Smoky Mountains Information: Your Smokies

Cades Cove Prescribed Burn in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Final Day for 2011

2011-11-08T09:51:00.003-05:00

Right now, the conditions in Cades Cove are perfect for the final day of prescribed burns taking place in the meadows and fields.

Prescribed burns are used by the Great Smoky Mountains national park on a rotating schedule in Cades Cove to keep fields clear of large brush, and help keep the ecosystem as diverse as possible.

Visitors to Cades Cove and along the Appalachian Trail(AT) today can expect temporary smoky conditions and limited visibility for short durations.

Controlled burn to take place today in Cades Cove Section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park

2011-11-01T09:50:00.002-04:00

Hyatt Lane was closed in Cades Cove in anticipation of today's controlled burn to take place of weather permits. Additional burns are scheduled to take place this week in Cades Cove and could possible be pushed into next week as Thursday and Friday do not look like optimum weather for a good burn.

Controlled burns are used in the Great Smoky Mountains national park to clear vegetation in fields along with mowing in order to keep filed open from large vegetation such as bushes and trees so they remain as they were historically.

Prescribed burns also reduce fuel so that wild fires do not burn as hot and spread as quickly as they would and unmaintained areas as well as help increase biodiversity.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Mountain Farm Museums "Evening at the Farm" Event

2011-10-17T15:06:00.001-04:00

Nestled next to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center which is 2 miles north of Cherokee, NC entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park there will be a variety of cultural demonstrations and storytelling for the "An Evening on the Farm" event taking place today from 5:00-6:30 pm.

The Mountain Farm Museum is a collection of century-old buildings as a log cabin, barns, gardens, a corn crib and more. The Davis/Queen farmhouse will also be open for visitors and hot cider will be served.

It is a beautiful day, the weather will be fantastic for the event, and the fall colors are great around the farm and sounding mountainsides.

While you are there be sure to visit the new Oconaluftee Visitor Center, which was donated, to the park along with displays courtesy of the Great Smoky Mountain association and the Friends of the Smokies.

Bridge Repair to close Old State Road 284 between Big Creek and Cataloochee NC.

2011-10-12T12:35:00.004-04:00

Bridge repair work will close the Old Cataloochee Turnpike/Old State Road 284 starting on or around November 13th 2011 for approximately 2 weeks from the Great Smoky Mountains national park boundary in Big Creek to the Cataloochee area just past the Cataloochee Creek Road/Bypass.

As dates become firm or change, we will post updates.

Cades Cove Stargazing Program Tonight Will Be A Perfect End To A Perfect Day in the GSMNP.

2011-09-24T17:07:00.001-04:00

Though the weather in the Smokies this weekend was expected to less than perfect just a few days ago, absolutely perfect weather has rolled in and will make tonight's free stargazing programming taking place on the Cades Cove section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park the perfect way to end this glorious day.

Beginning at 7:30 pm in cooperation with the Smoky Mountains Astronomical Society there will be a short lecture of what you will see in the night sky and the chance to observe with the help of experienced astronomers and the numerous telescopes they have brought for this evenings show, the chance to see firsthand on this moonless night, stars, galaxies, and constellations, including the Milky Way.

Cades Cove is one of the best places to be able to observe the night sky in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in its perfect natural bowl formed by the sounding mountain that block out unwanted light pollution that makes faint objects ion the night sky hard to see.

Parking will be at and near the orientation shelter at the start of the Cades Cove Loop. From here, you must carry your seating or blankets to the first field on the right hand side - about a 3/4 mile round trip.

While the newly paved Cades Cove road is easy to walk on even at night, you may want to bring a flashlight. It would be best of you have a red light or lens cover so as night disturb other observers. It is in the 60s right now in Cades Cove and will be in the 50s by the time the program is over so dress appropriately.

After a major portion of the program I will be hiking the 11 mile Cades Cove Loop, all are welcome to join me.

Biodiversity Days in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Take Place This Week

2011-06-20T09:31:00.001-04:00

The Great Smoky Mountains national park (GSMNP) was officially designated as an International Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations because of the tremendous biodiversity of the more than 100,000 different plants and animals that inhibit this environmentally crucial location.

This week features four Biodiversity Days taking place in the Great Smoky Mountains national park presented by the nonprofit organization working to inventory all of the plants and animals in the GSMNP: Discover Life in America (DLIA).

The first event takes place on June 22nd from 1 pm to 3 pm with a presentation given by Glenn Taylor on the Spruce-Fir Moss Spider held at the Twin Creeks Science center in the Cherokee Orchard Road/Roaring Fork section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park bordering Gatlinburg Tennessee.

The second event taking place is a class on scientific illustrating on June 23rd at Twin Creeks Science Center from at 10 am to 2 pm taught by Artist extraordinaire Deborah Blind.

The third event takes place on June 24th at Twin Creeks Science Center from 10 am to 2 pm which is a lecture on Springtails and a field collection session looking for these important tiny critters that live on the forest floor and in foliage present by springtail expert Dr. Ernest Bernard.

Lastly is an event for those in good enough physical shape to hike a distance in order to help with an on-going survey of the ferns in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park taking place on June 25th. Group will meet at the Jakes Creek Parking area in the Elkmont section of the park at 9 am.

All of these events and programs require registration in advance by phone (865)430-4757 or email at todd@dlia.org.

Volunteers Needed To Help Survey Tree Arthropods in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park

2011-06-17T14:16:00.003-04:00

If you love science, want to get your hands dirty, become more intimately knowledgeable and help the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, here is your chance to do something exciting and help advance science in the GSMNP.

For those who are seriously interested in helping collect specimens and data compilation on an ongoing long term basis, Discover Life in America (DLIA), the non-profit organization coordinating the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) in GSMNP, will host the Tree Team Training program beginning at 9:00 am on June 18th at the Twin Creeks Nature Center just outside Gatlinburg off Cherokee Orchard Road.

For those who wish to partake in this program, you will be collecting insects, spiders and other arthropods specimens at what is considered easily accessible areas, on both Tennessee and North Carolina sides of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

You will be trained and will make use of a variety of collection techniques in order to survey these animals so that not only can the vitality, but unknown ecological linkages between flora and fauna can be studied.

Registration in advance is required. You must contact Todd Witcher the executive director of DLIA, at (865)430-4757 or email him at todd@dlia.org.

Discover Life in America Synchronous Firefly Events

2011-06-09T09:54:00.008-04:00

Time is running out to not only support Discover Life in America, what I feel is the most important organization operating in the Smokies and to enjoy natures finest light show the Synchronous Fireflies and beat the crowds. Move fast as there are only a few slots left!

Secret Synchronous Firefly Event 7:30 pm - 11:00 pm June 10 & 11
Enjoy exclusive access to the Norton Creek Sanctuary near Gatlinburg where you will be provided heavy hors d'oeuvres and drink (beer and wine) along with a firefly expert. Next after a nighttime picnic with the fireflies, a short walk you will learn more than you ever thought imaginable about these fascinating creatures of the Smokies!

Reservations are required for this fund raising event and space is very limited. Call (865)430-4756 for tickets ($75 per person)

Secret Synchronous Firefly Event 7:30 pm - 11:00 pm June 12
This Firefly event will be much like the Norton Creek adventure on June 10th and 11th except the adventure begins at the Park Grill, and after food and drink and firefly presentation, we will carpool to a secret site in the Park. Reservations are required and space very limited. Call (865)430-4756 for tickets.

Nantahala Outdoor Center Free Firefly Festival 11am-4pm June 11
Come to the Nantahala Outdoor Center Great Outpost in Gatlinburg, TN right at the border of the Great Smoky mountains national park and celebrate for free the amazing diversity of Fireflies in the Smokies with this event.

There will be educational opportunities, art, music by Captain Firefly, an insect zoo, kids activities, a secret "dark room" to "bioluminate," and food and drink vendors. There will be presentations on the synchronous firefly phenomenon in the Smokies at 1 pm and again at 3 pm.

Discover Life in America has spent more than 10 years inventorying all the plants and animals in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and so far has identified more than 7,100 species we did not know existed in the park and more than 900 that are newly discovered species!

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Stays Open

2011-04-08T23:14:00.004-04:00

As a stopgap agreement has been reached, the government shut down has been avoided so the Great Smoky Mountains national park, as well as all national parks and monuments will remain open for business.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Closure Information if Government Shutdown Occurs

2011-04-08T17:31:00.021-04:00

Because of the impeding government shutdown, the Great Smoky Mountains national park will be shutting down all facilities and roadways other than Newfound Gap Road US 441 between Gatlinburg Tennessee and Cherokee North Carolina after midnight tonight.

Newfound Gap Road will still be patrolled by park rangers as well as other areas of the park, though there will be no other support staff such as maintenance personnel and road crews so any inclement weather, downed trees or fallen rocks would close this vital through road until the support staff comes back on duty.

If US 441 were only a park or local road, it too would remain closed as the rest of the GSMNP, but since it is a US Highway, part of the reason why there is no park entrance fee, it cannot be shut down.

The national park is looking to move people along Newfound Gap Road through the park as quickly and efficiently as possible so they are not allowing any parking or sightseeing in the park along the roadway. Last time a government shutdown occurred and the park was closed, fallen trees and snow shutdown Newfound Gap Road/US 441 until the park reopened.

Be advised, though it may be easy for you to move traffic cones blocking parking areas, illegally parking off of the roadway or sneaking into hiking trails, doing so is ill advised and you can end up in serious trouble for disregarding traffic control devices or even worse, trespassing on Federal properly.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park trails and facilities are being closed for security reasons as well as serious safety reasons. Since the park service will be working with a skeleton staff, there will not be an ability to call in additional Rangers required for any type of rescue operation or medical emergency, which is unfortunately fairly common.

There is also great concern that because of the government shutdown reduced official park presence will lead to more vandalism, theft and may lead to more compromised natural and cultural resources.

National Park rangers will take all maters of illegal activity very seriously and given the circumstances, will not necessarily be in the best mood so don't test them or the judge when you are made to appear in federal court.

Of course, there is also great concern for the human factor of the furloughed national park employees that will be out of work for an undetermined amount of time.

All this at time that the national park service will see at least $100,000,000 a year less funding is extremely disheartening at how we value the protection of this nation’s most valuable natural and cultural resources.

The closure of the Great Smoky Mountains National park will be a huge blow to tourists coming specifically to the Smokies to enjoy the park during the beginning of wildflower season.

If the government closure is allowed to drag on, it will have a detrimental dramatic effect on an already bruised local economy as tourists spend $718,000,000 a year in the gateway cities Gatlinburg Tennessee, Pigeon Forge Tennessee, Townsend Tennessee, Cherokee North Carolina, Bryson City and Maggie Valley North Carolina that surround the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
News Release

Immediate Release
Date: April 8, 2011

If the Government implements a shutdown, nearly the entire Park would be closed beginning Saturday, April 9, all Great Smoky Mountains National Park facilities would be closed, including visitor centers, campgrounds, picnic areas, trails, concession operations, restrooms, and all roads, with the exception of the Newfound Gap Road between Gatlinburg and Cherokee.

Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441) would remain open to through traffic only. No stopping or parking along the road or at trailheads and overlooks is permitted, and all restroom facilities would be closed, including those at Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg, Tenn., the Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee, NC, and Newfound Gap. The Clingmans Dome Road which is accessed off Newfound Gap Road would be closed.

NPS

Great Smoky Mountains national park roads close after being pounded by last nights storm.

2010-11-30T07:51:00.008-05:00

Roads crews and national park rangers are surveying damage and cleaning up what they can right now in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

While all roads in the GSMNP received damage due to fallen trees, limbs and rocks, Laurel Creek Road the entrance road to Cades Cove and Wears Cove Road between Wears Valley and the Metcalf bottoms area of Little River Road are now closed to all traffic.

The Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail off Cherokee Orchard Road has enough limbs and smalls trees down, that the park service has closed it for the winter season a day earlier than scheduled.

Laurel Creek Road should be open by 9:00 am, but crews are still trying to determine of Cades Cove can be opened then as well.

Cherokee Orchard Road past Rainbow falls has a large tree down which crews are working on and Newfound Gap Road between Cherokee North Carolina and Gatlinburg Tennessee is open as well as Clingmans Dome Road and Little River Road.

Today is the last day that Clingmans Dome Road is open as tomorrow it will be closed for the winter season.

Additional high winds and rain is expected to further pound the Tennessee and North Carolina Smokies today with wind and flood advisories and warnings throughout the area. Check out our live up to the minute Smokies weather reports and our new live weather station feed and Road Conditions in the Smoky Mountains.

Update 11/30/10 9:01 am
Laurel Creek Road is now open but Cades Cove Loop Road is closed to all traffic until crews can finish cleaning up all of last nights storm debris.

Update 11/30/10 9:05 am
Upper Tremont Road is now closed to all traffic.

Update 11/30/10 11:22 am
Cades Cove is now open but Greenbrier Entrance Road is now closed.

Newfound Gap Road (US441) is closed from Cherokee to Gatlinburg and more snow on the way

2010-11-05T09:40:00.006-04:00

First Clingmans Dome Road closed yesterday due to snow and ice, and then as the snowfall increased and the ice built, Newfound Gap Road between Gatlinburg Tennessee and Cherokee North Carolina was then closed by rangers in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Crews working on the roadway right now are plowing and resending some areas in hope that Newfound Gap Road can be reopened again to at least 4 wheel drive vehicles.

Since there is a Winter storm warning above 3,500 feet and under 3,500 there is a Winter weather advisory in effect until noon edt Saturday, chances are high that of Newfound Gap us 441 will be closed again for at least some of the weekend.

Update 11-05-2010 12:53 pm. It does not look as if Newfound Gap Road will reopen today.

Appalachian Bear Rescue Hosts 2010 Black Bear Expo at the Townsend Tennessee Visitor Center

2010-06-11T12:38:00.004-04:00

With all the interest this year about black bears in the Smokies, the 2010 Black Bear Expo taking place Saturday June 26th from 9 am - 5 pm at the Townsend Visitor Center will be a big hit with locals and tourists alike.

You cannot think about the Great Smoky Mountains without thinking about our beloved local black bears. What you may not think about, is the almost 15 years of hard work that the nonprofit group Appalachian Bear Rescue does to help injured and orphaned black bear cubs by giving them a safe place to live and grow until they can be returned to the wild.

The great folks at Appalachian Bear Rescue are hosting a black bear expo this weekend that everyone young or old can enjoy and at the same time learn how to life safely in and around black bear habitats. Black bear management is actually people management, and this expo will give you and the family the knowledge it takes to keep our bear and your family safe, all the way enjoying music, storytelling and so much more.

The musical entertainment you can enjoy at the black bear expo will be multi-talented Appalachian musician Tony Thomas and Pistol Creek Catch of the Day. Be sure to also join in on the fun activities and take in the informative displays of black bear.

You will also learn how to set up a safe campsite and photograph black bears along with other animals in the wild. 20 people who sign in ahead of time will have to opportunity to take a guided hike to an inactive black bear den. To sign up for the hike, call (828) 524-9904.

One of the other highlights of the bear expo will be the exciting and incredibly entertaining stories given by Retired park rangers Dwight McCarter and Joe Kelley. There will also be hands on demonstrations by wildlife officers.

Besides food and soft drinks that will be available, a chainsaw carver will be on hand, and you can even purchase black bear items.

So come on out to Townsend Tennessee this Saturday June 26th and support the Appalachian Bear Rescue who in 2009 took in 23 black bear cubs - that's more than twice what they handled in 2008!

Want to find out how you can help? Contact Kathy or Anne by phone at (828) 524-9904 or email at wildscove@hughes.net. Appalachian Bear Rescue is also on Facebook and they have an Appalachian Bear Rescue Blog.

Appalachian Bear Rescue
PO Box 364
Townsend, Tennessee 37882

Save The Planet Series at the Hard Rock Cafe in Gatlinburg TN with Discover Life in America

2010-06-07T09:11:00.006-04:00

Come join us at the Hard Rock Café in Gatlinburg Tennessee on June 8th, 2010 from 6 pm to 8 pm for a community discussion where art, culture, and science meet with the folks from Discover Life in America.

Full menu available and people of all ages are welcome to join in this informal discussion with Discover Life in America experts on this season's favorite nightlife - the synchronized fireflies of the Great Smoky Mountains.

The Discover Life in America is conducting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park's All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory project which identified to date more than 17,000 species in the GSMNP of which 900 are new to science and more than 6,000 were no known to exist in the park!

Synchronous fireflies and their admirers are about to invade the Great Smoky Mountains national park

2010-06-01T21:03:00.002-04:00

In a few days just as they have done for years, millions of the Smokies beloved lightning bugs will start to shine with their amazing bioluminescence that will synchronize with one another. While this is happening about a 1,000 people a night will crowd the Little River Trail in the Elkmont section of the GSMNP which was a former rail road bed for the Little River logging company to watch and be amazed by natures light show.

Actually there are 14 species of fireflies that have been identified in the Great Smoky Mountains national park, but only one the Photinus Carolinus, performs its magical light show in a synchronized manner that is always a crowd pleaser.

This little former glowworm emerges at around 55 degrees Fahrenheit and likes to keep by slow moving water while it uses its greenish glow to attract mates. This phenomenon actually takes place all throughout the southern Appalachian Mountains, but the best place to observe it is in the Great Smoky Mountains national park, and Elkmont is one of the most convenient and safest places to observe these fireflies flash at what could be their mates.

While you can observe synchronized fireflies in virtually every section of the GSM national park, in order to accommodate so many visitors who come for the light show, the national park service has decided to close Elkmont entrance road at firefly peak season to anyone other than registered campers at 5 pm. No parking is permitted along Little River Road at this time so that cars will not hit pedestrians in the dark.

What the Great Smoky Mountains national park does do for visitors with the help of the City of Gatlinburg, which provides trolleys, is run a shuttle for $1 round trip from the Sugarlands visitor center starting 7 pm to the Elkmont trailhead.

As soon as the parking lot at the Sugarlands Visitor Center fills up or it is 9:00 pm, no more people transportation to Elkmont ends. Most every run may sell out, so come after 6:00 pm to be sure you will get a seat on a trolley to see firefly show!

If you are bringing a flashlight, you need to bring red cellophane or a red lens cover so as not to disturb the fireflies flashing or other visitor's night vision. You can only bring what fits on your lap and no coolers alcoholic beverages, or pets can go on the trolley.

The park advises the last trolley will return to the Sugarlands at 11 pm, however historically the last trolley is much later but be there before then so you will not be left in the dark at Elkmont!

Peak firefly season when the trolleys will be running and Elkmont road is closed this year will be from June 5th to the 13th.

Related Smokies News Stories

Black Bear Attacks Great Smoky Mountains National Park Visitor on Popular Hiking Trail as Horrified Crowd Watches Helpless in Disbelief.

2010-05-17T17:23:00.016-04:00

Last Wednesday as Mr. and Mrs. McQueen were hiking along the Laurel Falls Hiking Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains national park admiring the wildflowers, lush forest growth and pretty views along the way to the Laurel Falls Waterfall, a large female black bear which had been food conditioned and lost its natural fear of humans, jumped out of bushes along the trail and proceeded to gnaw off appendages from the couple as a group of horrified people looked on.

Blood, shredded shoes, clothing, and other remnants of the carnage lay scattered along the trail a gruesome reminder to all of the danger and power that a black bear welds with its bone crushing jaws, large teeth and razor sharp claws.

Great Smoky Mountains national park wildlife biologists going on the description of the dangerous human conditioned black bear trapped all the bear they could in the area that the attack on the hiker occurred.

Since they only had a general description, they systemically slaughtered every black bear they could find including the orphaned black bear cubs that are only a few months old and could not fend for themselves.

This story is loosely based upon a true event that just happened in the Great Smoky Mountains national park. Well make that very loosely. Well make that a compete exaggeration to make a very valid point.

A 26 year old hiker from Wilton, Connecticut named Sean Konover did in fact sustain minor injuries last week when in an effort to get a picture of a small 60 pound female black bear, he and dozens of other visitors around him insisted in disregarding common sense by allowing a bear to approach them too closely. Close enough in fact to bite the hiker, Sean Konovers foot, leaving a small puncture would that did not require any medical attention.

This dangerous black bear encounter occurred along the extremely popular Laurel Falls hiking trail, which traditionally not only has a tremendous amount of hikers but black bear as well, many which are food conditioned each year.

Black bear along with other wildlife get food conditioned when people intentionally or inadvertently allow wildlife to consume food or garbage. People sometimes throw food at wildlife to coax it to come closer than it normally would just to see it up close and or photograph it.

Unfortunately, a good conditioned animal is trained that humans and human scent means food and it will lose some or all of its fear of humans making it more likely to beg for more food, steal food or attack someone for food. It may attack to protect territory where it would have normally run away before food conditioning.

Food conditioned animals generally lose half their life expectancy as their health can be adversely effected by human food and garbage, they are more susceptible to getting hit by cars, or have to be killed because they no longer are acting wild and they damaged property or threatened the safety of humans. What a tragic waste.

Though you may only be giving human food to an animal, you are teaching it to eat or at least examine anything that has a human scent.

Food conditioned animals may also eat non-food items such as foil potato chip bags because it smells like food and taste salty. Can you imagine what you would feel like if you ate a foil potato chip bag?

Animals cannot discriminate as to what garbage is because what smells like food in a natural environment is in fact food. Only humans produce garbage.

Peanut shells, apple cores and orange peels though biodegradable are enticements that make good wildlife go bad. Throw it on the ground and if you are caught, expect to get a nice ticket from a not so happy park ranger.

After the minor black bear attack the GSMNP officials initially learned of the incident from other visitors that were also on the Laurel Falls trail, but later, the injured man Sean Konover also reported his injury.

Intentionally approaching a bear or elk closer than 50 yards (150 feet) or close enough that it changes the animals behavior, is a violation of park regulation meant to protect humans as well as the parks wildlife. No citations were issued by the park service at this incident.

As for the young 60-pound black bear, she is not so lucky. A bullet to head is her fate. Why? Because some people wanted to take a picture of a black bear up close after others who came to visit the Great Smoky Mountains national park were slobs and left garbage along a hiking trail or may have thrown food at wildlife in violation of park rules and a ticketable offense.

Fortunately, she was not a mother bear with young cubs where as her death sentence would mean a death sentence for her offspring. She had identifiable features so fortunately a large number of bear did not have to be captured and killed to be sure to get the offending black bear that attacked the hiker was stopped form hurting anyone else. Also fortunate was the fact that she was able to be caught within 24 hours and no one else was injured.

As expected this has been a very active year for black bear in the Great Smoky Mountains national park already mainly due to the lighter than normal mast crop in mid elevations of the park so that the fall feeding frenzy did not fatten up the black bear as much as a good year would. As a result, this spring they emerged a little more hungry and desperate for food than most years.

This year has also been tough on young black bear cubs in the park some of which had to be rescued and brought to the Appalachian Bear Rescue center who desperately needs more food to feed and funding and supplies to help house all of the rescued black bears that have been brought to them.

With more than 9 million visitors a year coming to the Great Smoky Mountains national park, which has a black bear population of more than 2 per square mile, it's not a question of if there will be another fatal or serious black bear attack will occur but when. If all of us who are on the park behave appropriately and do not feed animal or approach them too closely, maybe the next attack will not be in our lifetime.

Not feeding wildlife intentionally or approaching them too close are important first steps. Securing garbage in sealed bear proof garbage pails is also important as well as not leaving coolers with food or the smell of food or even garbage in the back of a pickup truck. If you are camping in the backcountry all food, garbage, toiletries and smelly clothes have to be hung on the bear proof wires and elevated where bear cannot reach it.

Finally, I have seen many crazy and foolish things in the Great Smoky Mountains National park, but this one amazes me every time I think about it. Last May a black bear was causing serious issues on the Abrams Falls Hiking trail in Cades Cove, so much so, a warning was posted at the trailhead and the bear was so dangerous that the Abrams Falls Hiking trail was closed due to aggressive black bear activity the next day.

Pictured above is a dog that was tied up attached to a car parked as close as possible to where there was a black bear warning sign. Left out in case the dog got thirsty was a dirty spaghetti can filled with water that had a slick of oil and tomato sauce on the top.

She left her dog this way for more than 3 hours as she hiked. This is enticing a bear with both food and a pet which is tied up that certainly can't run away or fend for itself.

Please act responsibly around wildlife and the life you may save could be your own.

Related Smokies News Stories:

Newfound Gap Road US 441 between Cherokee and Gatlinburg Open After Rockslide Closure Last Night

2010-03-30T09:14:00.001-04:00

The Great Smoky Mountains national park has seen more than its share of rockslides and landslides this last few months and yesterday was no exception as a rockslide near Mile Marker 19 on Newfound Gap Road took its toll or the roadway and drivers patience.

Fortunately, the rockslide took place new an overlook with a large parking area so that traffic could be diverted through the parking area while the Newfound Gap roadway was still open and cleanup and barriers were put onto place.

Last night the park service closed the entire length of Newfound Gap Road at 8:00 pm in case further debris fell off the hillside at night into traffic. Even before the road was closed an extensive system of barriers was set up which has been augmented with the addition of concrete barriers to keep any further debris from Newfound Gap Road US 441 which opened today at 7 am.

Drive slowly through the area and expect traffic diversions and the potential to having to come to a complete stop in around the landslide/rockslide area. The park service is waiting to see if the area has been stabilized or if in fact large equipment needs to scrape off and remove any loose debris.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park needs more volunteers for the Elk Bugle Corp Program.

2010-03-22T12:43:00.008-04:00

If you love the Great Smoky Mountains national park, wild animals, history and working with people this an opportunity you just can't pass up.

You will only be paid in sunsets, sunrises and lots of smiles in the beautiful Cataloochee valley teaching people about and help protect our valuable herd of North American Elk in the Smokies.

If you become a volunteer Elk Bugle Corp member, you will have the opportunity to work alongside more than 80 other volunteers who work in the valley who also love nature and the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

To be an Elk Bugle Corp Volunteer you must be able to work at least 2 scheduled 4-hour shifts a month from May until November and you should enjoy working around people.

Your job will be to promote safe and ethical wild life viewing, educate park visitors about the elk restoration program in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and their behavior, and help with traffic management in the busy seasons especially in the rut season from late September through November.

You should also enjoy being outdoors and various weather conditions and have patience when dealing with the public. The rewards are tremendous when you are a volunteer Elk Bugle Corp member knowing that you are helping educate people about the park, its inhabitants, its colorful history and protecting the park.

Just the simple act of a park volunteer securing garbage pail lids and keeping bear out of the trash containers and getting acclimated to human food, protect our beloved black bear and park visitors from having too close and encounter with a black bear.

The park will train all volunteers with a full day of training that you must attend on either the last week in April or the first week in May.

If you are interested in joining the ranks of the Elk Bugle Corp in the Great Smoky Mountains national park RSVP to Ranger Mark LaShell at mark_lashell@nps.gov (E-mail is preferred) or call (828)269-3161. Once signed up you can attend one of 2 informational meetings and new volunteer orientation sessions that will take place in the Cataloochee Valley at the ranger station on April 15 and 17, from 1 pm to 5 pm.

If you would like to help the Elk Bugle Corp Volunteer program and cannot join the program, you can contribute to the programs enormous success by supporting the Elk Bugle Corp program with a financial contribution of any size to the Bull Elk 21 Memorial Fund set through Friends of the Smokies.

Last year members of the Elk Bugle Corp who had contact with more than 85,000 visitors volunteered more than 7,000 hours. Won't you come join us and support us?

2nd Rockslide in Days Closes Portion of Little River Road in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

2010-03-18T09:39:00.000-04:00

The Great Smoky Mountains national park has been dealing with numerous rockslides within the park boundaries and 2 large large rockslides along the Spur connecting Gatlinburg with Pigeon Forge Tennessee. Today crews are inspecting another rockslide along the same section of Little River Road between Metcalf Bottoms and the Townsend Wye that was closed last week.

Presently there is no estimated time in which this section of Little River Road will be able to be reopened. Therefore car, motorcycle, van and light pickup truck traffic is being detoured in and out of the park at the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic area through Wears Gap and back in and out of the park for non commercial vehicles of all sizes at the Townsend Wye. Motor homes cannot cross the Metcalf Bottoms Bridge over the Little River and must take an alternate route of Wears Valley Road (321) when traveling between Pigeon Forge and Townsend.

Besides numerous weather related closures the Great Smoky Mountains national park has had to content with all winter, construction in Cades Cove, Clingmans Dome, Balsam Mountain Heintooga, Cherokee Orchard/Roaring Fork Motor Trail and Smokemont is severely limiting access to drivers and visitors of the park.

Road conditions and closures in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Weather and rockslides deliver knockout punch to drivers in the NC and TN Great Smoky Mountains.

2010-03-14T11:58:00.003-04:00

Drivers trying to back and forth from Tennessee and North Carolina had to contented with I-40 being closed by the NC-TN border by a huge rockslide for months, Old 284 between Big Creek and Cataloochee being closed for most of the winter due to snow, ice and downed trees, Newfound Gap Road closing often due to snow, ice and storm damage and now 129 - "the Dragon" is partially blocked due to rockslide.

Snowfall last night closed Newfound Gap Road though lower elevation roads in the park that are not closed due to construction or Old 284 which has been closed for weeks due to so many trees down, snow, ice and washout areas remain open.

Yesterday morning even though the weather was warm in lower elevations, dangerous icy conditions between Newfound Gap Parking area and Clingmans Dome Road caused a Tennessee driver of a truck along with a passenger to slide off the road and down the bank.

Park rangers arriving at the scene determine that the truck was very precarious and had to wait for rescue crews and tow trucks to arrive to stabilize the vehicle in order to keep it from falling down the mountainside before they could free the passengers who remarkably did not suffer serous injuries from such a crash.

Drivers need to use extreme caution when driving this time of the year as lower elevations can be in the 60's and dangerous ice can be on the roadways in higher elevations or in shaded areas.

Today and tomorrow calls from more snowfall and freezing temperatures and even it Newfound Gap Reopens expect that it may close again especially as melting snow and ice refreezes in the latter parts of the day.

Rockslide closes portion of Little River Road in the Great Smoky Mountains national park

2010-03-13T07:21:00.000-05:00

Another rockslide in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park along Little River Road forced the park service to close the section of roadway to all traffic between Metcalf Bottoms and the Townsend Wye.

Fortunately, the Sinks area is already closed to all traffic and pedestrian due to construction so no popular areas are directly affected by the closure.

This winter there have been numerous rockslides along the Gatlinburg Pigeon Forge Spur and Little River Road. While some of these rockslides have taken weeks to remove excess debris and complete slope stabilization, initial reports on this slide state that Little River Road will be open to traffic very quickly.

Alleged Poacher of Bull Elk 21 in Great Smoky Mountains National Park charged, but is it enough?

2010-02-26T17:52:00.007-05:00

We waited for months for the alleged elk poacher 35 year old Bruce Wayne Cromer Jr. of Stovall North Carolina to be charged, and to the US Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina has finaly filed charges.

Bull Elk #21 was shot and killed on November 13, 2009 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Parks Cataloochee Valley in a field across from the Palmer house. Allegedly, Bruce Wayne Cromer Jr. fired at least 3 shots from his Browning .270 caliber rifle killing bull elk 21 and then fled the crime scene in his blue 2002 Chevy Avalanche truck.

If convicted of this cowardly crime against a helpless animal, Bruce Wayne Cromer Jr. of Stovall North Carolina can be made to forfeit both his vehicle and the firearm, serve as much as 6 months in jail and face fines listed in the charges as a whopping $500.

National park regulations call for fines as much as $5,000 so I am hoping that the US Attorney's office made a typographical error in their press release of the charges being filed against Bruce Wayne Cromer Jr. of Stovall North Carolina and they are not settling for such a low figure. This is certainly not the way to discourage other poachers.

Civil charges may also be pending to attempt to collect some of the expenses invested in Bull Elk #21 by donations from individuals and organizations such as Friends of the Smokies and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Poaching a national park treasure such as bull elk #21 is a crime against all the people who owned this majestic creature the citizens of the United States.

$500 fine? That's an outrage as far as I am concerned.

A memorial fund has been set up by Friends of the Smokies to raise money to help properly equip the more than 80 unpaid park volunteers in the Elk Bugle Corp who generously give their time: 16,472 hours in the past 3 years!

The Elk Bugle Corp teaches visitors about the elk restoration project, other park inhabitants and ongoing projects, the history of the Cataloochee area, promotes responsible wildlife viewing, and helps with traffic management which is rut season is a handful.

The presence of members of the Elk Bugle Corp acting as the eyes and ears of the park along with some very dedicated visitors, has been instrumental in protecting our beloved elk from undue human contact and poaching.

Help the Elk Bugle Corp and help us keep this from happening again.

To Donate Click Here

Default Donation is $10 but you can increase or decrease the amount

Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All donations are tax-deductible as allowable by law.

Related Elk in the GSMNP Stories

Are Guns Legal in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park? They will be in just a few days...

2010-02-07T19:25:00.042-05:00

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park along with other park service units will be allowing some park visitors to carry a gun as part of the credit card reform bill starting February 22nd 2010.

Will it be legal or illegal for you to carry a gun in the GSMNP or in other national parks? Here is the official park statement so you can decide for yourself:

GSMNP statement about firearms in national parks:

Concealed Firearms Regulations
As of February 22, 2010, a new federal law allows people who can legally possess firearms under applicable federal, state, and local laws, to legally possess firearms in this park. It is the responsibility of visitors to understand and comply with all applicable state, local, and federal firearms laws before entering this park. As a starting point, please visit the federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms website and select the state that you are interested in from the list on the right side of the page. More specific information about state permit regulations can be obtained on the following websites:

North Carolina
Tennessee

Federal law also prohibits firearms in certain facilities in this park; those places are marked with signs at all public entrances.

Additional Information for North Carolina permit holders:

The permit holder must have the permit together with valid identification whenever carrying a concealed handgun, and must disclose to any law enforcement officer that they have a valid permit and are in possession of a concealed handgun when contacted. The permit and proper identification must be presented to a law enforcement officer upon request.

Carry of Shotguns and Rifles
The possession of long guns, specifically shotguns and rifles shall be in accordance with North Carolina state law. See the North Carolina website listed above for more information.

Reciprocity
North Carolina recognizes certain out-of-state concealed handgun permittees to carry concealed handguns, if the person’s respective state also grants such privilege to North Carolina concealed handgun permittees.

The list of states granting such reciprocity is constantly changing. Out-of-state permittees should refer to the North Carolina Department of Justice’s website at www.ncdoj.gov for a current listing of those states which are allowed to carry, pursuant to their concealed carry permits in North Carolina.

To possess a concealed handgun in North Carolina, out-of-state holders must:

Carry their permit and a valid form of identification at all times.
When approached or addressed by any law enforcement officer in North Carolina, disclose the fact that they have a valid concealed handgun permit.
Inform the law enforcement officer that they are in possession of a concealed gun.
Present both the permit and valid identification at the request of the law enforcement officer.

Additional Information for Tennessee permit holders:
The permit holder must have the permit in their immediate possession at all times when carrying a handgun and must show the permit at the request of a law enforcement officer.

Carry of Shotguns and Rifles
The possession of long guns, specifically shotguns and rifles shall be in accordance with Tennessee state law. See the Tennessee website listed above for more information.

Reciprocity
Tennessee recognizes a facially valid handgun permit, firearms permit, weapons permit, or a license issued by another state according to its terms, and will, therefore, authorize the holder of such out-of-state permit or license to carry a handgun in the state of Tennessee.

This means that the state of Tennessee will recognize any state’s valid permit or license, even if Tennessee does not have a written reciprocity agreement with that state, and even if that state does not recognize a Tennessee permit.

Individuals must be in possession of the permit or license at all times while in possession of a handgun in Tennessee.

Until the new regulations take effect on February 22, 2010, carrying concealed firearms is not allowed and all possession of firearms within National Park Service lands must be in accordance with 36 CFR 2.4, which states firearms must be "rendered temporarily inoperable or are packed, cased or stored in a manner that prevents their ready use."

...End Of GSMNP Statement on Firearms in the Park

Please be advised I am not a lawyer or offering legal advice. The last time the law about guns and firearms in national parks was revoked and they were made illegal again, the national park service did not make any public announcement of the change therefore anyone who is accessing this information should check with the national park service and state authorities to see if it is still valid.

States with NC and/or TN Concealed Weapons Reciprocity Agreements (subject to change without notice)
Alabama NC only Alaska NC and TN Arizona NC and TN Arkansas NC and TN Colorado NC only Delaware NC only Florida NC and TN Georgia NC and TN Idaho NC only Indiana NC only Kansas NC only Kentucky NC and TN Louisiana NC and TN Michigan NC and TN Mississippi NC and TN Missouri NC only	Montana NC only New Hampshire NC and TN North Carolina TN North Dakota NC only Oklahoma NC only Ohio NC and TN Pennsylvania NC and TN South Carolina NC and TN South Dakota NC and TN Tennessee NC Texas NC and TN Utah NC only Virginia NC and TN Washington NC only West Virginia NC and TN Wyoming TN only

Official Link to TN Firearms Regulations
Official Link to NC Firearms Regulations

I was personally under the impression that only concealed carry with a valid permit was what was going to be legal in the Great Smoky Mountains national park staring on February 22nd 2010.

Unlike the last time that firearms were legal in the GSMNP for a few weeks in 2009, apparently now there will be open carry in some national parks including rifles and shotguns as they are specifically listed in the park statement above.

I cannot answer how having very visible shotguns and rifles will play out in the Great Smoky Mountains national park at this time. I can say that for many people who have come to the GSM national park in the past, seeing highly visible firearms may not only be disconcerting, it will also lead to a rangers potential confusion as to a visitor's intent in the park.

Do out of state visitors without concealed weapons permits have to right to open carry long guns in the Great Smoky Mountains national park? What about handguns? If not, can concealed weapons permit holders from a state with reciprocity agreements open carry long guns and or handguns in the Great Smoky Mountains national park?

Some other questions remain such as do you have to announce that you have a concealed weapon if you just pass by a ranger on a trail or one walks up and greets you? Do you have to only announce concealment to a Protection Ranger or do interpretive rangers along with other uniformed park staff count as well?

Since the Great Smoky Mountains national park is in both NC and TN - 2 states with different weapon laws and these borders are not at all clearly defined except at Newfound Gap, will each part of the park have different laws based upon the location of a visitor and his state of residence? Obviously from the chart of Concealed Weapons Reciprocity Agreements above there are huge difference between North Carolina and Tennessee.

Other very interesting questions about how this new law will effect visitors to national parks and staff around the country is presented here.

Even if and when it is legal for you to have a gun in a national park, there are some places where firearms are prohibited such as visitor centers, ranger stations and office buildings. This is not a complete list of where guns are prohibited in a national park (which will also vary by state) so please check with the park service first. In the past, the national park service did have signs at these locations showing that firearms are illegal.

Remember even though some guns will be legal to carry in some parts of the Great Smoky Mountains national park, hunting is not.

Lastly if you want to protect yourself against a black bear attack in the GSMNP you should not use a gun but use bear pepper spray which is legal for use in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and is much more effective and safer to use as well.

Related New Stories on Guns in National Parks:

Comments are welcome and encouraged. When it comes to gun laws and/or restrictions, tempers on both sides of the issue often flare but lets keep it civil or they will not be posted.

Pigeon Forge - Gatlinburg Spur Reopens as GSMNP Deals With More Weather Related Issues

2010-02-05T17:07:00.007-05:00

Today a second major rock slide has occurred on the section of the Foothills Parkway between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge which locals call "the Spur" closing to road to traffic for hours and creating snarls in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville as motorists unfamiliar with the area attempted to navigate back roads in the pouring rain.

New barricades and detours have been set up so that traffic is now moving both northbound and southbound on the Spur and in some areas, southbound traffic is flowing in one lane on the northbound side.

The landslide was a major event dumping tons of rock and earth on the roadway and leaving and extremely unstable slope in its wake. Blalock construction is moving large equipment into the area which will include a crane that will be used to remove any of the unstable areas of the mountainside, which will later be removed from the road surface.

Cades Cove Loop has been closed for much of the day as the days strong winds caused a significant number of large trees and branches to fall on the roadway.

Upper Tremont road also sustained significant tree damage and a small rockslide along Little River Road undermined a tree that was in danger of falling onto the roadway prompting the park serviced to close the road between Metcalf Bottoms and the Townsend Wye.

Reports have also come in that there are a significant number of blow downs on Newfound Gap Road that has also been closed all day long.

If all of this mess is not enough for the Great Smoky Mountains national park to deal with, rivers, creeks and branches are now running very high and flooding can be expected in low lying areas.

New Rock Slide hits Spur Section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Foothills Parkway

2010-02-05T13:05:00.014-05:00

Yet another rockslide just hit the spur with between 20 to 30 feet of debris being dumped on the roadway. This rockslide has occurred where traffic was moving in the Southbound lanes at the first curve past Gum Stand. It is not at where the previous rockslide on the Gatlinburg - Pigeon Forge Spur has occurred.

There are no reports of injuries or property damage at this time.

Traffic is being turned around and the city of Pigeon Forge has blocked off access to the Gatlinburg - Pigeon Forge Spur. Traffic on the Spur is being rerouted to the Flat Branch bridge.

A large trees is also blocking both lanes of the Foothills Parkway East and since the Great Smoky Mountains National Park personnel is tied up with the new landslide on the Spur, it will take a while to clear this road.

Road Conditions in the Great Smoky Mountains national park

High Winds, Rain, Fog and Light Snow Blanket The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

2010-02-05T09:20:00.002-05:00

The Great Smoky Mountains national park has seen days of rain and melting snow saturating the ground toppling trees. With today's wind event gaining in strength, especially on the Tennessee side, it is best that visitors stay out of the park while crews work on making the roads in the park safe again.

Road closures include Newfound Gap Road and now Cades Cove Loop Road and even after the storm is over it may take a while to cleaned up the downed trees and dangerous snags before the roads will be safe to open again.

The Foothills Parkway West has so many downed trees Great Smoky Mountains national park road crews were only able to open the roadway into a single lane alternating on each side for administrative purposes and not for public access until the numerous trees blocking the roadway can be cleared.

Today's high wind advisory calls for gusts up to 45 mph and the winter warning in effect from 9 pm tonight to 4 pm Sunday calls for high winds, snow, sleet and freezing rain. Accumulations of less than 5 inches are expected in lower elevations.

This appears to be another weekend in the Smokies that if you do not have to be out on the road, it's best to stay home and stay safe.

Road Conditions in the Great Smoky Mountains national park

All major through roads closed in the Great Smoky Mountains national park

2010-01-29T15:17:00.003-05:00

Within an hour, every single major road in the Great Smoky Mountains national park is closed now to the winter storm dumping snow and freezing rain on the Smokies.

There are a few vehicles stranded by Alum Cave Trailhead which have not been able to make it down the slick surface of Newfound Gap Road and the GSMNP has personnel and trucks on the way to assist them.

Presently the Foothills Parkway Spur connecting Gatlinburg Tennessee with Pigeon Forge Tennessee remains open at this time.

Current Road conditions and closures in
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Newfound Gap Road US 441 Closes as winter storm hit Great Smoky Mountains national park.

2010-01-29T14:42:00.003-05:00

First, it was Old State Road 284 from Big Creek to Cataloochee that closed due to winter storm conditions and now it is Newfound Gap Road US 441 between Cherokee North Carolina and Gatlinburg Tennessee. Snow is falling hard and sticking to the road surface below the Chimneys already.

As much as a foot or more is expected to fall in the higher elevation tonight with a little more snow on the way tomorrow, so expect roadways in the Great Smoky Mountains national park for what could be days.

Heavy snow and previously weakened limbs from our last few storms have prompted power and phone companies in the area are expecting the worst with widespread scattered power and phone outages predicted all throughout the North Carolina and Tennessee Smokies.

The next major road in the GSMNP to close due to this storm will be Little River Road and hopes are that the Pigeon Forge - Gatlinburg Spur can be kept open.

Other roads expected to close shortly will be the Foothills parkway East, Foothills Parkway West and the Gatlinburg Bypass between Newfound Gap Road and The Spur section of the Foothills parkway.

Current Road conditions and closures in
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Rockslide Near Great Smoky Mountains National Park Keeps Part of Spur Closed a Month or More

2010-01-27T10:34:00.005-05:00

This Monday a significant rockslide fell onto the southbound lanes of the Spur section of the Foothills Parkway (US 441) a few hundred yards south of traffic light 10 in Pigeon Forge on the way to Gatlinburg Tennessee and experts now predict that the cleanup and stabilization of the slope could potentially take at least a month.

The rockslide between Gatlinburg and Pigeon thankfully did not cause any injuries and occurred in the off-season so the traffic affected by the detour around the rockslide is minimal right now, but will affect the tourism peak that occurs on and around Valentines Day.

Yesterday morning the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) had geotechnical engineers inspect the rockslide and their determination is that the wall or rock, earth and vegetation is still very unstable and before the roadway can be reopened to traffic, significant stabilization effort is required.

Presently TDOT will need to obtain an emergency contract to stabilize this section of the mountainside along the Spur and once the work is started will be able to offer a more accurate time in which this project can be completed.

Since the rockslide cleanup and stabilization along the spur will take so long, representatives from the Great Smoky Mountains national park and TDOT are working together to improve the traffic flow on the 1 mile detour where northbound traffic is reduced to 1 lane and southbound traffic uses 1 lane flowing south.

According to Great Smoky Mountains National Park Facility Management Chief Alan Sumeriski stated, "We are working with TDOT to improve the configuration of temporary traffic barriers and the signage to help keep traffic flowing as smoothly as possible and to maximize public safety."

He went on to say "We will also be adding numerous signs in the detour area to guide residents and visitors to each of the side roads that are accessed off the Spur."

Though park rangers patrol the entire length of the Spur, the State of Tennessee owns the portion where the rockslide took place, so TDOT has sole responsibility for repairs of the slide itself.

While being restriped today there will be traffic delays along the Spur.

Rock Slide closes portion of the Foothills Parkway Spur between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.

2010-01-25T17:32:00.001-05:00

A large rock slide has closed the southbound lanes of the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Spur portion of the Foothills Parkway by the Great Smoky Mountains national park forcing southbound traffic coming from Pigeon Forge to be detoured to the northbound lane that is now become 2-way traffic.

The southbound traffic on the Spur will continue a short distance to the King Branch bridge and at that point will cross over to the south lanes of the Spur. Traffic headed north on the Spur will be funneled to 1 lane at the King Branch exchange.

Temporary electronic variable message signs warn drivers of the detour and even more traffic cones are being put in place right now by the state of Tennessee to help better separate the lanes and assist with the traffic flow.

It is unclear at this time how long this detour will stay in place before the debris from the landslide can be removed and the roadway is declares to be safe again for motorists. Since the rock slide is on the City of Pigeon Forge owned portion of the Spur the city of Pigeon Forge is responsible for the slide clean up.

Local motorists who know the back roads may do best to avoid the area altogether.

Fatal accident closes Newfound Gap Road (US 441) in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

2010-01-24T20:44:00.023-05:00

A fatal combination of high winds and saturated ground claimed the life of one of the passengers in a car on Newfound Gap Road near the Chimneys Picnic area heading toward Gatlinburg. The victim Tonya Renee Eichler, 39 from Sevierville, Tennessee was killed when large trees fell on top of the car while it was being driven by Jody Simonds also from of Sevierville.

High winds especially in the upper elevations have been buffeting the park since last night and the GSM national parks electronic variable message signs warned drivers of the high wind danger prior to the fatal accident on Newfound Gap Road.

The accident was caused when large trees fell directly onto the front passenger side of the 2003 Nissan Altima crushing and trapping Tonya Renee Eichler. The driver and his daughter who was in the back seat were able exit the car by climbing out of the windows.

National Park Rangers and a Gatlinburg Rescue crew responded quickly to the scene of the accident on the Tennessee side of the Great Smoky Mountains national park where they found the deceased driver inside the smashed vehicle with downed trees blocking the road.

A passing motorist with a chain saw already had begun cutting the trees in an attempt to free Tonya Renee Eichler who was pronounced dead at the scene. The jaws-of-life were later used to extricate her from the crushed car.

Park rangers closed Newfound Gap Road and rerouted all existing southbound traffic on US 441 back down the mountain to Gatlinburg and the northbound traffic back to Cherokee.

The Simonds’ were transported by Gatlinburg ambulance to The University of Tennessee Medical Center where they were treated and released and Tonya Renee Eichler body was transported to Ft. Sanders Sevier Medical Center.

Newfound Gap Road was closed and crews started the difficult task of cleanup and had to check the balance of the roadway at daylight for any other potential hazards before reopening it back up.

Because of the high winds, various roadways have been closed as downed trees, limbs, power lines, and vehicular accidents were cleaned up in and around the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

In the Cades Cove section of the GSMNP, Forge Creek Road and Sparks Lane were also closed due to storm debris in the roadway.

Story updated with corrections 1/25/10 1:15 pm

Dangerous High Winds Blast the Tennessee Smokies and Great Smoky Mountains national park

2010-01-24T09:20:00.000-05:00

Wind gusts exceeding 60 mph are pounding the Smoky Mountains on the Tennessee side knocking down numerous trees along with power and telephone lines causing minor power and phone interruptions throughout the region.

As if the December storms were not enough, trees and large limbs started falling last night at around 9 pm when the winds started and the windy conditions are expected to last until late this afternoon.

Driver with large profile vehicles such as trucks, vans and campers as well as motorcyclists should use extreme caution as the sustained wilds are very low and the gust come with little or no warning.

The Great Smoky Mountains national park is diligently working to removed downed trees and limbs. Fortunately, the only road closed in the GSM national park right now is the Cades Cove Loop Road, which has crews working on it right now.

While the high winds and extreme gusts continue hikers and campers are urged to stay out of the GSMNP for their own safety.

Newfound Gap Road and most GSMNP roads open.

2009-12-24T09:59:00.002-05:00

Beside all of the snow and ice on the roads, tree limbs laden with snow, broke, uprooted or just bent under the weight creating road blockages and hazards in the Great Smoky Mountains national park. Hikers may encounter obstructions related to this storm in backcountry for months.

Newfound Gap Road, Laurel Creek Road, Little River Road and Cades Cove Loop Road all remain open however Old State Road 284, the Foothills Parkway East, the Cataloochee Entrance Road as well as Lake View Drive all remain closed to due ice, snow and some other storm related cleanup needed.

Current Road Closures and Openings in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Newfound Gap Road Remains Open, Elkmont Too.

2009-12-23T16:55:00.003-05:00

The Smokies are still digging themselves out from underneath a major snowstorm and more roads in the Great Smoky Mountains national park remain open including the Elkmont Campgrounds entrance road and Newfound Gap Road between Cherokee and Gatlinburg.

Additional good news for drivers is that the predicted snow for this week has been called off. With this warming trend roadways will continue to open.

Black ice has been forming so drivers need to be even more cautious at when temperatures drop at night especially along bridges and sooner in higher elevations.

Current Road Closures and Openings in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Newfound Gap Road Now Open to Cars

2009-12-22T14:58:00.002-05:00

Great Smoky Mountains national parks main through road Newfound Gap Road, has finally been opened back up by the park service. Drivers are cautioned that there is still ice and snow on the roadway and to drive with extreme caution.

Because the road surface is less than optimal, buses have been asked to stay off Newfound Gap Road at this time. Plunging temperatures tonight will refreeze and snow melt which may closes again if road conditions deteriorate any further.

Refreezing snow melt is particularly problem some on the Tennessee side above the Alum Cave Hiking Trail parking area in the last 1-1/2 below the gap which is more shaded and steep.

No other major roads in the park have reopened at this time but some are expected to open tomorrow.

Current Road Closures and Openings in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Cades Cove Loop Road is now open but many Great Smoky Mountains National Park roads remain closed

2009-12-21T12:06:00.002-05:00

Drivers can take Little River Road from the intersection of Newfound Gap Road by Gatlinburg all the way to the Townsend Wye and then take Laurel Creek Road all the way to Cades Cove, which is now open to motorists.

Old State Road 284 remains closed and will so for days as crews intensify their efforts on Newfound Gap Road US 411 that remains closed at this time.

Drivers between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg can use both the Spur section of the Foothills Parkway as well as the Gatlinburg bypass, which has stunning views right now looking over the city of Gatlinburg with Mount Le Conte in the distance.

Both the Foothills Parkways East by Cosby and I-40 and the Foothills Parkway West starting at 321 in Walland remain closed at this time.

Current Road Closures and Openings in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Road Conditions in Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Open and Closed Roads in the GSMNP

2009-12-21T08:21:00.006-05:00

With more than 30 inches of snow recorded in some areas of the Great Smoky Mountains national park it will take some time before all the roads in the GSMNP will be open. Power outages and stranded motorists have strained local emergency services, which held up well to this record-breaking snowstorm in the Smokies.

While the Smokies can get snow often in the winter, it is often gone within hours or a most a few days. While local and backcountry roads can use salt to melt ice and snow, the national park service can only use sand. Runoff from salt would disturb the delicate chemical balance in the waterways of the Great Smoky Mountains national park so salting roads in the park is forbidden.

The main priority is to open Newfound Gap Road back up which with I-40 closed at the NC TN border due to a landslide, is even more urgent. It will take days before people can go directory from Gatlinburg To Cherokee NC without huge detours.

Open Roads in the in the Great Smoky Mountains national park:

Little River Road TN

Gatlinburg Bypass TN

The Spur between Gatlinburg TN and Pigeon Forge TN

Laurel Creek Road TN

Cades Cove Loop Road TN

Treemont Road is open to Upper Tremont Road

Greenbrier Road is open to Ranger station

Wears Cove Road TN

Cherokee Orchard Road TN is open to the Twin Creeks Science Center

Closed Roads due snow and ice in the Great Smoky Mountains national park

US 441 Newfound Gap Road between Cherokee NC + Gatlinburg TN

Cataloochee Entrance Road NC

Toms Branch Road NC

Lake View Drive NC

Foothills Parkway East TN

Foothills Parkway West TN

Current Road Closures and Openings in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

All roads in the Great Smoky Mountains national park other than 1 Closed on Tennessee Side

2009-12-18T16:59:00.001-05:00

Snow is still falling and it is just too much for the snowplows and sanders in the Great Smoky Mountains national park prompting the national park service to close all but one of the roads in the GSMNP due to snow and ice.

The only road, which has so far eluded closure, is Tremont Road, which is off Laurel Creek Road between the Townsend Wye and the entrance to Cades Cove. The section of Laurel Creek Road past Tremont Road has been already been closed for much of the day limiting all access Cades Cove and Cades Cove Loop Road, Sparks Lane, Hyatt Lane and Forge Creek Road. Rich Mountain Road and Parson Branch Road are both closed for the winter season.

This weekend is the beginning of the Christmas Holiday peak tourist season and with Newfound Gap Road now closed along with both a section of I-40 by border between North Carolina and Tennessee closed and Old State Road 284 between Big Creek and Cataloochee, getting around in the Smoky Mountains is going to be very difficult. As a result, retailers will most likely see sales suffer at a time when they are needed the most.

More often, it is best to stay put in weather conditions such as this. Driving on Smoky Mountain Roads is just better left to emergency vehicles only. Hopefully if you are visiting the Smokies this weekend you have a cabin with provisions so you can hunker down and enjoy the beauty of the Smokies in winter.

Current Road Closures and Openings in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Cades Cove closes due to winter storm in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

2009-12-18T14:59:00.001-05:00

First Newfound Gap Road (US 441) in the Great Smoky Mountains national park closed, now Laurel Creek Road is closed just past Tremont shutting off all access to Cades Cove, which may remain closed for much of the weekend.

Cherokee Orchard Road by the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail just outside the city of Gatlinburg has been closed below the Noah Bud Ogle cabin at the gate by the Twin Creek Science Center.

Continuing accumulation may close the rest of the parks through roads such as Little River Road and the 2 Foothills Parkways.

Current Road Closures and Openings in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Snow blankets Smokies causing road closures in the Great Smoky Mountains national park

2009-12-18T12:27:00.001-05:00

A huge winter storm system is dusting the Smokies with snow, which has reached as much as 4 inches of accumulation in Newfound Gap prompting road closures in the Great Smoky Mountains national park early this morning with many more expected in the next 3 days.

At least another 2 to 6 inches of snow is called for today with the heaviest snowfall predicted in elevations of 3,500 feet or more. By tomorrow, snowfall accumulations in the Smoky Mountains area expected are to be from 6 - 12 inches and Sunday calls for more snow and potential rain with plummeting temps at night n the low teens.

Expect most if not all major roads in the GSMNP to close and some such as Newfound Gap Road, may remain closed for the entire weekend or even longer.

The following roads in the Great Smoky Mountains national park are closed due to snow and Ice:

Newfound Gap Road US 441 from Cherokee to Gatlinburg.

Old State Road 284 from Big Creek to Cataloochee.

The Cataloochee Entrance Road.

Laurel Creek Road at Tremont

Cades Cove: All Roads and access

Cherokee Orchard Road at the Twin Creeks Science center

Great Smoky Mountains national park closures last updated 3:04 pm 12/18

Additional Road Closings in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Due to Snow and Ice.

2009-12-05T08:59:00.006-05:00

Old 284 which connect Big Creek with Cataloochee in the Great Smoky Mountains national park has just been added to the growing list of road closures from today's storm which is expect to dump snow until around 1 pm today.

The following GSMNP roads are now closed:

Cataloochee Entrance Road by Maggie Valley NC

Cherokee Orchard Road in the Roaring Fork Gatlinburg TN area

Foothills Parkway East Cosby TN to I-40

Little River Road from Gatlinburg TN to Townsend TN

Old 284 Between Big Creek NC and Cataloochee NC

Newfound Gap Road Gatlinburg TN to Cherokee NC (US 441)

Wears Gap Road between Wears Valley TN and Metcalf Bottoms

Temperatures expected to remain at or below freezing for the remainder of the day and into the teens tonight so the snow and ice will stick around until at least tomorrow.

Little River Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Closed Due Winter Storm

2009-12-05T08:19:00.002-05:00

Little River Road connecting the Sugarlands area just outside Gatlinburg Tennessee with the Townsend / Cades Cove area is closed along with Cherokee Orchard Road and the Foothills Parkway East due the snow and ice. Snow is still falling with another few more inches expected today.

Other roads such as the Laurel Creek Road are rapidly covering over with Crib Gap being the biggest issue and at this rate sanding and plowing may not be enough.

Newfound Gap Road connecting Cherokee with Gatlinburg has been closed now for hours and may not reopen today.

Newfound Gap US 441 in Great Smoky Mountains National Park Closed Due to Ice and Snow

2009-12-05T06:05:00.011-05:00

Newfound Gap Road (US 441) the Great Smoky Mountains national parks main road connecting Gatlinburg Tennessee with Cherokee North Carolina has just been closed due to ice and snow. Snow falling right now will probably make driving on Newfound Gap Road too treacherous for at least the balance of the day.

There has already been a report of a car sliding off the roadway that will need to be recovered. The driver of this car was able to make 2 cell phone calls to the Swain Counties Sheriff's office and is believed to be OK.

At least one other car is stranded because of snow and ice which was backing up the last of the traffic on the Tennessee side.

To make matters worse, a crucial section of I-40 near the Tennessee North Carolina border still remains closed because of a landslide and old 284 which will most likely close, cannot be plowed.

Those looking to go around the park will need to make very large detours on more treacherous roads that also may close so the best advice is to stay put.

The Spur section of the Foothills Parkway between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge Tennessee is still open, is being sanded right now, and should be able to remain open.

In weather such as this, the best thing to do is remain safe at home if possible. If you do go out, you must have enough clothes in your vehicle to be able to withstand the weather so that you can leave your car if needed. You also need proper shoes for walking in snow and ice - sneakers are not adequate!

High Sustained Winds in the Smokies of 60 mph and More are Predicted Until Past Midnight Tonight

2009-12-02T15:38:00.010-05:00

The Great Smoky Mountains are still getting hammered with high winds knocking down more trees / branches and damaging roofs.

Lower elevation should expect winds of about 30 mph with much higher sustained wind speeds exceeding 60 mph in elevations of 3,000 feet and above.

Utility companies have been busy restoring power and so far no large scale power outages have been reported although with at least another 10 hours of more high winds expected, we may not remain so lucky.

Due to the high danger of downed lines, persons should not be walking around in the dark or in any standing water such as puddles because of the risk of electrocution.

Most tree damage and blockages in roadways within the Great Smoky Mountains national park has been cleaned up with the exception of the Cherokee Orchard / Roaring Fork section which is now closed.

Huge Wind Event Blasts Through the Tennessee Smoky Mountains Leaving a Path of Destruction.

2009-12-02T12:26:00.012-05:00

With virtually no warning a huge wind storm blasted through Sevier County, Blount County, Coche County, and the Great Smoky Mountains national park leaving a path of minor destruction in its wake. There are still 30 plus mph winds still blowing through sections of the GSM national park.

Numerous reports of downed trees blocking roadways, downed power and phone lines and property damage from fallen trees such as cars and roofs are keeping emergency personnel and utility workers busy directing traffic, clearing roadways and restoring services.

The national park service had recorded sustained wind speeds of 70 mile per hour with gusts exceeding 90 mph on Cove Mountain in the Gatlinburg - Wears Valley area.

The park is still cleaning roadways up in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and numerous hiking trails will have blow downs making passage difficult if not impossible for those on horseback.

Traffic is still heavily impacted on Little River Road just west of the Sinks where a large blow down will require heavy equipment for safe passage of both lanes.

The left hand lane North Bound Spur Road just before King Branch has a large limb blocking the roadway make drivers swerve and more weakened limbs may fall especially of the winds pick up as well.

The Gatlinburg Bypass between Newfound Gap Road and the Spur also has reports of tree limbs down by the Campbell Lead Bypass.

Several trees are also down on state road 32 in Blount County.

Limbs are also being reported down on the Foothills Parkway West / 129 area which will take longer for crews to get to and clean up.

Wind Storm Damage Updates:

Limbs along the North Bound Spur near King Branch have been cleaned up.

Great Smoky Mountains national park seasonal construction road closures and conditions for hiking

2009-12-01T10:18:00.003-05:00

Late fall and winter in the Great Smoky Mountains national park means that it's time for seasonal closing of roads, campgrounds and park facilities. Though there is a cold snap in the air, black bear will still be active for a few more weeks so backcountry campsites, shelters and hiking trails have warnings or are still closed.

This year will be changeling for many who want to visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park during the winter and early spring as some of the federal stimulus money is being spent repairing Clingmans Dome Road, the Roaring Fork Motor Trail and finishing off the Foothills Parkway between Wears Valley Road in and Walland.

Though Clingmans Dome Road is a popular road when it is closed for winter for hikers and skiers, it will be closing for all use as this winter it is going to be repaved and new handicapped assessable vault toilets (non flushing outhouse style) will be installed instead of using the historical building now being used as a restroom. This building is going to be converted into a small visitor center and Great Smoky Mountains Association store.

The present toilets in the 60 year old building are not in compliance with current environmental standards nor are they handicapped accessible. I commend what the park is doing to replace the current restrooms at Clingmans Dome as well as turning this historic structure into something which will be very useful to visitors.

Finally what will be the most advantageous project being undergone for visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains national park will certainly cause the most grief: The repaving of the 11 mile Cades Cove Loop Road from March to sometime in May.

Long overdue, the repaving project will completely shut this road down to cars, bikers and hikers as well as access to Rich Mountain Road, Parson Branch Road, Forge Creek Road, Sparks Lane and Hyatt Lane as well as the amphitheater in between the Cades Cove Picnic and Campgrounds.

There was no effectively way to partially close the area during construction and visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains national park as well as local businesses will be adversely affected during the construction. Te repaving of Cades Cove will be paid for from monies that have already been put aside for the project and do not involve any federal stimulus money.

Sadly the other roadways close by that hikers also use: the Roaring Fork Motor Trail and Clingmans Dome Road will also be closed to pedestrians during construction. The best places left to visit in the GSMNP via car during construction will be Tremont and the Cataloochee Valley in North Carolina.

Roads Closed in the Smoky Mountains National Park

Cades Cove Loop Road will be closed for repaving to all traffic, hikers and bikers starting sometime in March 2010 until at least late May 2010
Balsam Mountain Road is now closed for winter until May 8th 2010.
Clingmans Dome Road is now closed to vehicles traffic until May 2010 and will be closed to all hikers, bikers and skiers due to repaving starting February 2010.
Fontana Dam Access Road to the AT is closed to vehicles (Hikers Allowed) until January 31st, 2010.
Heintooga Ridge Road is now closed for winter until May 8th 2010.
Little Greenbrier Road is closed for winter from December 31st 2009 until March 13th 2010.
Parson Branch Road is closed for the winter and will open in late in April 2010.
Rich Mountain Road is now closed for winter until March 13th 2010.
Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail in now closed to vehicles and will be closed in December to all hikers and bikers starting sometime in February 2010 until May 2010.
Roundbottom/Straight Fork is now closed for winter until March 13th 2010.
The Sinks Parking Area on Little River Road will be closed due to construction from sometime in December 2009 through May 2010.

Road Construction in the Smoky Mountains National Park

Newfound Gap Road (US 441) will have an ongoing paving starting March 16th and expected to be done by September 1st 2010 on the North Carolina side from the Collins Creek Picnic area to the National Park Boundary at Cherokee NC. Expect periodic lane changes

Blue Ride Parkway Road Conditions and Construction

North Carolina: Milepost 393.6 to 405.5 Closed due to a high risk of landslides until further notice.
Virginia to North Carolina: Milepost 0 to 356 Guardrail replacements will cause traffic to be reduced to 1 lane as work is done through 2010.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Hiking Trail Conditions

Closed GSMNP Hiking Trails

Trailhead access from roads within Cosby Campground to Lower Mount Cammerer Trail, Snake Den Ridge Trail, and Low Gap Trail have a detour as long as the campground paving takes place until spring 2010. Use parking areas access by picnic grounds for these trails.
Foothills Parkway off Wears Valley Road (US 321) is now open for now to hikers, bikers and horseback riding

Hiking Trail Bear Warnings

Abrams Falls Hiking Trail
Crooked Arm Ridge Trail mostly on the lower portion
Gabes Mountain Trail
Laurel Falls Hiking Trail
Little River Hiking Trail
Trillium Gap Trail from the parking area up to Grotto Falls

GSMNP Hiking Trails Condition Warnings

Forney Creek Trail by backcountry Campsite #70 washed out bridge requiring potentially deep stream crossing at Forney Creek
Hazel Creek pick up area for boat shuttles near Backcountry campsite #86 has been rerouted to Olie Cove (not on regular trail maps but on some more detailed maps). Ask boat shuttle for further information.
Rabbit Creek Trail footbridge has washed out.

Holiday Snowfall Does Not Affect Smokies But The Weather Can Still Be Treacherous For Hikers.

2009-11-27T11:11:00.003-05:00

Luckily most of the snowfall, what little there was, did not severely impact the Smokies other than closing Clingmans Dome Road, cause a few fender benders and create a light build up of snow and ice on Newfound Gap Road US 441 which has not hampered traffic.

Though the light dusting of snow makes for pretty pictures at the highest elevations, the high winds and plummeting temperatures for the next few days should have hikers and campers in backcountry concerned and making sure that they are properly equipped so they will not have issues with exposure.

Presently there are 30 mph sustained winds in some areas with much higher gusts. The wind-chill factor in places such as Newfound Gap, Clingmans Dome and Mt Le Conte will be at -2 degrees Fahrenheit or even lower and when temperatures plunge tonight, could prove dangerous for those not prepared.

Hikers and campers should wear plenty of layers that can put on and take off easily so as to not overheat and later be chilled with sweat soaked clothing. It is best to not wear cotton which can hold moisture close to the skin.

Hikers and campers in the Smokies must also remember it starts getting dark in the park now at around 5:00 pm.

Weather in and around the Great Smoky Mountains.

Memorial Fund Set Up For Slain Bull Elk #21 to Support the Elk Bugle Corps Volunteer Program

2009-11-17T17:19:00.016-05:00

Last week's tragic poaching of the Great Smoky Mountains national parks Bull Elk #21 in the Cataloochee Valley outraged many people. Nature lovers, photographers and responsible hunters come from far and wide to enjoy the elk and the natural beauty of Cataloochee Valley.

The National Park has recognized how instrumental the all volunteer Elk Bugle Corp is in protecting our Elk, educating visitors about the elk and responsible wildlife viewing.

The Friends of the Smokies - a nonprofit fund-raising organization which raises funds for projects such as the Elk Restoration Program in the Great Smoky Mountains national park has set up a memorial fund for bull Elk #21 to fund the Cataloochee Valley Elk Bugle Corps and Your Smokies has just made the first donation to get this fund started.

While I would love to see other large donations to this very good cause, the Elk Bugle Corp would be glad to receive donations of any size made to the memory of Bull Elk #21. Donations will fund the Elk Bugle Corps most pressing needs and every little bit helps so please give what you can to the Bull Elk #21 Memorial Fund.

To Donate Click Here

Default Donation is $10 but you can increase or decrease the amount

Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All donations are tax-deductible as allowable by law.

Every dollar collected helps protect the parks precious resources and allows Elk Bugle Corp members to show you the beauty and share the historic significance of the Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Related Elk in the GSMNP Stories

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Elk Poaching Suspect Confesses and Arrest will be made

2009-11-16T15:09:00.031-05:00

This Friday bull elk #21 was shot and killed in the Cataloochee section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park near Maggie Valley NC by what turned out to be a man from Granville County.

Bull elk #21 was 13 years old and one of the first elk moved in the Cataloochee Valley of the Great Smoky Mountains national park in an experimental North American Elk reintroduction program that was to last 4 years but ended up concluding 8 years later.

Bull Elk #21 was born in Elk Island, Canada and spent some time in Land between the Lakes Kentucky before he was released along with 24 other elk in the Cataloochee Valley in 2001.

Bull #21 was a fixture in the valley and always stayed closed by the original field he was released from in contrast to some of the elk which have ended up as far away as Newport Tennessee or Asheville North Carolina.

Often Bull elk #21 would graze in a pasture right by the rangers station with 3 other bull elk buddies we nicknamed the bachelors. This gave our visitors an up close view of a full mature bull elk before they even entered the main fields within the Cataloochee Valley.

During the rut the bachelors would go their separate ways but as of last week since the rut is winding down he was hanging out with his buddies again.

Bull 21 was one of the most dominate bulls in the Cataloochee Valley and his impressive size and huge antlers delighted visitors for years and impressed many of the female elk (called cows) which he collected into a harem and bred.

Even though bull elk #21 was already a grandfather, he was still active during the rut and put on a good show during this years breeding season before he was gunned down.

The picture below was taken October 5th of this year and it shows Bull Elk 21 with his harem in the field by the Beech Gap School in the Cataloochee valley of the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

The shooting took place at close range while he was most likely feeding or just watching the coward who shot him.

Bull elk #21 was found lying down in the field by a park ranger who works in the valley. He collected evidence and worked with the park to transport bull elk #21s body to the UT College of Veterinary Medicine for a necropsy which has yet to come back.

A joint investigation to find the poacher who shot the elk in the Great Smoky Mountains national park was started utilizing Park Rangers, a National Park Service (NPS) Special Agent, and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

The suspected poachers truck description lead the Elk poaching investigation to Granville County. Here the special NPS agent received a confession and additional evidence was gathered.

The U.S. Attorney's Office and the Great Smoky Mountains national park are working together to develop the case so that an arrest can be made at which time the suspects name will be released.

The poacher will face a fine of up to $5,000 and 6 months in jail for the actual poaching and will face losing his truck as well as the weapon he used to commit this crime. It is possible he may face other charges as well for example possession of a loaded weapon inside the National Park which is still illegal until February of 2010.

Park Visitors, National Park employees and Volunteers are all outraged at this heinous crime. Fortunately there are still enough bulls in and around the valley capable of breeding so that the Elk reintroduction program in the Great Smoky Mountains national park will not fail as a result of the loss of bull 21.

Acting Chief Ranger, Steve Kloster stated "The suspect was quickly identified and a strong case developed because of the willingness of members of the community to come forward and talk to Rangers and state wildlife officers."

He went on the say "The many visitors and volunteers who come to Cataloochee expressly to watch the elk constitute a very effective surveillance network which has undoubtedly prevented elk poaching from occurring earlier."

I am proud to be an Elk Bugle Corp Volunteer and when the call is made next spring for more volunteers I hope that we can get even more people who are dedicated and who love nature and the park to come join us and help protect the remainder of the herd.

I would like to thank all of those involved in the investigation for the fine job they had done and thank Park Ranger Mark LaShell, our Parks Elk Specialist: Biologist Joe Yarkovich and the other Bugle Corp members for the outstanding work they do in the valley every day for our Elk Program.

Related Elk in the GSMNP Stories

Elk poaching takes place in Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

2009-11-13T18:58:00.019-05:00

Those of you who follow me on Twitter know how near and dear the Elk in the Great Smoky Mountains national park are to me and of course the tens of thousands of other park visitors a year who come to the Cataloochee Valley just to see our elk.

Unfortunately this morning someone well within the national park boundaries in the Cataloochee Valley decided to poach one of our beloved Elk which was one of the first elk released in the park, 13 year old Bull #21 pictured above.

This person who committed this cowardly act not only took this animals life away but took from all of us a magnificent beast. Elk are now able to roam the Great Smoky Mountains which have not heard the bugle of a wild elk for more than 100 years due to over hunting and habitat destruction because of a great investment and time and money from private sources given graciously to the park.

For those of us who love the Great Smoky Mountains national park the elk have become intimately intertwined with this beautiful place since their experiment introduction in 2001 and the herd has grown from 52 head to an estimated 105. The long term prospects for this experimental reintroduction of elk in the Smokies looks fantastic.

Poaching of natural and cultural artifacts is a serious problem in all of our national parks. Poaching in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and the adjoining Blue Ridge Parkway is most commonly to plants such as ramps, ginseng, and wildflowers such as lady slippers as well as wildlife most commonly black bear and deer.

More than 80 park volunteers who love the elk and I work in the Cataloochee Valley of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in a program called the Elk Bugle Corp offering educational information to visitors about the elk and the GSMNP, help with traffic management and work to maintain a safe distance between visitors and our beloved elk and black bear.

So that some good use comes out of this cowardly crime, it would be great if this animal was mounted for display in the new Oconaluftee visitor center being built or the Sugarlands visitor center museum rather than just dump the animal's body after the forensic evidence is gathered to prosecute this criminal. At least people can then see up close one of these magnificent animals we have so much invested in.

I urge anyone who has any information about this or any wildlife crime in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to call the GSMNP Main Number at park headquarters (865)436-1200.

Related Elk in the GSMNP Stories

Cades Cove Loop Road and Greenbrier Road are closed. Other local roads flood due to high water

2009-11-11T09:42:00.003-05:00

Cades Cove Loop Road and Greenbrier Road have both been closed today due to high water on numerous places from the past 30 hours of rain. Since close to 3 inches of rain has fallen in some areas creeks streams and rivers are spilling over their banks creating a mess for many on the Smoky Mountains.

There have been numerous traffic accidents in the Gatlinburg - Pigeon Forge - Sevierville area and a flood watch is in effect in Newport until 7 pm as the Pigeon River is expected to create flooding issues.

To make matters worse there is a wind advisory in effect today until 4 pm tomorrow so expect that trees will fall because of the saturated ground and high winds creating more power outages and telephone and internet service interruptions.

The Great Smoky Mountains national park is faring better than expected as other roads in the park have not been closed yet and though all the branches, creeks, streams and rivers are flooding they are yet to create any property or safety issues other than for those who will kayak or attempt to cross them in the dangerous state.

While it is possible that Cades Cove Loop Road may reopen today if the high waters recede, it is doubtful that Hyatt Lane, Sparks Lane, Forge Creek Road and Parsons Branch Road will open right away as vehicles driving over these gravel roads when they are saturated do serious damage to the roadway.

Greenbrier Road is closed right now and may reopen today, but the section of roadway to the Ramsey Cascades parking area will take at least a day before the water recedes enough for it to reopen.

Closed section of Foothills Parkway West will see some construction traffic for 6 weeks.

2009-11-06T09:19:00.003-05:00

One of hidden secrets of the Great Smoky Mountains national park are the 2 incomplete sections of the Foothills Parkway off 321 which has some stunning vistas and hikers, bicyclists, horseback riders and even leased dogs are allowed.

Both of these long "trails" offer visitors a chance to explore nature for long distances with a gradual grade which is very accessible for those how may have problems with conventional hiking trails, want to avoid crowds or who are higher functioning persons with disabilities.

From November 12th through December 22nd on the far eastern side of the 9 mile section of the Foothills Parkway by Walland core drilling will be taking places so hiker and bikers need to be aware that this normally traffic free area will see some construction vehicles driving to and from the drilling sites.

I would suggest that anyone especially those who live in the area who has not hiked the incomplete sections of the Foothills Parkway does so before it is finished and open to vehicular traffic.

Related Smokies News Stories

Controlled burns to take place in Cades Cove section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

2009-11-04T07:41:00.001-05:00

Cades Cove in the north western section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park will be ground zero for 3 planned controlled burns this week performed by national park service firefighters as a cost effective method to keep the historic fields in the valley from becoming a forest.

Prescribed burns in Cades Cove generally take place in March but due to the Cades Cove Loop Road repaving next year which will close the road, prescribed burns will take place if weather conditions permit today through Friday.

Today the park plans on burning several tracts of land in the Cades Cove Valley west of Hyatt Lane close to where prescribed burns took place this spring. Before setting the larger blaze containment areas have been set by mowing the grass around where the burn is to take place.

If all goes well tomorrow through Friday the next set of controlled wildfires in the Great Smoky Mountains national park will take place in fields between Parks and Hyatt Lane.

While these burns should not effect traffic along the Cades Cove Loop Road it is possible to road will be closed for safety reasons. It is also possible either Hyatt Lane or Sparks Lane will be also closed in the next 3 days but more than likely the only effect the prescribed wild fire will have on visitors in Cades Cove is the sight and smell of smoke.

The Great Smoky Mountains national park has about 950 acres of fields in the Cove visible from Cades Cove Loop Road mowed a year and another 1,000 acres that are less visible are kept from being claimed by forest burned or mowed on a 3 year rotation.

Landslide in Great Smoky Mountains national park cleared but clearing I-40 will take many months.

2009-10-29T10:28:00.002-04:00

This has been some leaf season in the Smokies! Multiple rock and landslides within weeks create traffic nightmares for many, but fortunately yesterday's landslide in the Great Smoky Mountains national park took the park and Blalock Construction less than 24 hours to clear but the I-40 landslide only 3 miles from the Tennessee and North Carolina border will take until March 2010 or longer.

This summer we saw 2 rock slides occur along Little River Road which took days to clean up so that the road could be reopened so it was a very pleasant surprise to see how fast the main East West road in the Great Smoky Mountains national park reopened however those who wish to take I-40 from North Carolina will have to wait far longer before they can avoid detours. The real disaster for drivers will be when Newfound Gap Road (US 441) closes due to ice and snow in bad weather which is a very common occurrence.

There was another closure due to at potential landslide this moth along the Blue Ridge Parkway which has also cause drivers to have to deal with lengthy detours right when the fall season colors were at their peak along the parkway.

Related Landslide and Rockslides in the Smokies Stories:

Newfound Gap road reopens in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

2009-10-18T10:36:00.000-04:00

As the weather improves over the Great Smoky Mountains national park so do the traffic conditions because the Great Smoky Mountains national park has just opened back up Newfound Gap Road the main thoroughfare between Gatlinburg and Cherokee.

It is possible that with this evenings cold conditions will close the road as it refreezes.

Snow Closes Roads In The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

2009-10-18T10:06:00.004-04:00

A light dusting of snow in the upper elevations yesterday afternoon which fell through some of the evening first closed Clingmans Dome Road and then Newfound Gap Road US 441 which runs through the Great Smoky Mountains national park connecting Cherokee North Carolina with Gatlinburg Tennessee.

Other road such as the Blue Ridge Parkway, Old 284 and Cove Creek Road running to Cataloochee all saw accumulation and slushy icy conditions. Last evening a truck needed assistance to make it up and out of Cataloochee but not without fishtailing a few times and cosmetically damaging its tailgate.

Wet conditions made for numerous accidents in and around the Great Smoky Mountains national park. Drivers are reminded to obey speed limit and if conditions require, to drive even slower. During leaf season especially when there is the added beauty of snow in the mountains drivers may become distracted or even slow down and stop in the roadways to take pictures which is prohibited.

This is the first day of the season that snow has been sticking and ice has been forming on roadways as pictured below on Cove Creel Road yesterday at around 3 pm.

Right now the snow and ices is melting quite well and crews are right now sanding the Newfound Gap Road which may open up before 11:00 am. As temperatures cool down later in the day and the melting snow and ice refreezes, it may have to close again.

12 miles of Blue Ridge Parkway in Mount Pisgah - Asheville Area Closed Due to Landslide Danger

2009-10-15T09:33:00.005-04:00

Weeks of rain has taken its toll on the Blue Ridge Parkway at what is the worst possible time for a closure of a stretch of roadway in the Mount Pisgah Asheville area as peak leaf season is coloring the slopes and valleys of North Carolina.

Crews are working right now to erect temporary barriers in hopes that the most of the roadway will be opened back up Friday for the 2nd weekend of peak leaf season on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The area that will remain closed would be the Ferrin Knob Tunnel Number 1.

The slope that is causing all this grief has been closely monitored by the park service since it first failed in 2002 and had been repaired and according to Bambi Teague, the Blue Ridge Parkway's chief of resource management "It has been slipping and sliding since then, but in the past three weeks, it has been moving way more than anyone expected it would" which prompted the closure.

The picture above was taken 2 days ago on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and shows how fall color has already painted the slopes and valleys in reds, yellows and oranges between US 441 and US 19. This stretch is unaffected by the closure and leaf peepers traveling from Asheville should use US 276 near Brevard or NC 151 from Candler.

Greenbrier section still closed but Cades Cove reopens as Great Smoky Mountains National park cleans up from flooding and storm damage

2009-09-27T07:43:00.003-04:00

While the storm that drenched the Smoky Mountains was not packing much of a punch dropping from 2 to just less than 3 inches of rain in the past 24 hours in areas of the park, the saturated ground and rain swollen rivers could not handle any more and minor flooding was widespread in areas in and around the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

The Little Pigeon River created the most damage in the Great Smoky Mountains national park as it washed out an area of roadway along Greenbrier Road near the bridge to Ramsey Cascades where Middle Prong runs into the Little Pigeon River.

The video below shows the Little Pigeon River following over its bank and it effects were felt far downstream in the residential areas some of which had minor evacuations.

The Little River which flows out of Elkmont was rising quickly promoting an evacuation of the Elkmont Campgrounds in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and further downstream created problems for campgrounds outside the park and resident in Townsend and Walland. The Campground has been deemed safe and was just reopened.

In Cades Cove Sparks Lane which notoriously gets flooded was closed first followed by Hyatt Land and then the entire 11 miles of the Cades Cove Loop were closed as water stared building up in the back end. Cades Cove Loop has just reopened but Sparks Lane, Hyatt lane and Rich Mountain Road will remain closed until they dry out so that passing vehicles will not damage the road surface.

The Chimneys Picnic Area was also closed last night as rising waters from the Little Pigeon River started to flow over the banks.

Crews will be working today in the park surveying and cleaning what appears to be minor damage. Hikers should report any large downed trees or washout in back country but expect to have to climb over under or around obstructions in the trails for at least a few days.

Based upon the extent of the damage on Greenbrier Road reported to me by eyewitness yesterday don't expect Greenbrier to be open past the Ranger station for at least a day or 2. Hopefully while they have dump trucks in the area they will fix some of the preexisting immense holes in the road surface right now.

Last Chance to Hike or Bike Cades Cove without Traffic until Repaving is finished in 2010

2009-09-22T10:08:00.004-04:00

I love hiking and driving in Cades Cove. Problem is millions have as well for the past 39 years leading to the complete degradation of the Cades Cove Loop Road which will be broken up and repaved next year so this Wednesday is your last chance to hike the road without traffic until at least late May.

Cades Cove Loop road is closed to automobile traffic until 10 am on Wednesday and Saturday mornings from spring until late September so that pedestrians and bicyclists can enjoy this spectacular place without the noise and annoyance of car and motorcycle traffic.

Starting on March of 2010 Cades Cove loop Road will be closed to all traffic - cars, bikes and all pedestrians - in order for the roadway to be broken up and pulverized, new concrete poured and then the road will be surfaces with asphalt. While the Great Smoky Mountains national park is hopeful that the job will be completed by Memorial Day although weather will determine how fast this job can be completed.

The new Cades Cove Loop Road will not be widened and a total of 12 pull offs were proposed by the park. Rumors are floating around that the road will be made harder to park alongside of except at designated pull offs.

Hiking or biking in Cades Cove in the morning is just such a magical time. Expect cool comfortably temperatures, a hint of mist in the year, easy wildlife sighting of turkey, deer, bear and maybe even a coyote and the magical lighting that photographers refer to as "the golden hour".

I particularity like walking the 11 miles of the Cades Cove Loop road rather than riding a bike. It is just so much more intimate to be walking quietly along this road as the beauty of the cove and its inhabitants unfolds before you at every twist and turn of this historic road.

From wide vistas of meadows framed by mountains to walking through tunnels of trees that envelop you and block out the sun, every footstep is in another chance for you to intimately experience adventure and beauty.

Sunrise will be at 7:31 am tomorrow morning and it takes around 3-1/2 hours to hike the loop quickly so I count on 4 to 4-1/2 hours to take my time and take photographs and "smell the roses" along the way.

Cars are allowed to drive into the Cades Cove Loop at 10 am and won't reach the back end of the loop until around 10:30 - 10:45. Hiker and bikers need to park at the orientation shelter at the beginning of the Cades Cove Loop until the parking area fills at which time you will be directed to park near the Cades Cove Riding Stables.

I will be leaving at 6:45 - 7 am from the orientation shelter to I will be already be past the John Oliver cabin past sunrise. Anyone looking to join me is welcome and should comment here or twitter me their intentions.

Related Smokies News Stories:

Mountain Life Festival at the Mountain Farm Museum in Oconaluftee Area of Great Smoky Mountains national park

2009-09-11T19:59:00.004-04:00

In the upper elevations of the Great Smoky Mountains national park there is a touch of color and the heat has broken and even in the valleys the heat of summer has been broken so the annual Mountain Life Festival at the Mountain Farm Museum in Oconaluftee is right around the corner.

Come to the farm museum on Saturday September 19th from 10 am to 4 pm and learn why leather britches are not pants, what carding means when it has nothing to do with ID and what it's like to make your own soap while listening to great Appalachian style music - all for free!

While I am sad to see what for me signals for me the end of summer, this is one annual event in the Great Smoky Mountains national park I have not missed for years.

The location of the Farm Museum is perfect in beautiful green valley alongside the Oconaluftee River surrounded by low mountains that will only have a hint of color just a minute inside the park boundary at Cherokee.

Expect the hands of time turn back more than a hundred years and see interesting live demonstrations by park staff and volunteers such as lye soap making, hearth cooking, food preservation, broom making, quilting, blacksmithing, chair bottoming, along with apple butter and apple cider making. You will get to sample warm cider too!

A special edition this year to help celebrate the parks 75th anniversary is a showcase Appalachian folkways along with historic artifacts and photographs from the national park's collection will also be on display to help pay tribute to the former resident who lived where the park now stands.

Corn husk dolls, hominy making, old time toys and other interesting demonstrations about what home life was 100 years ago in the Great Smoky Mountains will be going on around the farm museum.

You can also learn about the more than 40 types of apple tress the Cherokee and the early settlers grew from Ron and Suzanne Joyner from Big Horse Creek Farm in Ashe County, NC. When I interviewed them in the past they were a wealth of knowledge and they presently have a nursery with more than 300 varieties of custom-grafted heirloom apple trees.

In the farm itself, you can watch an almost 40 year old tradition of the Great Smoky Mountains national park: the making of sorghum syrup. The Appalachian early settlers did not have table sugar and they grew their own sorghum and with a horse-powered cane mill and wood-fired cooker made this important food stable.

Students, staff, and volunteers from Swain County High School through a cooperative agreement with Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Great Smoky Mountains Association will be feeding the press which is pictured above and making the sorghum syrup.

Through all the celebrating at the Mountain Farm Museum in Oconaluftee, don't miss the musical entertainment by Marshall Crowe and the Bluegrass Singers.

Bedsides the event, take some time to stroll down the Oconaluftee River hiking trail which is one of the 2 trails in the park that allows well behaved leashed dogs and stroll around the farm with its historic buildings and picturesque landscape.

Bear Spray: Now Legal to Carry and Use in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

2009-09-09T13:17:00.007-04:00

Though I was waiting for months for the official announcement that bear spray would be legal in the Great Smoky Mountains national park, it was a sharp reader of this web site that brought to my attention the fact that the National Park web site now states bear spray is allowed in the GSMNP.

Months ago I started and became the center of a huge controversy about bear spray when it was brought to my attention that Bear Spray was illegal in the Great Smoky Mountains national park. Questions about misleading, conflicting and confusing visitor information as well as selective enforcement made matters worse.

Bear spray is far more effective that firearms are in a bear attack which by that way, even though there are more than 2 bear per square mile is extremely rare in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Since bear spray is far more effective than guns and the chances of collateral damage is far lower, it made perfect since to legalize bear spray since firearms will be allowed in national parks in February 2010.

While I was advised by park officials in late spring that the bear pepper spray law was going to change, I waited until the official announcement from the park to advise my readers about the change in the bear spray law as I did not know exactly when it would become legal.

No news of the change in the bear spray law was ever released publicly; instead a paragraph about bear spray and its legality and use in the Great Smoky Mountains national park was inserted in the GSMNPs hiking page.

Bear Spray (pepper spray formulated for bears) should be only used in an emergency against an attacking bear and not used to keep bear away from campsites or other place you wish to keep bear away from. Spraying an area with bear spray may even attract bears them rather then repel them as they will want to examine what the strange scent is and where it is coming from.

Bear Pepper Spray is only allowed in the Great Smoky Mountains national park for "the strict purpose of protection against bodily harm from aggressive wildlife". It must also contain between 1% to 2% of the active ingredients capsaicin and related capsaicinoids and be commercially manufactured and labeled as "Bear Pepper Spray".

I stumbled into something that made some people working in the park and some locals who refused to comply with the law all along unhappy. While my tenacity about getting to the bottom of this matter may have angered some, they do know my love for the park and how resource protection and public safety are for more important to me than not making waves. I hope that those who I may have aggravated understand my good attentions.

Though I plan to never use it, bear spray will now be part of my hiking gear. I hope that people who will purchase bear spray will learn about it, try it and only use it when absolutely necessary (which in the GSMNP should be almost never).

Just because you are allowed to have a can of bear pepper spray when hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains national park does not mean that you can ignore food storage rules, comply with staying away 50 yards away from bear or using common sense around wild animals.

Just as bear spray is now legal in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, if abused the park may take this right away just as they had to remove chain link fences from shelters as people abused the fences and would throw food out for bears. Be responsible!

Related Stores about Bear Spray and Black Bear

The Great Smoky Mountains National Parks 75th Anniversary Rededication and Newfound Gap: Great Memories for a Lifetime

2009-09-02T21:34:00.016-04:00

I have been waiting for this day when the Great Smoky Mountains National parks would have a rededication ceremony and the Roosevelt Monument at Newfound Gap in celebration do the parks 75th Anniversary for years, and with all my expectations I can't believe I was not let down.

This dedication ceremony was to be a modern day interpretation of the 1940 dedication event in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park which was attended by president FDR, was the grand finale of the major events the GSM national park was hosting for the 75th anniversary of the formation of this park.

Almost 2,000 people attended the Rededication Ceremony held at the Roosevelt Monument which straddles the Tennessee and the North Carolina border in the Newfound Gap parking area of the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Many of those who attended this historic event have deep roots in the Smoky Mountains and most of them where either born in what was to become the Great Smoky Mountains national park or are descendants of those who lived here.

Some of those very hardy men who built the Great Smoky Mountains national parks trails, bridges and roads who were members of the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) attended this event.

By now these men have become old familiar faces to me as they have been guests of honor numerous here in the past year such as at the CCC dedication ceremony at the Sugarlands Visitor Center where a plaque honoring the Civilian Conservation Corp was unveiled and at the groundbreaking for the new Oconaluftee Visitor Center.

As with all the other ceremonies, CCC corpsman Clarence Allison, the 3rd man down in the picture below wore his original uniform and hat.

Today some of those who were here for that historic occasion 75 years ago proudly wore ribbons as well as those who lived in what is now the park and those who built the roads, bridges and more than 800 miles of hiking trails that crisscross the park.

Lots of changes have occurred in the Great Smoky Mountains the past 75 years since the men on the CCC help turned it into the land stunning place it now is and most have them have been for the good of the national park.

Technology allowed us to make cell phone calls, check our email, update our Twitter accounts or transmit a signal via satellites so that people outside the park could see what was going on. Just think at the 1st dedication in 1940 wire was run in trees and across bushes and up the mountains in order to transmit this historic occasion.

75 years ago when 100 old Gudger Palmer (pictured above) was only 25 and lived in Cataloochee North Carolina, there used to be barely any black bear, wild turkey and white deer inhabiting the area which just became the Great Smoky Mountains national park. These and many other animals now flourish and even the casual observer in the park should see them most of the year.

Then there are the animals that have been wiped out of existence in what was once more than 6,000 private tracts of lands. Today the park service has brought the river otter, peregrine falcon and my favorite: the North American elk back into this area and they are all now thriving in this beautiful biosphere.

While this was a day for historic speeches made by politicians promising to make things better and of course the thrill of seeing Dolly Parton perform live, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park itself was the star of the day.

As our bus pulled up past the rain clouds up to the Newfound Gap Parking area, a lone tree just below the road displayed red and yellow tinges on some of its leaves - a gentle sign of fall color that would soon grace the Smoky Mountains.

As we disembarked from the shuttle the cooler air laced with the smell of fir washed over us moved the 3 American flags and the North Carolina and Tennessee state flags on top of the Roosevelt Monument wave in the wind. The only other decorations were 7 white and blue banners draped over the monument which also came alive as the wind came across the gap.

Sure the 75th anniversary of the original dedication of the Great Smoky Mountains national park was a great opportunity for politicians to press flesh with constituents and get to work in some impressive sound bites, nothing could beat the parks performance as the weather cleared up just as the program began and deteriorated with clouds moving in as Dolly Parton closed the event with her last song.

I had been waiting for this event for years all the while reflecting how wonderful this park is and I was not disappointed. I guess I must now look forward to the 100th anniversary dedication and hope that I will still be hiking as I do now in my 70s and reveling in the Great Smoky Mountain national parks beauty.

Rescue of a Lost and Stranded Hiker in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Concludes

2009-08-30T20:39:00.033-04:00

Lost and then stranded experienced 70 year old hiker Albert Morgan Briggs who was stuck atop Porters Mountain for almost a week deep in the Great Smoky Mountains national park was rescued early this morning by a Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter and taken to the Little River Ranger station where he was debriefed by park rangers about his ordeal and later picked up by his family and taken home.

What happened the past week to Albert Morgan Briggs who is a park volunteer and presently works in the parks backcountry permit office and prior to this was a ridge runner on the Appalachian Trail helping maintain the trails and guiding hikers, is both a tale of what hikers should and should not do.

Fortunately even though Morgan had what was a physically trying and well as emotionally draining week, other than a light sunburn and filthy clothes he was wearing from bushwhacking in the deep rhododendron thickets and climbing his way up about 1,200 feet to ridgeline below the Peak of Porters Mountain which is barely a few feet wide, he was in great shape and spirits.

When I was interviewing the crew of the helicopter that rescued Mr. Morgan, they all expressed concern about the conditions and the ruggedness of the backcountry he was stranded in. The crew also described that they could not believe how narrow the ridge was where Moran Briggs tent was precariously perched and how exposed he was.

If the helicopter could not have hoisted off the ridge on Porters Mountains, there would have been no room to put the bird down and the only way they would have had left to rescue him would have been for the ground crew to climb 1,200 feet practically straight up to retrieve him. The park service suggested that chainsaws would have probably been needed than in order to cut through the thickets.

Amazingly one of the teams of rangers on the search and rescue mission this week was less than 50 yards from Morgan Briggs and they did not realize the missing hiker was so close to them.

This distance was confirmed by checking the data of the ground crews GPS unit and according to North District Head Ranger Steven Kloster, the Porter Mountain ridgeline was already in today's search plan even if Morgan had not been spotted by observers on the Appalachian Trail (AT) and their sighting confirmed by a helicopter yesterday.

While I was able to gather information for this story from many firsthand sources, Morgan would not speak to any of us at the press conference but he did promise to give us the chance to interview him at a future date so at least we will have a more detailed picture of what initially happened and well as his state of mind during the week long ordeal.

I was in a rush to report all details of this story upon his rescue, but I held off as more and more questions and thoughts came to mind and more details have come to light about his ordeal. Many sources I have seen reporting this story had wrong information such as elevation gains and distances, made wrong conclusions and left out important facts.

Morgan's Planed 4 Day Hike in the GSMNP

Day 1: Hike from the Trailhead in Greenbrier where he was dropped off just 3.5 miles on the Porters Creek maintained hiking trail to backcountry campsite #31 where he would spend the night.

Day 2: Hike his way through brush on an unmaintained unofficial trail referred to as a "manway" where he would have to work his way through drainages making crossings in rain swollen creeks and streams, around fallen trees and through tough brush including rhododendron thickets and thorny briers that you would not normally encounter on a maintained official park trail.

Morgan would work his way up a gain of 2,000 feet and eventually end up along the Appalachian Trail which runs across most of the Great Smoky Mountains national parks highest points along the Tennessee North Carolina border for about a mile to a lean to along the AT named the Icewater Springs Shelter.

Day 3: Hike the 6 miles from the Icewater Springs Shelter along the AT and the Boulevard Hiking Trail to Mount LeConte where he would spend the night at the Mount LeConte Shelter.

Day 4: Hike down Mt LeConte to hitch a ride to Gatlinburg and take the trolley home to Pigeon Forge. No one other than Morgan is sure which trail he wished to take back but it is believed his choices were Alum Cave Trail (about 5 miles), Rainbow Falls (about 6.5 miles) or the Bull Head (about 6.5 miles) hiking trails.

What happened on the hike:

Day 1: Morgan hiked in and spent the first night as planned in campsite 31.

Day 2: He was last seen by other hikers this day at the campsite where after waking and packing his gear, he started the off trail portion of his hike he made a wrong turn and got disorientated and lost.

Rather than following the stream out to the road about 3 miles to the north he decided to climb up a little over 1,000 feet to the top of Porters Mountain where he pitched his tent and remained the next 6 days until he was rescued by helicopter.

So what went wrong and what went right in Morgan Briggs preparation, hike and subsequent rescue in the GSMNP?

What went right:

1) Though this story concluded with the safe return of a hiker who was lost and then stranded for a week with limited food and water and no way to communicate with the outside world, the timing of this hike more than likely made the difference between life and death.

If this fateful hike in the Great Smoky Mountains national park was a few weeks from now when the cold weather sets in, the risk of exposure would have been enormously increased - or if it was a few weeks earlier when it was very hot, humid and there was no rainfall Morgan could have suffered from severe dehydration or could have had a heat stroke and died.

The fact that he was so exposed on a high ridgeline, during any thunderstorm a bolt of lightning could have dealt him a lethal blow.

The weather also cooperated on the day of his rescue as the fog just lifted and visibility and wind speed just turned conducive for an extraction by chopper rather than a more prolonged and dangerous extraction by climbers.

2) Morgan Briggs told people where he was going and when he was due back. He filled out the necessary permits so he could be tracked.

Once he was overdue on Tuesday his family was concerned and eventually contacted the park service and the search for Albert Morgan Briggs began on Wednesday (Day 5).

3) When Morgan was lost on day 2 of the hike, he had worked his way to higher ground where he stayed put.

His highly visible yellow tent/tarp was seen by searches on the ground about a mile away on the AT because he was so visible and out of the cover of the forest canopy.

Had his tent/tarp been a color such as green or with camouflage pattern such as I often use, he may never have been spotted by the ground crew or the helicopter that eventually dropped him supplies.

4) When Morgan knew he was lost he started to ration his food which consisted of Spam and canned peaches.

Unfortunately both foods would increase his dehydration and subsequent thirst since the Spam is loaded with sodium and the peaches are in sugary syrup.

5) Though Morgan was working his way through mud and streams, where he ultimately ended up stranded there was no source of water so he ran dry.

Using tent flaps and a tarp he collected rain water from the daily rain we had last week in the Smokies.

While he was lost and stranded in the Great Smoky Mountains national park, dehydration was the largest danger he faced that could have proved fatal.

What went wrong:

1) Hiking on manways is not prohibited but is strongly advised against by GSM park officials.

Some manways such Pinnacles Manway in Greenbrier is in a similar condition to many maintained trails other than a few blow downs and is very clearly defined.

The manways that Morgan was hiking on are not clearly defined, in poor condition and have elevation gains that are unsafe given the condition of the trail.

This is not a manway that should ever be hiked solo and if you would do so, it is better to do it in the winter when the lack of most of the forest canopy makes following the trail and navigation with a GPS much easier.

This particular manway I have described numerous times as the only major manway in the Great Smoky Mountains national parks I have never hiked on because of the inherent dangers.

Hiking manways or off trail requiring bushwhacking does significant ecological damage to potentially endangered or rare plants, fragile habitats and their inhabitants.

Responsible off trail hiking should be done in the late fall, winter and early spring when the ground-cover and the understory is dormant so you are reducing your environment impact and it's also easier to read the terrain.

2) Morgan did not bring along any communications and navigation electronics.

A cell phone with Verizon service may have actually worked in his location, a GPS may have worked well enough to keep him from getting lost, a walkie talkie may have allowed him to communicate with another hiker in range on the AT and if all else fails he could have used a personal safety beacon as soon as he was stranded and he would have been rescued in hours rather than on day 8.

I tell everyone to never count on electronics for your survival when hiking and honesty hiking on marked and maintained trails you should not even need them, however when you hike solo on a dangerous unmarked trail it is ill advised to not have what is basic electronic safety equipment.

Any serious hiker going solo into a situation like this should never go hiking without a personal locator beacon.

3) A low tech visual signal method could have been used to call attention to him and his location: Fire and its subsequent smoke.

Though it is illegal to make a fire when in the national park outside of a fire ring or BBQ in a picnic area or campgrounds, in an emergency, fresh leaves burning would have brought attention to his position much faster.

Since he was camping and planning to be in shelters for days one would assume here would have brought along what it took to make a fire each night such as a lighter, matches or flint.

A camp fire with damp leaves would have made a smell and visual indicators of light and smoke which could have easily been seen or smelled by his rescuers.

Another low tech signaling device would be a mirror or anything reflective could have also been used to gain attention such as a used Spam can and lid or the can from his peaches.

4) Morgan did not have or use a signal whistle or air horn.

I swear by my trusty Storm Safety Whistle which can be heard for a half a mile or more in the conditions Morgan was in. It's a cheap low tech gadget that any hiker should have at all times - short hike or overnight trip.

A Storm Safety Whistleis louder than any other whistle and it even works underwater. Best investment under $10 you can make in saving your life and maybe even chasing an aggressive bear away.

Air horns that use compressed gas come in small canister and are cheap and can also be heard for great distances. When the canister runs out of compressed gas you can put the horn in your mouth and blow.

Using a whistle or horn takes no energy as yelling does. Blowing a horn, whistle or shining a light in a "Short-Short-Short Long-Long-Long Short-Short-Short" SOS pattern is a universal cry for help in Morse Code.

Remember - searchers were as close as 50 yards away from him and he did not know they were there and they did not know he was there! Even a cheap whistle from Wal-Mart could have been heard at that distance.

Fortunately one of the search and rescue teams along the AT saw Morgan's yellow tent and were able to guide a helicopter to his location.

The helicopter returned with an extra sleeping bag, Gatorade, food and a park service radio so they were able to finally communicate with Mr. Briggs and prepare him for the rescue planed for the next day.

I would love to know that last night what Morgan was thinking that last night in his tent and when he finally woke up the next morning. We do know that pork chops were on his mind at some point because after leaving the national park with his brother along with his son and his family he wanted to stop by the supermarket for some to make for his first meal safe and sound back home.

This picture shows Morgan with his younger brother leaving the Little River ranger station along with all his hiking and camping gear which was also extracted from the top of Porter Mountain. Morgan looked well as he spoke quickly to park officials on the way to car.

His years of service were brought up by park officials including Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson and how important the 2,000 plus park volunteers are to the Great Smoky Mountains national park. Morgan Briggs has helped countless other visitors to the park over the many years he has served the park and it was his turn to be helped.

Besides volunteers, there were 40 people who worked from the Great Smoky Mountains national park in the search and rescue teams. This did not include the 2 helicopter crews in 3 flights that were used to first find, then supply and finally to rescue Albert Morgan Briggs.

This was a well coordinated and expensive undertaking on the part of the national park service. Fortunately for the NPS and not the Tennessee tax payers, the cost of the helicopter retrieval off the mountain by a helicopter owned and flown by the Tennessee Highway Department, was paid for by the State of Tennessee.

As with any incident - especially one of this magnitude, there are lessons to be earned. While I travel with high visibility orange covers for my backpacks and 3 foil thermal blankets which would make a great signaling device, I am replacing my tent to one with a much higher visibility color based upon this incident.

While you need to careful anytime you hike in the wilderness, regardless of your hiking experience, my hope is that some of you will learn as I have and minimize the chance you can get lost and stranded in the Great Smoky Mountains and if you do survive until your swift rescue.

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Missing Hiker in Great Smoky Mountains National Park Alive and Well but Not Out of the Woods - Yet

2009-08-29T21:07:00.007-04:00

Tonight formally missing 70 year old hiker Albert Morgan Briggs is making his home in a tent perched about 4,800 feet up on Porters Mountain drinking Gatorade and eating food dropped down to him by helicopter this afternoon which also dropped a 2 way radio which he has now turned off to conserve battery life.

Though the weather was shaky all morning long and early in the afternoon, it finally cleared up enough that a helicopter was able to assist on the search for Mr. Albert Morgan Briggs who was backpacking and not been seen or heard from since Sunday morning.

It was just plain old perseverance which found Mr. Briggs as a search and rescue crew up on the Appalachian Trail (AT) noticed a yellow tent about a mile due north of Charles Bunion purchased on a rock outcropping which he was unable to move from due to the extreme terrain in the area (See Map Below).

A helicopter was sent to his approximate location with the help of the spotters on the AT. Upon the helicopters arrival at about 4:15 Morgan signaled to it by waving his arms and with a red handkerchief that had with him.

Since there is no location near him the helicopter could set down, it flew back to the park headquarters where they loaded a pack with food, drink, a sleeping bag and a 2 way walkie talkie which was dropped to him as it was getting too dark for the crew on the ground to try to reach him in safety.

The rescue coordinators had a brief conversation on the radio with Mr. Albert Morgan Briggs to confirm that he was not injured and safe in his current location and that a rescue operation will take place to extract him from the ridge-line on Porters Mountain tomorrow.

Morgan's son has been contacted by the park service and advised of his status and the park services rescue plans.

Two concurrent rescue plans to extract Mr. Briggs are being put into action early tomorrow morning. The first rescue operation calls for 2 separate 4 man teams to be sent out to climb up to the peak of Porters Mountain to extract Mr. Briggs.

The second rescue operation which would be the preferred way to extract him but is dependent on the weather involves a Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter which if it can fly will attempt to extract Morgan by hoist, pull him aboard and then land in the Sugarlands parking area by mid-morning.

I will be at vantage point on the top of mountain that looks directly out at the Porters Peak and may be able to capture the rescue if it is done by air. I will be twittering updates from my position at the peak of Shields Mountain in Sevierville.

Luckily though he put himself in a terrible position high atop an inaccessible ridge, at least he had enough experience to not try to get down and injure himself or be in a location in which he could not be spotted. Warm though wet weather has also keep the chance of exposure to a minimum and with the help of the additional sleeping bag he should be quite comfortable though anxious tonight.

Mr. Albert Morgan Briggs knows the park well as he was one of the national parks first ridge runners working along the Appalachian Trail and now works in the backcountry permit office in the Sugarlands visitor center just outside of Gatlinburg Tennessee.

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Missing Hiker in Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been Found Alive and Well.

2009-08-29T17:42:00.009-04:00

After a very harrowing past few days, missing 70 year old hiker in the Great Smoky Mountains national park Albert Morgan Briggs of Pigeon Forge Tennessee was just found alive and well.

Rangers and volunteers have been looking since Wednesday for experienced hiker Albert Morgan Briggs when he was reported as overdue from a backpacking trip that started Saturday in the Greenbrier section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

A press conference will be held in about an hour at the national park headquarters and we will give the full details of Mr. Briggs rescue after the conference.

We have received numerous call and emails here about Mr. Morgan Briggs character by those who knew him and are so glad that the conclusion to the search and rescue had such a happy ending.

Search for Missing Hiker in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is Still Unsuccessful

2009-08-28T17:48:00.007-04:00

Though trackers for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park have searched through thick rhododendron thickets, sloshing through mud and scrambling up and around the numerous rocky outcrops and bluffs that create the 9 different drainages and other possible routes missing 70 year-old hiker Morgan Briggs may have taken since he was last seen in around campsite 31 in Greenbrier at the end of the Porters Creek Hiking Trail.

Other searchers working in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park covered 8 miles of trail from the Appalachian Trail south into North Carolina and out to Newfound Gap Road at Kephart Prong Trailhead.

According to park officials search dogs may be used tomorrow to help find Morgan Briggs. Tomorrow calls for more bad weather but if it clears a helicopter may assist in the search even though with such dense cover as what the searchers are dealing with right now, the chance of spotting Albert Morgan Briggs is marginal at best.

Search underway in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for missing experienced hiker Albert Morgan Briggs

2009-08-28T12:01:00.010-04:00

One of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park's first Appalachian Trail Ridge Runner 70 year old Albert "Morgan" Briggs is the subject of a large search stared Wednesday by rangers and volunteers who have already hiked numerous trails and interviewed other hikers who may have seen this experienced backpacker who is now long overdue from a hiking trip.

Mr. Briggs of 1008 Trotter Way in Pigeon Forge started out last Saturday by hiking up the Porters Creek Trailhead where he was left off up to campsite #31 a group of hikers believe they had seen Mr. Briggs.

Mr. Albert Briggs planned on Sunday to hike up the manway another 2,000 feet in elevation higher up to the Appalachian Trail where he would then hike about another mile to the Icewater Springs shelter where he would spend Sunday night. Log books in the Icewater Springs shelter do not indicate he had ever made it there.

On Monday his plan was to hike from the Icewater shelter about 6 miles to the Mount LeConte shelter where also according to log books he did not stay.

It was first reported that the final leg of Albert Morgan Briggs hiking trip was on Tuesday morning to hike from the Mount LeConte almost 5 miles down the Alum Cave Trail to the Newfound Gap Road (US 441) where he expected to hitch a ride back to Pigeon Forge, but it is now believed he may also wanted to have hiked down Le Conte either via Rainbow Falls or Bull Head Trail both of which end up in the Roaring Fork section of the park on Cherokee Orchard Road.

Albert Morgan Briggs is a white male 70 years of age, 5‘8, 180 lb. with balding white hair, white beard and a mustache. He wears wire frame glasses, has no mustache, blue eyes. He was reportedly wearing brown Danner hiking boots with vibram soles, a green 2 piece rain suit, and blue jeans or khaki slacks.

Poor visibility for days has plagued the upper elevations of the Great Smoky Mountains national park where Mr. Briggs was last seen and the past few days' rain will have made tracking him even more difficult.

Searchers are still concentrating their efforts in the off trail area Mr. Briggs planed to hike in Greenbrier while 5 additional teams of searchers are looking for Mr. Brigs on other possible trails.

Though I have solo hiked all the trails in the GSM national park as well as all of the major manways numerous times, this particular off trail hike I have never attempted alone due to the less than ideal conditions reported to me by those who have completed this hike.

Newfound Gap Road Closed from Cherokee NC to Newfound Gap Due to Fatal Crash

2009-08-19T13:33:00.003-04:00

A fatal head on collision in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park between a Harley Davidson motorcycle driven by Charles Earl Bolt 55 of Belton, South Carolina and a Oldsmobile Bravado SUV took the life of the Mr Bolt as well as his wife Diane K. Bolt who his passenger on the motorcycle closing Newfound Gap Road (US 441) from Oconaluftee up Clingmans Dome Road

Newfound Gap Road remained closed while Park Rangers were completing their investigation and clearing the wreckage blocked the roadway until around 3 pm.

The fatal crash occurred at about 11:45 am when the north-bound SUV on U.S. 441 crossed the centerline of the highway about 2 miles south of the Newfound Gap parking area, and sideswiped a 2008 Mercury Milan sedan driven by Lewis Volkomer heading southbound and then the SUV hit the motorcycle head on which was behind the Mercury Milan.

Fortunately even though Lewis Volkomers vehicle was thrown off Newfound Gap Road (US 441) by the impact when it was was stuck by the SUV, Mr. Volkomer sustained only non-life-threatening injuries and was transported by Cherokee Tribal EMS to Swain County Hospital in Bryson City.

Newfound Gap Road was also closed to southbound traffic from Gatlinburg to Newfound Gap until 1:30 pm.

There may be possible charges pending completion of the accidents investigation by Great Smoky Mountains National Park Rangers.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Rededication Tickets Are Sold Out

2009-08-19T10:31:00.003-04:00

The free tickets to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park 75th anniversary rededication to take place at Newfound Gap on September 2nd 2009 are already all gone.

As we predicted there was an enormous response by the public to get their hands on these coveted tickets for this historic event and those who have already contacted the National Park for tickets either via email or by phone will be notified if they will get tickets to the event that will be issued on a first come first served basis.

Unfortunately just because you requested tickets via Email or by telephone before the GSMNP stop taking any more requests does not guarantee you will be able to get tickets. Some news sources reported 2,000 tickets were available to the public but the actual number is far lower based upon the large dignitary and guest list as well as media which will be covering the event.

Limited Seats Available for Great Smoky Mountains National Parks 75th rededication

2009-08-18T11:57:00.002-04:00

If you want to be part of history with the Great Smoky Mountains National Parks 75th anniversary rededication at Newfound Gap on September 2nd straddling the North Carolina and Tennessee border, the time to act to get tickets is now as they probably will not last until the deadline of Monday August 24th.

While many were hoping that President Obama was going to be at the dedication since no other President has visited the park since it was dedicated by FDR at this very same spot, there is till a very impressive list of distinguished guests and dignitaries including:

75th Anniversary Ambassador to the Great Smoky Mountains national park Dolly Parton
U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
Governor of North Carolina Bev Perdue
Governor of Tennessee Phil Bredesen
Principal Chief Michele Hicks of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians
U.S. Senator of North Carolina Richard Burr
U.S. Senator of North Carolina Kay Hagan
U.S. Senator of Tennessee Bob Corker
U.S. Senator of Tennessee Lamar Alexander
Congressmen Heath Shuler of North Carolina
Congressmen John J. Duncan, Jr.
Congressmen Phil Roe of Tennessee

Other important guest of honor will include other local and state elected officials, pre-park residents, and people who attended the original 1940 dedication and Civilian Conservation Corps members who built the roadways and trails in the park 75 years ago.

Governor Bev Perdue the of North Carolina who is at this time attending this event has been conspicuously absent from all of the other 75th anniversary Celebrations in the Great Smoky Mountains national park including the Governors Proclamation event at Clingmans Dome and the Oconaluftee visitors center ground breaking. Both of these events took place on the North Carolina side of the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Though the program will start at 11:15 am with patriotic music being played by both the Gatlinburg-Pittman High School (TN) and the Swain County High School (NC) and is slated to end around 1 pm, expect to spend the entire day as moving 2,000 people up Newfound gap road and back down will present challenges. Buses will start as early as 8 pm and run until around 3 pm. So you will not have to pack out refreshments, foods and drink will be sold at the Newfound Gap area.

And if all this is not enough to make you want to come to the Great Smoky Mountains National Parks 75th anniversary rededication at Newfound Gap on September 2nd, Dolly Parton has graciously agreed to perform 2 songs she had written about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

How to Order Tickets for the September 2nd 75th anniversary rededication at Newfound Gap:

By Email:
Send an email requesting up to 4 tickets to GRSMComments@nps.gov with:

Your First and Last name as well as those of your guests
Your Mailing Address
Telephone Number
Departure point: Cherokee or Pigeon Forge
How many vehicles in your party
If you are confined to a wheelchair and need a ride in a bus with a wheelchair lift

Once ticket availability has been determined you will receive a confirming email.

By Phone

For those without Email access you can call (865) 436-7318 extension 258 where you will leave a message with your name and number. We suggest using the Email Option ONLY!

While this will be a monumental and historic event, based upon the extended travel and return time as well as the lack of child friendly entertainment this event would not be suitable for small children.

Little River Road in Great Smoky Mountains National Park remains partially closed until Tuesday

2009-08-17T10:09:00.009-04:00

Try as they might the crews from the Great Smoky Mountains national park along with the help of Pigeon Forge construction company Blalock & Sons Inc will not be able to one the section of the Little River Closed by last week’s rock slides.

It is now looking like with all of the additional lose material that needs to stabilized and removed from the roadway the stretch of Little River road between the Elkmont campgrounds and the Metcalf Bottoms picnic area will not be open until sometime late Tuesday the earliest.

Anyone trying to get to Cades Cove or Townsend from either Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge will need to take Wears Valley Road (US 321) at traffic light 3 in Pigeon Forge.

2nd Rock Slide in the Great Smoky Mountains national park will keep major road closed far longer

2009-08-14T11:32:00.005-04:00

What in the Great Smoky Mountains national park as a simple clean up after a minor rock slide on Little River Road which connects Gatlinburg Tennessee with Cades Cove and Townsend Tennessee turned into a major project as a second landslide has left tons of debris precariously clinging to a cliff side which will take days to clean up.

About 30 truckloads of rock, lose soil and organic debris will need to be removed and carted away keep the stretch of Little Road between Elkmont and the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic area closed all weekend long and will probably not open now until at least Monday.

As seen in the animation above there is crumbly rock on the bluff that will fall on top the Little River roadway if left alone so the park service is using heavy equipment to remove any lose rock and material which will then have to be carted away.

No injurious, damage to vehicles, structures or park equipment has been reported at this time.

Rock Slide Closes Great Smoky Mountains National Parks Little River Road

2009-08-14T09:34:00.001-04:00

A busy section of one the Great Smoky Mountains National Parks main thoroughfares will have a section closed for the next few hours between The Elkmont Campgrounds and the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area due to the cleanup in progress of a rock slide.

Visitors coming from Gatlinburg wishing to go to Cades Cove need to take the Gatlinburg Bypass or the Spur to get to Pigeon Forge.

From Pigeon Forge drivers must take 321 (Wears Valley Road) all the way to Townsend or if they choose enter the park through the back entrance on Wears Cove Road where they can take Little Rover Road all the way to the Townsend Wye.

Campers in the Elkmont campgrounds wanting to go to Cades Cove must go back towards Gatlinburg in order to take the detour around the rock slide on Little River Road.

Little River Road will be open for sure by the mid to late afternoon. We will announce and changes on the cleanup status of the rock slide in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Presents Birds of Prey Program with Doris Mager

2009-08-12T15:30:00.003-04:00

One of the most exciting moments a serious or fist time bird watchers has in the Great Smoky Mountains national park is when they get the chance to observe one of the elusive and beautiful birds of prey in the park.

This Saturday you will have the chance to join naturalist Doris Mager known as the "Eagle Lady" give a lecture on these amazing animals as well as the chance to see 4 of these animals up close and in person including an American Kestrel, a Screech Owl, and a Great Horned Owl.

Doris Mager is no spring chicken at 83 years of age but she still travels around the whole Eastern United States given lectures about her 35 years of experience helping hundreds of Raptors, more than 80 eagles and all the while housing up to 36 birds of prey at a time in her backyard.

North District Resource Education Supervisor of the Great Smoky Mountains national park promised that Doris Mager's 1 hour lecture starting at 10:30 am this Saturday August 15th at the Sugarlands Visitor Centers Theater will be a real treat for people who can attend.

After the lecture I would suggest that if you are looking to see a bird of prey on the wild you park your car midway on Hyatt Road in Cades Cove and walk around, climb Mount LeConte Via the Alum Cave Hiking Trail or check out the stretch of the AT between Charlie's Bunion and Snake Den Ridge Trail in Cosby.

Can You Assist Scientists and Educators in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park?

2009-08-02T20:09:00.007-04:00

Project Code Name: Stream Splashin' Science!
Project Objective: Collecting data to evaluate stream health and learning about the critters in the streams of the Great Smoky Mountains national park.
Project Destination: 2 Streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Project Date and Time: Tuesday August 4th, 10 am - 2 pm.
Project Predicted Weather: Mostly sunny with highs in upper 70's - low 80's with light winds.
Project Participants Requirements: For recent High School graduates to have a great time while learning about the Smokies
Required Equipment for Project Code Name Stream Splashin' Science: Long pants, hat, sun screen, closed toed shoes for hiking, sandals or water shoes to wade, drinking water, bag lunch, and your camera.
Participants Support Allowed: Bring your family to join in this exciting event!

If you wish to accept this mission please RSVP to Ranger Emily Guss at (865) 436-1292. You must give her the code phrase "healthy streams have plenty of salamanders" and you may join this very important Science Volunteer mission in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

If you wish to know of other Science Volunteer Opportunities missions in the Great Smoky Mountains national park that will be taking place this fall, ask Ranger Emily Guss to be placed on a mailing list for information about upcoming programs.

...end message

Presumably Drowned Woman is Found Alive in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

2009-08-01T12:13:00.008-04:00

Miraculously the woman who jumped into the Great Smoky Mountains National Parks Little River which was rain swollen presumably to take her life and refused to be rescued by a park ranger, was spotted by a Park Volunteer at 10:45 am crossing the Little River at the Townsend Wye and was in the parking area at the Wye while scores of park rangers, fire department and rescue personnel spent a second day searching for her.

Though 45 year old Carla S. Manzolini of Knoxville Tennessee jumped off a rock when a concerned park ranger approached her due to her odd behavior into the raging river only a few hundred yards from the Metcalf Bottoms parking area where she left her vehicle, she ended up 7 miles downstream.

It is believed that she exited the flooded little River on the north shore at an elevation of 1,675 feet and hiked up to the Roundtop Trail which ranges in the area between 2,300 feet and 2,625 feet. From Little Roundtop she could have hiked east about 1-1/2 miles to Wears Cove Road or West as she did for about 6 miles.

With so many park rangers and local rescue personnel it is easy to see the staggering cost of the rescue operation undertaken to save Carla Manzolini who was transported to Blount Memorial Hospital for evaluation.

Cades Cove Loop Road reopens, some other Great Smoky Mountains national park roads still closed

2009-08-01T10:07:00.002-04:00

Little River Road in the Great Smoky Mountains national park between the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic area and the Townsend Wye remains closed today as park rangers attempt to find the body of a woman who drowned yesterday by jumping into the flooded Little River and refused to be rescued.

Cades Cove Loop Road which was closed yesterday due to flooding at numerous points is now open t all traffic, bicycles and pedestrians. Flooding and wind damage has kept 2 of the other major roads in Cades Cove closed: Rich Mountain Road and Parson Branch Road. No reopening date is anticipated yet.

In the south end of the Great Smoky Mountains national park in the Balsam Mountain area Heintooga Road is also closed due to storm damage with no reopen date.

Little River Road closed as Great Smoky Mountains national park searches for drowning victim

2009-07-31T23:04:00.012-04:00

A section of Little River Road in the Great Smoky Mountains national park will be partially closed Saturday as the park service commences searching for the bodies of a woman who entered Little River and was swept away while refusing to allow a ranger rescue her.

While a park ranger was on patrol along the Little River he observed a white female approximately in her 30's sitting on a rock at the edge of the river. Since her behavior was unusual the ranger decided to check on her at which time she stood up and jumped into the raging river swollen and flooded from earlier today's heavy rains.

The Great Smoky Mountains national park ranger followed her as she was swept down the river and attempted to rescue her by throwing her a life line and float which she picked up and purposely tossed aside.

Little River Road was closed today from the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic area to the Townsend Wye as park rangers and first responders from Gatlinburg's Rescue Squad and Rural Metro Ambulance swarmed the area searching in vain for the women.

Rangers during daylight searched all along the riverbanks of the Little River which was running chocolate brown and loaded with debris. They also set up a vantage point by an area called the Sinks further down river from where the lady entered the water in an attempt to intercept the victim if she floated by.

Today's heavy rains also flooded Cades Cove along Sparks Lane, Hyatt Lane as some other stream crossing prompting the park service to Close Cades Cove Loop Road creating a traffic nightmare at the Townsend Wye.

While working traffic management at the Townsend Wye with 2 other volunteers in the park our park vehicle was struck by a pickup truck transporting kayaks. No injuries were sustained although the back door was taken off the park service's jeep Cherokee used by Volunteers in Cades Cove.

Because Cades Cove Loop Road was closed tonight's very popular 3 mile night hike in Cades Cove with Ranger Mike which crosses a stream on Spark Lane that is to rough to cross today was canceled leading to many disappointed park visitors.

Cades Cove may reopen tomorrow if flood water subside enough.

Despite the extremely flooded conditions of Little River the kayakers pictured below were still out in force even past sunset. Expect the Great Smoky Mountains national park to have many kayakers and extreme tubers enjoy the flooded Little River tomorrow and throughout the weekend.

Gregory Bald Azaleas in Peak Bloom Right Now – So I Am Told. When Good Hikes Go Bad.

2009-06-22T23:26:00.000-04:00

Friday was just one of those days in the Great Smoky Mountains national park that you just not be sure how the day was going to turn out for hiking. The weather man said a high chance of rain and the haze and 90 degree weather in the valley made me rethink my plans 3 times throughout the day to hike up to Gregory Bald where the azaleas would be in peak bloom and I could look down on Cades Cove and Lake Fontana.

Though Mount Le Conte was obscured from view by the haziness in Sevierville, as long as the air quality was good I was willing to take a shot and hope for as good view from Gregory Bald by hiking up to the mountain late in the day as it got cooler and returning down the mountain in the dark. The ozone level was at 38 so I felt as though the air quality was good enough to take this moderately strenuous 11 mile hike.

Driving through Cades Cove with the windows down it was still warm but comfortable as I was moving and few deer were out of the cover of the woods in the cove in the late afternoon sun. I decided as I was driving that since I was hiking back in the dark, to take the trail off Forge Creek Road rather than the one off Parsons Branch and upon arrival I could see the parking area was filled with other hikers looking to enjoy peak season on Gregory Bald.

Since it was so warm at the trailhead I threw 2 more water bottles in my backpack and I checked my water filter system in a dry bag even though I just consumed 2 bottles of water since I entered the Cades Cove. An extra flashlight got tossed into the pack along with some camera gear and I was off.

Within 5 minutes on the trail I ran into to 2 National Park employees I ironically was going to contact this week chatted for a few minutes and they confirmed it was spectacular up top and I was back on my way up the mountain to the parks pretties bald that I was sure was in peak bloom.

About another 5 minutes in and older couple was hiking down the trail. Seeing me geared up so heavily they asked me if I was a ranger and told me that and older couple was in distress up by the bald and that the man was very sick and suffering from the heat, when I asked as to the man's condition the response was "bad". He was very hot, very sick, had bad color and was unable to stand.

I told the couple to continue back down the trail carefully and to go to the Cades Cove visitor center so they could radio for help and to not rush down the trail so they don't fall and get hurt as well and I would go up and assist the couple in trouble.

I decided to run up the trail as quickly as possible as I would be the first responder at least an hour ahead of the parks EMS crew and that's if they were in Cades Cove which was doubtful. As I was working my way uphill I decided to hang some of the gear in my pack on the bear lines once I could reach campsite 12.

I passed a hiker leisurely coming down the mountain who I had seen a few months before on the same trail. I asked him the condition of the couple as well as their present location and he casually respond they were just above the campsite and the man was sick.

Still rushing up the trail I eventually ran into the couple slowly descending the trial. He was a tall fit gentleman who recognized me from the Porters Creek Trail. He was standing in the trail with a wet cloth on his head and swaying.

Apparently he and his wife went up the mountain with small packs, heavy camera equipment and about 2 liters of water. They were given more water when he wasn't feeling well and worked their way down to a stream where he rested and they refilled at least one container of water from the stream and wet the cloth on his head.

As he and his wife were telling me the story I observed his respiration, skin color and demeanor. When I asked him about nausea, dizziness, headache and other symptoms he didn't have kept saying he felt "real bad" and didn't feel that good on the way up either.

I told him help was on the way but we could see that he was feeling way better now that he started hydrating. He decided he was well enough to work his way down the trail and didn't want the park to execute a full blown rescue. As he was talking I was finishing off my last bottle of water and I set my stopwatch.

Since the trailhead was full and people would be working their way down I told him I was going to update the park as to his condition and to keep one of the people coming back down the trail close by him and his wife.

I worked my way down the trail quickly making note of the time at the trailhead and drove to the Cades Cove Visitors Center and advised them of his condition and returned to the trailhead to hike back up to the couple with more water I had in the car as well as Gatorade powder.

I dumped some gear back into the car to lighten my back for the trip uphill and just at the time and Park Ranger with EMS training arrived. I updated on the gentleman's improved condition and last know location and he notified dispatch and stared packing out his emergency pack as I rushed back up the trail.

When I caught up with the couple they were far further down and were accompanied by a kind middle aged couple watching out for him. We all stopped by a stream to cool off and wait for the ranger who arrived about 5 minutes later.

The ranger conducted a quick field exam checking for signs of dehydration, heat cramps and heat exhaustion. The ranger was thorough and had a fantastic bedside - make that streamside manor.

At this point the gentleman was drinking a light Gatorade mixture I had made for him and when asked how he was feeling responding clearly and emphatically "lousy". Since his balance was still in question we all accompanied him back down to his car carrying his pack for him with his precious camera gear.

Back at the car I unloaded my soaking wet backpack and finished off my 5th bottle of water in under 2-1/2 hours. Since it was too late to get good lighting I knew the day was over for me.

I have since heard from the gentleman who was very thankful and in great spirits.

Proper hydration and moderation in strenuous activities are especially crucial when hiking for an extended time in high temperatures. What appeared to be a mild case of dehydration and heat exhaustion could easily become deadly heat stroke if left untreated.

The couple left with far too little water and no way to safely treat more water if they needed it. When first not feeling well they should have stopped and cooled off - even going as far as soaking clothes with water or just sitting in a stream. Hydration and moderation are keys to comfortable safe hiking.

If this gentleman was not in such good general health, this story would had have a far more tragic ending rather than me not being able to see the peak in the azaleas on Gregory Bald.

Plan on hiking? Check out our new first aid pages for hiking listed below:

Dehydration First Aid for Hikers

Heat Cramps First Aid for Hikers

Heat Exhaustion First Aid for Hikers

Heat Stroke First Aid for Hikers

Aggressive black bear closes popular Cades Cove Hiking Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains

2009-06-20T07:08:00.002-04:00

The Great Smoky Mountains national park has had a black bear problem for weeks in the back end of Cades Cove at the Abrams Falls Hiking Trail and has finally been forced to close the trail for visitor and the bear's safety.

The closure of the Abrams Falls Hiking Trail starts on the dirt road before the parking lot area so the Rabbit Creek hiking trail in Cades Cove is also affected.

There are other hiking trails with black bear problems in the Great Smoky Mountains national park which have warnings issued on them include: the Little River hiking trail, The lower portion of Trillium Gap trail near Grotto falls and the lower portion of Crooked Arm Ridge trail.

Great Smoky Mountains national park Black Bear Information

Great Smoky Mountain National Parks 75th Anniversary Celebration Continues with Oconaluftee Visitor Center Ground Breaking.

2009-06-14T21:35:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow will be the Great Smoky Mountains national parks actual 75th anniversary and what better way to celebrate than to have the public be able to join in with a celebration at the Oconaluftee visitor center and Farm Museum? From 10 am to 2 pm there will be demonstrations, music, storytelling, dancing and a ground breaking on the new state of the art visitor center.

Long overdue, the new energy efficient visitor center will be more than 6 times larger that the present visitor center built in the 1940s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) which was originally used as a ranger center. The new visitor center will have a museum with displays of the history and traditions of the Cherokee people, Southern Appalachian culture, the and the Park's establishment and development.

Around 2,000,000 people a year pass by Oconaluftee to get into the Great Smoky Mountains national park with nearly 350,000 visitors presently entering the Oconaluftee Visitor Center and Farm Museum area. The original building will be kept when the new visitor center is complete.

Besides the entertainment, the Park has extended a special invitation to all former CCC members who served at Great Smoky Mountains National Park to attend the groundbreaking and some are expecting some to attend.

Dale Ditmanson the parks superintendent commented "We are excited about the opportunity to hold the visitor center groundbreaking during our anniversary year and are especially honored to have several CCC men who assisted with the construction of the existing visitor center over 65 years ago. This project will represent a symbolic bridge between the past and the future of the national park".

The ground breaking ceremony hosted by Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson will also include Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Principal Chief Michell Hicks, and Cherokee Elder Jerry Wolfe giving the "Blessing of the Ground".

The schedule for the 75th anniversary celebration at Oconaluftee 2 miles north of the Cherokee North Carolina Parks Entrance is also follows:

10 am - Music performed by Boogertown Gap
11 am - Warriors of AniKituhwa: Official Cherokee cultural ambassadors performing traditional dances including the War Dance and Eagle Tail Dance
11:30 am - Storytelling by Charles Maynard
12 pm - Groundbreaking Ceremony
1 pm - Music played by Earl and the Boys

Thanks to 2 fantastic organizations: the Friends of the Smokies and the Great Smoky Mountains Association the buildings and exhibits have been funded.

Both Friends and the GSMAs work and the funding make this and many projects possible within the Great Smoky Mountains national park and it is impossible for me to accurately state how much they mean to the park, the surrounding communities and me personally.

I am very grateful that Oconaluftee will finally be honoring in a significant way the Cherokee and Native Americans who have inhabited the area for more than 10,000 years.

Great Smoky Mountains Nat Park 75th Anniversary Celebration Continues Today With Park Open House

2009-06-14T08:48:00.002-04:00

Join Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson and other park personnel at an open house today from 12 noon to 4 pm at the Sugarlands headquarters as part of the 75th Anniversary Weekend celebration.

The park headquarters just outside the city of Gatlinburg was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1940 and will be honored as part of today's celebration as well as a first-of-its-kind behind the scenes view of the Park's day-to-day operations open to anyone and the a unique opportunity to meet and talk with key managers of the Park along with the opportunity to see park equipment up close such as search and rescue, fire and road maintenance vehicles and the offices of the Great Smoky Mountains Association will also be open to the public.

According to Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson "We will basically showcase how we perform and accomplish our duties, everything from conducting air and water quality research, protecting wildlife, treating nonnative plant and animal species, search and rescue, maintaining historic buildings and cultural landscapes, prioritizing road construction and facilities improvement projects, conducting visitor and educational programs, and carrying out our fiscal responsibilities,"

The winning quilt from the Pigeon Forge 75th Anniversary Smokies Sampler Quilt contest made by Naomi Davis of Sevierville, Tennessee will be held unveiled at 11 am at the visitor center and from 1 pm to 3 pm there will be an easy guided hike to the Sugarlands Civilian Conservation Corps camp via the Old Sugarlands Hiking Trail.

Parking for the event will be at the Sugarlands Visitor Center right next door to the headquarters.

Cades Cove Concert: 40% chance of wash out.

2009-06-12T08:23:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow a much anticipated event will helpfully take place in the Cades Cove, the crown jewel of the Great Smoky Mountains national park; the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra will perform to a crowd of around 5,000 spectators to celebrate the parks 75th anniversary. There will also be special exhibits and programs on the history of Cades Cove.

The concert will take place at 3 pm near the Cades Cove Visitor Center in the back end of Cades Cove where there is very limited parking on asphalt and since there is no shelter from rain for performers and visitors and most of the cars will have to be parked on grass fields, even wet grass can become a parking and driving nightmare.

According to 3 Smoky Mountains weather reports the consensus is that there will be a 40% chance of rain with a slight chance of thunderstorms in the morning and a greater chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Thunderstorms + Open Fields with spectators = canceled event.

Unfortunately if the even gets canceled there is rain date or refunds.

Around 200 more vehicle passes are still available at $25 a pieces and can only be purchased and picked up today between 9 am - 5 pm at the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra box office located at 100 South Gay Street in Knoxville.

Laurel Creek Road will be closed tomorrow at noon to anyone without a vehicle pass or who is not a registered camper at the Cades Cove Campgrounds. This means you will not gain access to the following trail heads:

Anthony Creek Trail
Bote Mountain Hiking Trail
Crib Gap Hiking Trail
Finley Cane Hiking Trail
Schoolhouse Gap Hiking Trail
Turkey Pen Ridge Hiking Trail

Cades Cove will be closed all day to bicycles and pedestrians.

According the GSM national parks superintendent Dale Ditmanson "in the interest of avoiding a premature and unnecessary cancellation of the concert, the final decision may be delayed until the very last possible moment". Since we will be covering the event we will not be able to give out updates about potential cancellations but if cancellation is imminent the hot line phone number (865)436-1316) will be activated and we are told that www.GreatSmokies75th.org will have up to date concert information.

Let's hope the weather in the Smokies cooperates for the 75th anniversary celebration of the Great Smoky Mountains national park in Cades Cove.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Firefly Festival in Gatlinburg

2009-06-06T21:57:00.003-04:00

Come out and join the Firefly Festival in Gatlinburg Tennessee where you will be able to meet a firefly expert, see an insect zoo, meet a local nature author, and enjoy some music, food and drink while learning about fireflies and some of the other fascinating creatures that comprise the amazing biodiversity of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park!

It's all happening at the Happy Hiker store in Gatlinburg Tennessee near traffic light #10 on June 12, 2009 from 10 am - 6 pm.

Related News Stories

20 year old hiker Drowns in the Great Smoky Mountains national park

2009-05-24T23:42:00.002-04:00

The normally quiet Sunday evening in the Great Smoky Mountains national park was shattered with the sound of sirens from park rangers racing to the Abrams Falls Hiking trail in the back end of Cades Cove. The last vehicle racing to the scene was a park ranger's pick-up truck with a gurney and a ladder in the bed.

Few details have been released other than a 20 year old male has drowned presumable just under the Abrams Falls which is swollen with today's rain. Because of the darkness and the dangerous conditions, the body will have to wait to be retrieved by divers tomorrow at which time the name and hometown of the drowning victims will be released.

Earlier today it was reported that 2 young women were jumping off the falls into the pool underneath. Abrams Falls is the highest volume waterfall in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and the pool beneath has swift currents, rocks, branches and logs that entangle swimmers in its 25 foot depth.

The Abrams Falls hiking trail has seen numerous serious falling accidents as well as downing deaths and has been ranked as one of the top 10 most dangerous hiking trails in all national parks.

Guns are still not allowed in the Great Smoky Mountains national park – at least not yet...

2009-05-23T10:17:00.008-04:00

Firearms that are loaded have been long banned from the Great Smoky Mountains national park since President Regan signed into law that guns in national parks must be unloaded and inaccessible.

Now thanks to bill just signed into law, over the dismay of most citizens, law enforcement personnel, fraternal order of park rangers and retired rangers, guns will no longer be illegal in the Great Smoky Mountains national park in late February 2010.

Until late February 2010, concealed weapons and loaded firearms of any sort are still illegal in the Great Smoky Mountains national park (GSMNP) and along the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP).

The Department of the Interior now has 9 months to get their act together in order to figure out all of the ramifications of this law especially since the GSMNP and the BRP both have multi-state jurisdiction issues.

To make matters even more interesting, the law depends upon the state law in which the national park and the visitor with a gun is located. Since the Great Smoky Mountains national park is located in Tennessee and North Carolina with the border marked clearly in only 1 place in all 800 square miles, I think the park has their work cut out for them.

Acting Director Dan Wenk made the following statement: "As Interior prepares to implement the new law, the Department will work to understand and interpret its implications for our national parks, with public safety and the safety of our employees as our foremost consideration."

Of course, one can only hope that that a law snuck underhandedly into a credit card reform bill will get struck down as the last one Bush passed did since none of the environmental issues, safety issues and the overwhelming majority of citizens who visit do not want guns to be legal in our national parks has not changed.

Just think, the Great Smoky Mountains national park did not even want bear spray to be legal in the park!

Related New Stories on Guns in National Parks:

Invasion of the non native exotic plant species in the Great Smoky Mountains national park

2009-05-22T22:15:00.004-04:00

Thanks to Discover Life in America (DLIA), Kris Johnson Great Smoky Mountains national park vegetation management specialist and Margie Hunter author of Landscaping with the Native Plants of Tennessee, International Biodiversity Day in the GSMNP at the Twin Creek Science Center was incredibly informative and thought provoking.

Any talk given by Kris Johnson is a home run and this one was no exception. The work that she and others working for the Great Smoky Mountains must go through in order to keep invasive exotic plants under control is staggering.

Part of the job of the national park service is to maintain the historical integrity of national park and beside the preservation of man made objects such as buildings, monuments and other historical and cultural artifacts as well as the flora and fauna of an area.

Non-native invasive plant species reek havoc on an ecosystem by crowding out native plants, raising the risk and intensity of wildfires, changing the hydrological makeup of an area, diminishing food sources for local plants and animals, creating a toxic environment for other plants and animals, and creating financial hardship through excessive maintenance issues.

While there are a few ways we can all help reduce the numbers of invasive non native plants species that threaten the biodiversity and the ecosystem of the Great Smoky Mountains national park, one of the easiest way to protect our environment is to only use native species in our own landscaping and gardens.

Native Plant Alternatives to Invasive Exotic Plants in Tennessee compiled by Margie Hunter

Trees:
Invasive Exotic Species: Mimosa (Albiziajulibrissin)
Native Species Alternative: Chionanthus virginicus - fringetree
Native Species Alternative: Cercis canadensis - redbud

Invasive Exotic Species: Princess tree (Paulownia tomentosa)
Native Species Alternative: Catalpa speciosa - northern catalpa, cigartree Native Species Alternative: Aesculus jlava - yellow buckeye

Invasive Exotic Species: Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana)
Native Species Alternative: Viburnum rufidulum - rusty blackhaw viburnum
Native Species Alternative: Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance' - serviceberry, Juneberry

Shrubs:
Invasive Exotic Species: Butterfly-bush (Buddleja davidii)
Native Species Alternative: Cephalanthus occidentalis - buttonbush
Native Species Alternative: Ceanothus american us - New Jersey tea
Native Species Alternative: Clethra alnifolia 'Ruby Spice' - summersweet, sweet pepperbush
Native Species Alternative: Clethra acuminata - mountain pepperbush
Native Species Alternative: Rhododendron spp. - azalea

Invasive Exotic Species: Burning bush (Euonymus alata)
Native Species Alternative: Euonymus american us - hearts-a-bustin'
Native Species Alternative: Itea virginica - Virginia sweetspire
Native Species Alternative: Fothergilla gardenii - dwarf fothergilla

Invasive Exotic Species: Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii)
Native Species Alternative: Lindera benzoin - spicebush
Native Species Alternative: Leucothoe jontanesiana - doghobble
Native Species Alternative: Autumn (Elaeagnus umbellata) & thorny (E. pungens) olive
Native Species Alternative: Croton alabamensis - Alabama croton
Native Species Alternative: Calycanthus jloridus 'Athens' - sweetshrub

Invasive Exotic Species: Privet (Ligustrum sinense, L. japonicum, L. vulgare)
Native Species Alternative: Kalmia latifolia - mountain laurel
Native Species Alternative: Ilex glabra - inkberry

Sacred bamboo (Nandina domestica) & Leatherleaf grapeholly (Mahonia bealei)
Native Species Alternative: Callicarpa americana - American beauty berry
Native Species Alternative: Ilex verticillata - winterberry
Native Species Alternative: Xanthorhiza simplicissima - yellowroot

Vines:
Invasive Exotic Species: Sweet autumn clematis (Clematis terniflora)
Native Species Alternative: Clematis virginiana - virgin's bower
Native Species Alternative: Clematis viorna - leather-flower
Native Species Alternative: Clematis glaucophylla - blue-leaved leather-flower

Invasive Exotic Species: Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicerajaponica)
Native Species Alternative: Lonieera sempervirens - coral or trumpet honeysuckle

Invasive Exotic Species: Periwinkle (Vinca minor) [groundcover vine with herbaceous alternatives]
Native Species Alternative: Phlox stolonifera - creeping phlox
Native Species Alternative: Carex plantaginea. C. platyphylla & C. jlaeeosperma - seersucker, blue satin & blue wood sedges

Invasive Exotic Species: English Ivy (Hedera helix)
Native Species Alternative: Bignonia eapreolata 'Tangerine Beauty' - crossvine
Native Species Alternative: Gelsemium sempervirens - Carolina jessamine, yellow jessamine

Invasive Exotic Species: Chinese and Japanese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis & W. jloribunda)
Native Species Alternative: Wisteriajruteseens (w. maerostaehya) - American (Kentucky) wisteria 'Amethyst Falls'

Grasses:
Invasive Exotic Species: Japanese blood grass, cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica) Noxious Weed
Native Species Alternative: Panieum virgatum 'Shenandoah' - red switch grass
Native Species Alternative: Sehizaehyrium seoparium - little bluestem

Invasive Exotic Species: Zebra grass, silvergrass (Miscanthus sinensis)
Native Species Alternative: Sorghastrum nutans - Indian grass
Native Species Alternative: Muhlenbergia capillaris - pink muhly grass

Herbaceous Plants:
Invasive Exotic Species: Japanese knotweed, fleeceflower, Mexican bamboo (Polygonum cuspidatum)
Aruneus dioieus - goat's-beard
Native Species Alternative: Cimieifuga raeemosa - black cohosh

Invasive Exotic Species: Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
Native Species Alternative: Liatris Spp. - blazing star [L. spieata, L. squarrulosa, L. squarrosa]
Native Species Alternative: Conoclinium eoelestinum (Eupatorium eoelestinum) - mist flower
Native Species Alternative: Chelone lyonii - pink turtlehead

Web Sites With Non Native and Native Plant Information:
Gardening with native plants
Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council
Tennessee Native Plant Society
University of Tennessee Herbarium