokies are renowned for misty mountains, wonderful waterfalls and ethereal forests that rustle with wildlife. But they are so much more than your typical tourist attraction.

Click through the gallery to discover America’s most-visited national park and its fascinating stats, sights and stories...

Believed to have formed between 200 and 300 million years ago, these are some of the oldest mountains in the world. Stretching from eastern Tennessee to western North Carolina, their unique orientation meant that primeval flora and fauna were able to weather the climatic impact of the last Ice Age, allowing the ecosystem to thrive and even expand in the millennia since. As well as being awarded national park status, the Great Smoky Mountains are also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve.

Historically the homeland of the Cherokee peoples, the Great Smoky Mountains soon became a precious commodity after the first European settlers arrived in the region. With their landscapes rich in timber, many of those living among the Smokies towards the end of the 19th century began advocating for the land to be preserved as more and more trees fell. By 1934, logging companies had decimated around 80% of the forest in the Smoky Mountains.

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The campaign to declare the Great Smoky Mountains a national park was spearheaded by a number of notable contributors, most of them based out of Knoxville, Tennessee and Asheville, North Carolina. It took their work alongside the collective efforts of state governments, wealthy conservationists, grassroots fundraisers and the US National Park Service to buy out landowners and loggers in the area. Once the land was acquired, vegetation was regrown, roads were laid and trails and campsites were carved out during the Great Depression. The park was then officially dedicated in September 1940.

When the Smokies were made a national park, hundreds of residents were asked to relocate. But the Walker sisters were among the few who were granted a special lifetime lease permitting them to stay. On inheriting the mountain homestead from their father, the unmarried women became completely self-sufficient, making their own clothes, raising livestock and growing medicinal herbs. With the creation of the park, restrictions were placed on grazing animals, cutting wood, hunting and fishing within its boundaries. So the sisters diversified, welcoming visitors into their cabin (pictured) and selling handmade crafts, home-fried apple pies and handwritten poems. You could say they were early pioneers of community-based tourism in the national park.

The resident Cherokee called this place “Shaconage” (pronounced Sha-Kon-O-Hey), meaning land of blue smoke. On sunny and damp mornings, mist rises from the thick forest of the mountains and its particles capture the blue light of the clear sky – creating the mysterious 'smoke' the Cherokee spoke of. While this type of natural vapour hangs above forests all over the world, it is especially visible in the Great Smoky Mountains, which see plenty of rain and sunlight coupled with excessive humidity and stagnant air.

The Indigenous Cherokee had already inhabited the southern Appalachian Mountains for hundreds of years when European explorers first arrived in the 16th century. As more and more settlers established homesteads in the Smokies throughout the 19th century, Native American tribes such as the Cherokee were forced to relinquish claim on their ancestral lands and relocate west of the Mississippi River – an event known as the Trail of Tears. Today, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is around 14,000 members strong and is a sovereign nation on the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains. To discover more about the Cherokee’s connection to the area, visit the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in North Carolina.

The Great Smoky Mountains consistently ranks as America’s most-visited national park; it saw almost 13 million tourists in 2022 alone and typically welcomes more people than the Grand Canyon, Yosemite and Yellowstone combined. Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and magical in every season, it's free to enter, so it’s no surprise that visitors retreat here in their millions each year. But the park’s budget has struggled to meet demand so, as of March 2023, visitors now need to pay for a parking tag if they wish to stay longer than 15 minutes.

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Despite these huge visitor numbers, the Smokies are still mostly untouched and renowned among scientists for their spectacular biodiversity, which gives insight into the characteristics of temperate flora before the influence of humankind. The park contains stunning swathes of undisturbed forest, including the biggest remaining block of virgin red spruce on the planet. One of the ways in which the park safeguards its precious natural wonders is by prohibiting dogs on all walking trails bar two – the Gatlinburg Trail and the Oconaluftee River Trail.

Boasting 130 natural species, Great Smoky Mountains National Park holds almost as many trees as there are in the whole of Europe. With more native trees than in any other national park in North America, the Smokies are one of the world’s top spots for leaf peeping in the autumn. Bouncing back from its brush with deforestation, almost 95% of the park is now wooded, with about 25% consisting of old-growth forest. This makes it one of the largest wedges of deciduous, temperate, old-growth forest still standing on the continent.

There is no other comparably-sized area in a temperate climate zone on Earth that can even come close to matching the biodiversity of the Smoky Mountains. Having survived Ice Age glaciation and avoided ocean inundation, it represents the largest remnant of the Arcto-Tertiary geoflora era left in the world, which continues to evolve even now. Over 17,000 species have been recorded as living in the national park, but researchers believe there could be up to 80,000 more that we don’t yet know about.

One of the biggest threats facing the integrity of the Great Smoky Mountains is air pollution, for which it measures higher than most other national parks in the US. The burning of fossil fuels outside of the park’s boundaries causes airborne pollutants to make their way into the mountains on the wind, affecting park views, plant and animal life, streams and soils, even human health. The National Park Service (NPS) is working with state regulatory bodies, the Environmental Protection Agency and the businesses burning these fuels on future reduction and prevention tactics.

Due to their immense popularity, visiting the Great Smoky Mountains requires some forward planning and preparation, especially when it comes to accommodation. There are no motels or rental cabins in the park itself, and permits and advance reservations are mandatory even for backcountry camping (reservations for the park’s 10 frontcountry campgrounds can be made online). If sleeping under the stars isn’t your thing, there is one lodging option – LeConte Lodge (pictured) lies at the end of a moderately strenuous, eight-mile (13km) uphill hike. Note that it closes for winter and has limited availability, as booking windows open up months in advance.

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The national park is knitted together by an extensive network of 150 walking trails spanning over 800 miles (1,287km) of vast backcountry. Crossing verdant valleys, wildflower-flecked forests and hazy mountain slopes, these routes range from gentle, streamside rambles to calf-burning day hikes and intrepid multi-day treks. Perfect for day-trippers and non-hikers, the designated ‘Quiet Walkways’ are 14 short trails which beat back into peaceful woodland from the main road. Too easy? Then why not boss the bucket list and walk the Smokies’ 71-mile (114km) stretch of the Appalachian Trail?

Yep, you read that right. Smoky Mountain Llama Treks organises guided hikes where each participant gets their own loveable llama as a trail buddy. Its most popular package is the Padgett Mill Trek, which starts at the organisation’s llama farm where you’ll get to meet the animals and learn their stories, before heading out for an hour-long hike into the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains with your new fluffy pal. This is a hiking experience, not a ride, so be sure to wear comfortable, sturdy shoes.

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According to UNESCO, the Great Smoky Mountains possess what is probably the greatest variety of salamanders in the world. Thirty-one different species dwell here, which is deemed to be a strong indicator of how healthy the wider ecosystem is. Other notable animal inhabitants of the Smokies include black bears, white-tailed deer and elk, which were reintroduced in 2001 and are best spotted in the Cataloochee Valley. More than 240 types of bird and around 50 kinds of fish can also be found here.

Each year for two weeks only, the Great Smoky Mountains provide front-row seats to one of nature’s most awesome spectacles. Typically between late May and late June, synchronous fireflies dance and blink their lights under the protective canopy of the forest near the Elkmont campground in a mating ritual unique to just two places in the world – Thailand and the Smokies. To be in with a chance of catching this amazing show of bioluminescence, you’ll need to set a calendar alert for April, when the NPS launches a lottery system to determine who will see the feisty lightning bugs in action.

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On the Tennessee side of the national park, Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg is the largest of the park’s four visitor centres and the one most focused on its geography. Gatlinburg (pictured) and its adjacent city Pigeon Forge are popular gateway towns for the Smokies from the west, while the Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee is the main point of entry for those visiting from the North Carolina side. It features historical exhibits explaining the park’s Native American culture and white settler heritage.

Another Tennessee gateway into the Smoky Mountains is Sevierville, famed for its bronze statue of country music icon Dolly Parton. Growing up in a log cabin in Sevierville – a replica of which now stands near the entrance to her Dollywood amusement park in nearby Pigeon Forge, Parton has always been the poster girl for the park (and for Tennessee more broadly), singing about its clear blue mornings, fireflies and eagles. In 2022, her hit My Tennessee Mountain Home became an official state song.

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Leafy Gatlinburg's SkyBridge is one of the main attractions at SkyPark, which features thrills like the SkyTrail scenic walkway and the yellow SkyLift, which whisks its passengers from downtown Gatlinburg up to the top of Crockett Mountain. The bridge stands above a valley at 680 feet long (207m) and 140 feet high (43m) at its midpoint, where the floor is replaced with a stomach-knotting glass panel. It's worth braving for incredible views over the city and across to the towering peaks of the Smokies.

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While most people choose to explore the Great Smoky Mountains on foot or four wheels, there are more unconventional ways to discover the park’s astonishing beauty. Climb Works operate a mountaintop zipline tour, which not only showcases the Smokies from a different perspective, but also zooms in on the history of the area. The experience ends with rappelling off one of the aerial platforms and taking a ride in an ATV. You can also zipline at Gatlinburg’s Anakeesta adventure park, as well as stroll along its raised canopy walkway.

Departing from Bryson City in North Carolina, the trains of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad rattle through beautiful pockets of the national park that can’t be reached by car. Passengers can choose to ride on a traditional steam locomotive or a diesel-powered one on a round-trip that captures glimpses of Fontana Lake and its historic trellis bridge, before chugging into the Nantahala Gorge.

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Over 90 historic log structures – from houses, churches and schools to outbuildings, barns and gristmills – have been preserved or restored within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Some of the best areas to see these for yourself are Cades Cove, Cataloochee, the Elkmont Historic District, Roaring Fork Historic District and Oconaluftee. The latter is where you’ll find the Mountain Farm Museum and Mingus Mill (pictured), located near the visitor centre, where people are transported back in time to life in 19th-century Appalachia.

Cades Cove is a picturesque valley in the Tennessee portion of the national park and one of its most popular destinations. It provided important hunting opportunities for the Cherokee before being settled by Europeans between 1818 and 1821. The population grew to 271 by 1830; some of the now-abandoned homesteads remain intact today and can be seen on a self-guided tour. This is also one of the top places in the park for wildlife watching: look out for white-tailed deer, black bears, coyotes, raccoons, skunks and groundhogs.

The landscape of the Great Smoky Mountains is shaped by an unbroken chain of peaks that tumble across more than 36 miles (58km). Of all the mountains in the national park, three are the most imposing – Clingmans Dome (6,643ft), Mount Guyot (6,621ft) and Mount LeConte (6,593ft). Clingmans Dome is not only the highest point in the Smokies and in all of Tennessee, but it is also the third highest mountain east of the Mississippi. An observation tower (pictured) at its summit rewards those willing to tackle the steep half-mile (0.8km) walk to get to it.

Great Smoky Mountains was one of the first parks in North America to be designed with cars in mind. Prior to this, national parks were intended to be reached by trains, where visitors could stay the night in opulent hotels funded by railway companies. So the Smokies are primed for road trips – the Newfound Gap Road runs through the park from Sugarlands to Oconaluftee and promises a scenic, highlight-speckled drive from eastern Tennessee to western North Carolina. Follow the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail for animal encounters or the Greenbrier for wildflowers.

You’re never far from a waterfall in the Great Smokies. The tallest in the park is Ramsey Cascades, accessible via an eight-mile (13km) hike, though there are others far easier to reach – and still impressive in their own right. Two-tiered Laurel Falls (pictured) is just over a two-and-a-half-mile (4km) round-trip on mostly asphalt paths, making it the perfect excursion for young families. The Smoky Mountains’ most voluminous cascade is Abrams Falls, which is small (20ft/6m high) but mighty.

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The four-season splendour of the Smokies means you’ll likely be sharing your trip with others. The Cades Cove Loop is almost perennially busy, while summer and autumn across the whole park is peak tourist time. Visit in April for a better chance of a quieter visit. For a hidden gem, Cosby is an off-the-beaten-path part of the national park typically visited by locals and Smokies veterans. There are a number of short hikes starting from the spacious picnic area, as well as more challenging treks for those with the ability and ambition to go harder.

From handicrafts to live performance, centuries-old art forms are ingrained in the Great Smoky Mountains. At the Oconaluftee Indian Village (pictured) in Cherokee, North Carolina, you’ll watch the villagers weave baskets, hull canoes, make pottery and ceremonial masks, and work intricately with beads by hand. On the other side of the Newfound Gap in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, discover a collective of artisans that is the largest of its kind in the US. The Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community has myriad shops, galleries and workshops specialising in everything from soap and ceramics to brooms and basketry.

Suited to the Smokies’ cool climate and immensely versatile, apples have historically been the most important fruit in these mountains. Settlers in the late 1800s and early 1900s would eat apples raw but also transform them into cider, vinegar, sauces, flavoured butter and delicious pies, and dry or sulphur them for long-term use. Thousands of apple tree varieties were once grown in the region, but many have since been lost. The Mountain Farm Museum (pictured) still has a small orchard where several heirloom varieties are preserved.

The Smokies are home to over 1,500 kinds of flowering plants, making them more abundant for wildflowers than any other national park in North America. With blooms of various colours, shapes and sizes visible in the park all year round, its nickname ‘Wildflower National Park’ couldn’t be more fitting. There is even a Wildflower Pilgrimage here every spring, featuring a week-long programme of guided walks and special exhibits. Don’t pick the flowers though, or you could be slapped with a hefty fine.

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