Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the Appalachians
Saturday, 25 June 2022 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: North America / Nordamerika Category/Kategorie: General , Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks , Environment , UNESCO World Heritage
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Clingman’s Dome Observation Tower, the highest point both in Tennessee and along the Appalachian Trail, in Great Smoky Mountains National Park © Scott Basford
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an American
national park in the
southeastern United States , with parts in
North Carolina and
Tennessee . The park straddles the ridgeline of the
Great Smoky Mountains , part of the
Blue Ridge Mountains , which are a division of the larger
Appalachian Mountain chain . The park contains some of the highest mountains in eastern North America, including
Clingmans Dome ,
Mount Guyot , and
Mount Le Conte . The border between the two states runs northeast to southwest through the center of the park. The
Appalachian Trail passes through the center of the park on its route from
Georgia to
Maine . With 14.1 million visitors in 2021, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the United States.
The park encompasses 522,419 acres (816.28 sq mi; 211,415.47 ha; 2,114.15 km²), making it one of the largest protected areas in the eastern United States. The main park entrances are located along U.S. Highway 441 (Newfound Gap Road ) in the towns of Gatlinburg, Tennessee and Cherokee, North Carolina , and also in Townsend, Tennessee . The park is internationally recognized for its mountains, waterfalls, biodiversity, and forests. In addition, the park also preserves multiple historical structures that were part of communities occupied by early European-American settlers of the area.
Clingman's Dome Observation Tower, the highest point both in Tennessee and along the Appalachian Trail, in Great Smoky Mountains National Park © Scott Basford
The park was chartered by the
United States Congress in 1934, and officially dedicated by
President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940. The Great Smoky Mountains was the first national park having land and other costs paid in part with federal funds; previous parks were funded wholly with state money or private funds. The park was designated as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, and an
International Biosphere Reserve in 1988.
As the most visited national park in the United States, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park anchors a large tourism industry based in
Sevier County, Tennessee adjacent to the park. Major attractions include
Dollywood , the second-most visited tourist attraction in Tennessee,
Ober Gatlinburg , and Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. Tourism to the park contributes an estimated $2.5 billion annually into the local economy.
Read more on
nps.gov – Great Smoky Mountains National Park ,
VisitTheUSA.co.uk – Great Smoky Mountains National Park ,
Wikivoyage Great Smoky Mountains National Park and
Wikipedia Great Smoky Mountains National Park (
Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State -
Weather report by weather.com -
Global Passport Power Rank -
Travel Risk Map -
Democracy Index -
GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank -
Global Competitiveness Report -
Corruption Perceptions Index -
Press Freedom Index -
World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index -
UN Human Development Index -
Global Peace Index -
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index ). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at
comment@wingsch.net . Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.
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