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

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

Townsend Tennessee Fall Heritage Festival and Old Timers Days

Looking for some old time fun in the Great Smoky Mountains? Well I better see you at the Fall Heritage Festival and Old Timers Days tomorrow being held in the peaceful side of the Smokies: Townsend Tennessee.

Here at the Fall Heritage Festival you will find Bluegrass music, clogging demonstrations, arts and crafts, and so much more contests for the whole family including a good old fashioned a pie-eating contest!

Townsend Tenseness at the west end of the Great Smoky Mountains national park and is one of the most charming small towns left in the Smoky Mountains.

Cades Cove seasonally closed to motorists Wednesday and Saturday Mornings

Bikers and hikers in the Great Smoky Mountains national park love this time of the year when the Cades Cove 11 mile Scenic Motor trail also know as the Cades Cove Loop Road is closed to motor vehicles until 10:00 am on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Bicyclists in Cades Cove increase number during the warmer months and it is a please to ride you bike or hike without worrying about traffic so the national park service keeps traffic of the road to the great pleasure of hikers and bikers.

Early mornings are magical in the Cades Cove section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park near Townsend Tennessee. Fog may settle in the valley slowly revealing the mountains as the sun comes up over the mountains. Deer, black bear and wild turkey roam in the fields of Cades Cove and along tree lines giving visitors a chance to see and hear the native wildlife.

This time of the year the birds are singing up a racket and blue and yellow butterflies will be fluttering in the wind. Beside the birds the other predominate sound of the Cades Cove valley before the traffic begins is the buzzing of bees flying from wildflower to wildflower which carpet the cove and fill the woods.

Hikers who start early enough just at the crack of dawn can make it to the back end of the Cades Cove Loop if not finish the 11 miles before the see or hear a single car.

This is my favorite time of the year in my favorite place in the Smokies!