RV Campers Sales, Service and Parts in NC and TN in Your Smokies Smoky Mountains Directory

Your Smokies camping directory is already one of the most popular on line campsite directory for those who camp with a tent or go RV Camping.

Now Your Smokies is listing Recreational Vehicles, trailers and mobile homes dealers, authorized repair centers, RV Emergency repair services and stores and dealers that handle parts for your RV or trailer in their huge NC and TN Smoky Mountain Directory with listings in the following popular cities and towns in North Carolina and Tennessee:

NC RV Sales - Repair Asheville NC RVs Boone NC RVs Candler NC RVs Fayetteville NC RVs Franklin NC RVs Henderson, NC RVs Hendersonville NC RVs Maggie Valley NC RVs Newport NC RVs Sylva NC RVs Advance NC RVs Albemarle NC RVs Ansonville NC RVs Ayden NC RVs Belmont NC RVs Bladenboro NC RVs Browns Summit RVs Burlington NC RVs Charlotte NC RVs Chocowinity NC RVs Claremont NC RVs Clinton NC RVs Colfax NC RVs Concord NC RVs Cumnock NC RVs Denver NC RVs Dunn NC RVs Edenton NC RVs Farmville NC RVs Flat Rock NC RVs Garner NC RVs Graham NC RVs Granite Falls NC RVs Greenville NC RVs Greensboro NC RVs Harmony NC RVs High Point NC RVs Hillsborough NC RVs Hope Mills NC RVs Hudson NC RVs Hubert NC RVs Hurdle Mills NC RVs Indian Trail NC RVs Jacksonville NC RVs Kings Mountain NC RVs Kinston NC RVs Knightdale NC RVs Lexington NC RVs Lillington NC RVs Lowgap NC RVs Lumberton NC RVs Marion NC RVs Matthews NC RVs Maxton NC RVs Midland NC RVs Mint Hill NC RVs Mocksville NC RVs Morganton NC RVs Mooresville NC RVs Morehead City NC RVs Mount Airy NC RVs Murphy NC RVs Nebo NC RVs Parkton NC RVs Princeton NC RVs Raleigh NC RVs Ramseur NC RVs Randleman NC RVs Red Springs NC RVs Reidsville NC RVs Roanoke Rapids NC RVs Rocky Mount NC RVs Rougemont NC RVs Saint Pauls NC RVs Salisbury NC RVs Salvo NC RVs Sanford NC RVs Smithfield NC RVs Spencer NC RVs Staley NC RVs Statesville NC RVs Swansboro NC RVs Taylorsville NC RVs Terrell NC RVs Thomasville NC RVs Timberlake NC RVs Troy NC RVs Washington NC RVs Waynesville NC RVs Whiteville NC RVs Whittier NC RVs Wilkesboro NC RVs Wilmington NC RVs Wilson NC RVs Winston Salem NC RVs Winterville NC RVs Yadkinville NC RVs

TN RV Sales - Repair Alcoa TN RVs Bristol TN RVs Johnson City TN RVs Kingsport TN RVs Knoxville TN RVs Maryville TN RVs Sevierville TN RVs Antioch TN RVs Arlington TN RVs Blaine TN RVs Bluff City TN RVs Chattanooga TN RVs Clarksville TN RVs Cleveland TN RVs Clinton TN RVs Cookeville TN RVs Crossville TN RVs Dunlap TN RVs East Ridge TN RVs Georgetown TN RVs Goodlettsville TN RVs Hixson TN RVs Huntingdon TN RVs Jackson TN RVs Lafayette TN RVs Lakeland TN RVs La Vergne TN RVs Lawrenceburg TN RVs Lebanon TN RVs Limestone TN RVs Louisville TN RVs Madison TN RVs Manchester TN RVs Mc Kenzie TN RVs Mc Minnville TN RVs Memphis TN RVs Midway TN RVs Morristown TN RVs Mount Juliet TN RVs Murfreesboro TN RVs Nashville TN RVs Niota TN RVs Paris TN RVs Powell TN RVs Riceville TN RVs Sale Creek TN RVs Savannah TN RVs Selmer TN RVs Seymour TN RVs Smithville TN RVs Tazewell TN RVs Tullahoma TN RVs

Your Smokies is also proud to announce a new sponsor of the Your Smokies site the Good Sam Club (Good Samaritan) where members can enjoy the following benefits:

• 10% discounts on more than 1,700 campgrounds in the USA and Canada
• Tips, help and guidance from members only online forums
• RV trip routing specially designed for RVs so there are no unpleasant surprises with bridge and tunnel restrictions etc.
• 10% discounts on RV Repairs, parts and accessories at hundreds of dealers.
• Club activities with more than 2,000 local chapters.
• FREE Subscription to their special RV magazine: Highways
• FREE Consumer Advocacy Assistance to resolve RV related service or product problems on your behalf.
• Special low rates on RV and Auto Insurance, RV financing, and Good Sam RV Emergency Road Service Enrollment.

Happy Motoring!

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park Music of the Mountains Concert

The Sugarlands visitor Center of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park which sits right outside Gatlinburg Tennessee is the place to be April 6 if you want to see Williams and the Victory Trio and April 13 for The Roan Mountain Hilltoppers who will perform their mountain music to a crowd of up to 160 appreciative fans.

Your Smokies would like to express a huge thanks to the Great Smoky Mountains Association for sponsoring these concerts. The concerts are not just so that you can tap your feet and enjoys the sounds of the mountains but the mountain music is also bringing the history of the Smoky Mountains to you.

Long before TV, Ripley's or Dollywood found their ways to the culture of the Smoky Mountains the settlers here had to find ways to entertain themselves. While you can visit Cades Cove and Cataloochee to see the homesteads, barns, churches, grist mills and schools of this bygone era, or walk though the woods and hear the music that nature herself provides, the part of the Smokies experience you are still missing is the music of the people.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Parks concert program kicks off April 6th with Paul Williams who plays the mandolin and other acoustic instruments with the Victory Trio. Paul Williams is from East Tennessee and his music carrier began in the 50's playing bluegrass music with "The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers" and has even been nominated for a Grammy in 2000 in the Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album category.

On April 13th listen to the Country Music Hall of Fame honorees The Roan Mountain Hilltoppers. This wonderful group was started by 2 brothers Joe and Creed Birchfield who learned Appalachian string music from their parents and neighbors in the early 1900s in the tradition of Roan Mountain in upper East Tennessee. There is even a album of theirs in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress.

You can buy tickets for both concerts which start at 7:00 pm online or by phone for only $10 each. The web site to book tickets with any major credit card for the concert is www.smokiesinformation.org . While you can call (865) 436-7318 ext. 222 to purchase tickets, the Great Smoky Mountains Association asks that you book online and only call if you don't have access to the internet.

3 more fires in the Shields Mountain area of TN Smoky Mountains.

Fire officials just don't get why people aren't heading their warnings about the growing fire danger but at least all 3 wild fires in Sevier County were only minor.

The latest 3 fires reported to us Smokies didn't damage any homes large wilderness areas and fortunately there were no injuries but if it were not for the hard work and fast response of the fire department, this story could have had a far more depressing ending.

The last batch of Smokies fires were due to a smoldering stump from last weeks fire burn area in Shields Mountain that burst into flames, a brush fire on Upper Middlecreek that burned approximately 9 acres, and on Pine Mountain Road a less than a quarter of an acre was burned near the roadside.

Let's hope that everyone pays special attention and that some real soaking rains come soon to reduce the danger of fire.

Spring wildflower pilgrimage in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

April in the Smokies is the real beginning of spring in the Smoky Mountains where green is rapidly replacing the browns and grays of winter. Wildflowers and trees start blooming in lower elevations and by the end of April springs newly awakened colors can be found all throughout the Smoky Mountains.

During the heart of all of this excitement, the 57th annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage takes place April 23rd through the 29th and registration has already begun. The wildflower pilgrimage is for both tourists as well as residents of the Smokies and features activities in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that are educational or just plain fun for the whole family.

The week long event is based at the Mills Conference Center in Gatlinburg, Tennessee and kicks off with an opening luncheon on Monday, April 23rd.

A wildflower plant display is open through Saturday afternoon to the public where you will also find arts and craft vendors, and an exhibit of 85 paintings of native wildflowers.

Those who attend will not only get to enjoy the great outdoors in on of the most exciting and biologically diverse national parks, you will also get to enjoy walks, talks and activities that celebrate the parks history, diversity and importance today and for future generations.

Activities such as the hikes in the national park are varied so that hikers of various abilities and experience can participate in these exciting events. Those who participate will walk away with a better knowledge and appreciation of the GSMNP plants, animals and the smoky mountains culture and history.

Not all of the events of the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage take place outdoors as there are indoor programs led by the park staff and both professional and amateur naturalists. The programs will take place rain or shine every day of the week and cover a variety of topics.

During the evenings enjoy the free art exhibit, have the opportunity to learn about creating a wildlife habitat in your own backyard, an introduction or orchids, and learn about fish restoration in the Great Smoky Mountains national parks Abrams Creek.

The event ends on Saturday, April 28th where after the buffet a play will be performed by award-winning actress Kaiulani Lee. The play titled A Sense of Wonder highlights environmentalist Rachel Carson's love for the natural world and her fight to defend it. The book "Silent Spring" which alerted everyone to the dangers of pesticides was written by Carson.

We at your Smokies would like to personally thank the sponsors of the 2007 Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage:

• Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts
• City of Gatlinburg Department of Tourism
• Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• Gatlinburg Garden Club
• Great Smoky Mountains Association
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• Southern Appalachian Botanical Society
• Tennessee Valley Authority
• University of Tennessee Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department

Register for the week long event either online at www.springwildflowerpilgrimage.org or by phone (865) 436-7318 Extension 222 and ask for Judy.

Beaverdam NC Developer to comply with Buncombe County Planning Board

North of Asheville North Carolina is the Beaverdam community and this is where developers plan to divide almost 180 acres and the end of Wolfe Cove Road into lots where homes are going to be built. Last year residents opposed the plans for development and now Buncombe County Zoning Administrator Jim Coman notified the developers that the plans that they submitted don't comply with tougher zoning regulations.

An attorney for the developers Brian Gulden has responded that his client to Beaverdam Land Conservancy who is planning to develop this area commonly called Bartram's Walk plan to comply with the tougher new restrictions that went into effect July 1st 2006 and will be submitting new plans by April of 2007.

The new rules in question that affect the original 117 home sites that are planned to be built call for changes in how storm water is handled as well as having lowered density development on the sloops that have a steeper grade. The number of homes that can be built must be reduced in order to comply with the new county development rules.

Your Smokies adds builders, contactors and construction companies to its NC and TN Smoky Mountain directory.

Your Smokies is the largest most comprehensive travel and local business directory for the Smoky Mountains and just broke 10,000 listings by adding in North Carolinas and Tennessee builders, contractors and construction companies in the Smoky Mountains.

Whether you are looking to build a new home, remodel an existing home or just make some improvements or repairs to your home, condo or rental unit in the Smoky Mountains check the extensive listings of contractors and builders that can be found on Your Smokies.

Looking to buy a house, cabin, investment or commercial property in the Smoky Mountains? Don't forget that Your Smokies has thousands of real estate agents and brokers listed in its directory too.

NPS hosts First Centennial Listening Session in Gatlinburg Tennessee

Even though the National Park services 100th birthday is 9 years away, the park service is going to receive significant public and private investments in order to strengthen and reinvigorate the national parks across the United States in time for the Centennial.

In the next 3 weeks a series of 14 conferences will be held across the country where Interior Secretary Kempthorne, National Park Service (NPS) Director Mary Bomar and NPS Southeast Regional Director Patricia Hooks will ask for citizens' ideas and visions for the Centennial and the park service. The ultimate goal is to find ways to restore and better protect the national parks natural, cultural and historic resources which are under attack by man and nature and whose programs are presently under funded.

New and improved national park visitor centers, campgrounds, trails and other national park facilities along with more programs led by rangers are being proposed as well as stimulating both greater volunteerism and philanthropy.

This opening session is going to be held this Tuesday, March 13, 2007 from 6 pm to 8 pm at the W L Mills Conference Center located at 234 Historic Nature Trail in Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738.

People who attend this public meeting should focus their questions and comments on the following questions:

1. Think of your children and grandchildren enjoying national parks in 2016 and beyond. How do you imagine their visit? What are your hopes and expectations?
2. What role do you think national parks should play in the lives of Americans and visitors from around the world?
3. What are the signature projects and programs that you think should be highlighted for completion over the next 10 years?

I find it fitting that the who tour starts at the Great Smoky Mountains National park the most popular national park in the National park system.

Bryson City NC Fire: 9 homes and 200 acres destroyed

Bryson City North Carolina: Yet another Smoky Mountains fire is brining in the Grassy Ridge community claiming several mountain ridges in the Pelohi Cove. Dry weather and high winds drove a fire which stared in a valley up ridges devouring everything in its path.

The fires cause is still unknown and under investigation so far has kept more than 100 firefighters busy and prompted a small evacuation Pelohi Cove and several neighboring roads were blocked. Even the Forest Service has been helping contain the blaze by flying in water from Lake Fontana NC.

Not only has Swain County had to deal with wild fires this weekend, brush fires have been reported near the French Broad River, Fairview, and Riceville.

With increased fire danger all throughout the Smokies we ask everyone pay special care with any activity that could spark a wild fire.

Seen an Eastern Puma in the Smokies?

The US Fish and Wildlife Service is evaluating the endangered status of the Eastern Puma a wild cat which was placed on the Endangered and Threatened Wildlife list in 1973. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is now performing its first review of sightings in the wild of these magnificent feline predators since 1982.

The Eastern pumas are also known as catamount, panther, cougar or mountain lion are reddish brown-tan in color with white fur on their belly and under their chin and black markings are found on the Pumas face, behind the ears and on the tip of its tail. Eastern Pumas grow up to 6 feet in length and range in weight between 65 to 130 pounds far less than the western Pumas which can reach 170 pounds.

Puma cubs are even harder to spot and are pale with spots and have rings around the tail. At approximately 6 months of age the cubs lose their spots and rings.

Other distinctive features of the eastern Puma is the appearance of a cow lick or swirl in the fur in the middle of their back and a noticeable upward turn or kink at the end of the wild cats tail.

The Eastern Cougars were immediately hunted and slaughtered as soon as the white settlers came to the new world and have virtually disappeared from the wild in the late 1800's.

The USFWS state that some of that the following wildlife refuges are know to have eastern puma: Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge, Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge, Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge but some may be hiding in the Tennessee or North Carolina Smokies.

Campgrounds opening in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

After hiking, camping in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the second most popular pastime for the outdoorsmen who flock to this most popular national park and now that the worst of winter is now over, the campgrounds in the park will start opening as of tomorrow March 9th.

From May 15 until October 31 the Cades Cove, Elkmont, and Smokemont campgrounds can be reserved online at www.Recreation.Gov or you can call (877) 444-6777 toll free. The fee schedule varies by site as the more primitive campgrounds which are smaller are $14 per night and the more developed campgrounds are $17 per night. In the same period reservation campgrounds are $20 per night. If you are looking to take advantage of the riverside camping in Elkmont Tennessee the fee is $23 per night.

The chart below show opening dates for the campgrounds in the national park as well as the fee structure.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Campground opening dates and fee schedule
Campgrounds	Nightly Fee	Opening Date	Group Sites
Abrams Creek TN	$14	March 9
Balsam Mountain NC	$14	May 11
Big Creek NC	$14	March 9	March 9
Cades Cove TN *	$17, $20	Year-round	March 9
Cataloochee NC	$17	March 9	March 9
Cosby TN	$14	March 9	March 9
Deep Creek NC	$17	April 1	April 1
Elkmont TN *	$17, $20	March 9	March 9
Look Rock TN	$14	May 11
Smokemont NC *	$17, $20	Year-round	March 9
*during the reservation period May 15-October 31 fee is $20 per site. Riverside sites at Elkmont are $23 during reservation period only.

For those who don't want to camp in the backcountry but want to experience peace and quiet while camping, 3 campgrounds in the national park: Cades Cove, Elkmont, and Smokemont have "generator free" campsites.

To go generator-free in the Cades Cove TN campground there is are generator-free loop sections. In the Elkmont campgrounds there are generator free sites but there is no generator free loop. Over in Smokemont on the North Carolina side of the park loops A, B, and C are "tent only" so there are no generators. If you have an RV but wish to go generator free you may reserve in the tent only area.

If group camping is more your style then you can choose from Big Creek, Cataloochee, Cosby, Deep Creek, Elkmont, Cades Cove, or Smokemont. The cost ranges from $26 to $65 per site per night and reservations must be made online at www.Recreation.Gov.

Smoky Mountains National Park Horse Camping

Camping in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is fun for the whole family, but camping with your own horse in the national park is an unforgettable experience.

Spring time in the Smokies means the opening of campgrounds where you can go camping with your horse in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and most of the campgrounds will be opening on April 1st.

The horse camps scheduled to open on April 1st are Anthony Creek NC, Big Creek, Cataloochee NC, and Towstring NC.

Unfortunately they are sill doing construction on the Straight Fork/Balsam Mountain Road so the Round Bottom campgrounds will remain closed until the construction is complete.

Reservations for horse camps can be made online at www.Recreation.Gov. The fee for your Horse is $20 per night except for Big Creek where it is $25 per night.

Horse camping information, rules and regulations for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Time for a picnic in the Great Smoky Mountains national Park

With the warming Smokies weather, the Great Smoky Mountains national park is about to open some of its picnic areas and starting its spring schedule. While some of the picnic areas such as Cades Cove, Metcalf Bottoms, Chimney Tops, Cosby, Greenbrier, Deep Creek, and Big Creek are open year round, others will be opening on a staggered schedule.

Friday March 9th will see the opening of the Collins Creek Picnic Area and on Sunday March 11th both Heintooga and Look Rock are scheduled to open. If you are looking to use the national parks largest pavilion located in Twin Creeks, you will have to wait until May 1st.

While there are 10 first come first served picnic areas in the Great Smoky Mountains national park, some picnic pavilions can be reserved online. The picnic areas with pavilions that can be reserved are located in Twin Creeks (fee range from $35-$75 depending on the number of people in your party), Collins Creek, Cosby, Deep Creek, and Metcalf Bottoms (all at $20 per pavilion) or Greenbrier (only $10).

To reserve a picnic pavilion on line visit www.Recreation.Gov.

LeConte Lodge in GSMNP set to open for 2007

No more heavy winter storms with snow and ice are expected so LeConte Lodge high atop Mount LeConte and various picnic areas throughout the North Carolina and Tennessee sections of the Great Smoky Mountains national park are set to open for the 2007 tourist season.

There is no more spectacular place to stay the Smoky Mountains national park than the LeConte Lodge. The lodge sits at 6,593 feet of elevation and can only accessed by hiking up one of the three major trails leading to the summit of Mt Le Conte - the 2nd highest peak in the Smoky Mountains. The shortest trail to get to the summit is at Newfound Road at the Alum Cave trailhead. This trail is still a 10 mile round trip hike and is rather strenuous.

LeConte Lodge will be opening on March 19th and reservations are required and often the lodge can be booked many months in advance. Stays at the Le Conte Lodge include breakfast and dinner and the price is $93 per night. Children 10 and under can stay with an adult for $72.50 a night.

To make a reservation for Le Conte lodge you can call (865) 429-5704 or fax (865) 774-0045 their email address is reservations@lecontelodge.com.

Horse rentals and visitor center spring schedule for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Now that the days are getting longer and the weather on the Smokies is milder the Great Smoky Mountains national park will be opening up some facilities and switching over to its spring schedule starting March 9th.

Spring mean wildflowers in the GSMNP as well as the opening of horseback riding concessions in the park and longer visitor center hours.

The Spring Great Smoky Mountains Park Visitor Center Schedule:

• Sugarlands Visitor Center Gatlinburg, TN Open 8:00am-5:00pm
• Cades Cove Visitor Center Townsend, TN Open 9:00 am-5:00pm
• Oconaluftee Visitor Center Cherokee, NC Open 8:00am-4:30pm

Now that winter is leaving the Smoky Mountains you can now start to rent horses again in the National Park. The horse rental concessions open in a staggered schedule starting with the Smoky Mountain Riding Stable near Gatlinburg Tennessee which will open this Saturday the 10th.

The Cades Cove Riding Stables in Cades Cove near Townsend TN opens next Thursday March 25th and the Sugarlands Riding Stable near the Gatlinburg TN entrance of the Great Smoky Mountains national park will open March 17th.

The last riding stable to open is the North Carolina Smokemont Riding Stable starts up April 1. Smokemont near the Cherokee entrance and has a wonderful waterfall tour you can take by horseback.

All openings days of the riding stables in the national park are based upon the weather cooperating. The rate for riding a horse in the Smoky Mountains national park is $20 per rider per hour.

For those who don't care to ride their own horse, you can enjoy either a boggy ride for ($7.50 per person or a hayride for $6 per person in the Cades Cove Riding Stables. There are also limited ranger led hayrides for $8 per person.

More horseback riding information, locations and rules.

Controlled burn in NC goes out of control

A controlled burn that was being conducted by a local resident trying to reduce some overgrowth on his property located at High Rock Mountain Road on Walnut Mountain in Madison County North Carolina quickly got out of control and engulfed 50 acres with flames as high as 50 feet.

The wildfire required the combined cooperation between multiple local fire departments and the forest service. Eight local fire departments sent more than 24 firefighters to fight the fire as well as protecting neighboring homes from being damaged or destroyed by the wildfire.

The North Carolina Forest Service sent ground support to help fight the blaze as well as utilizing a forest service helicopter which scooped up water from a pond close to the blaze and made repeated dumps to suppress the fire. Fortunately the helicopter was stationed close by at the Asheville NC Regional Airport.

As of last night the fire departments still have vehicles parked in local residents' driveways and have been able to contain almost half the fire. The firefighters feel as though no more structures are under serious threat but they will continue to work throughout today.

Because of continued dry conditions and relatively high winds the National Weather Service's Greer, South Carolina had to issue a fire danger statement for most of Western NC.

Roads Open: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Due to potential hazardous condition on some of the roads in the Great Smoky Mountains national park, some of the roads within the park closed for the winter season. These roads will start opening as of this Friday March 9th. Please note some of these roads in the National park will be opening as late as June.

The Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail near Gatlinburg Tennessee, Rich Mountain road which runs from Cades Cove to Townsend TN and Little Greenbrier between Metcalf Bottoms and the Wear Valley park entrance as well as Straight Fork/Round Bottom will all be opening March 9th.

The road leading up to Clingmans Dome is set to open on April 1. This is a great opportunity now to park your car at Newfound Gap and hike the 7 miles up to the top on the paved road. Wonderful vistas await you and in weeks this area will see considerable traffic when it opens.

May 11th will see both the Heintooga Ridge and the Balsam Mountain Roads opening to vehicles.

Parson Branch Road in the tail end of Cades Cove has been closed since 2003 as it sustained considerable flood damage. When it opens in mid June of this year you will be able to drive from Cades Cove all the way to North Carolina and end up on US 129 - right in the heart of the Tail of the Dragon.

Wall of thanks and public awareness to be unveiled at the Smoky Mountains National Park.

Thanks to a generous gift from the Rotary Club of Knoxville, a special exhibit honoring individuals and businesses that have donated gifts valued between $10,000 and $50,000 to the national park through Friends of the Smokies as well as park education and awareness was unveiled today at the Sugarlands Visitor Center Plaza of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Gatlinburg Tennessee.

This permanent display is at of the Smoky Mountains parks busiest entrances and the visitor center presently see more than 800,000 visitors a years who will be able to enjoy this illustrate exhibit which is comprised of three panels which measure 7 feet by 14 feet.

The weather for today's unveiling in the park couldn't have been nicer and gave many who took time off today to come to the celebration to spend some quality time in the park today.

While it is wonderful to see you name on a wall, we want all donors of any size who help the Friends of the Smokies to understand we appreciate all donations to help this worth cause.

Huge 4 day hiking festival in North Carolina this May

The American Hiking Society will be hosting from May 3rd to the 6th a huge gathering at the Great Southeastern Hiking Festival with more than 20 scheduled hikes, seminars for hikers and trail organizations, regional entertainment, and inspirational lectures along with the opportunity to meet with members of trail clubs and hikers from all throughout the southeastern United States.

Along with some fine entertainment and information, meet with the folks from the Carolina Mountain Club, Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail, North Carolina Bartram Trail Society, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Nantahala Hiking Club and the Montreat Trail Club at the Great Southeastern Hiking Festival in the Montreat Conference Center in Montreat, North Carolina.

This conference dedicated to hikers includes all 9 meals (dinner Thursday May 3rd through lunch Sunday May 6th) and participation in all of the events and seminars. The registration for the full conference is only $175 ($150 for early registration) which does not include lodging. For those who can stay only Friday through Sunday you only pay $115. If you can't make either of these options you can register for either the whole day Friday or the whole day Saturday for only $65. For those who have the time I would suggest that you sign up for the American Hiking Society Volunteer Vacation which runs from April 29 - May 5.

There will also be a large, free public festival which will include outdoor information and education, arts and crafts, entertainers, and of course plenty of food vendors on May 3rd in historic, downtown Black Mountain North Carolina.

Come one, come all, learn, share and enjoy the great outdoors!

A Smoky Mountain Riddle about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

What do Restaurants in the Smoky Mountains, The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the North Carolina and Tennessee department of motor vehicles, and the Friends of the Smokies organization all have in common? Biodiesel.

Thanks to the generous support of drivers of NC and TN who were kind enough to purchase the beautiful Friends of the Smokies specialty license plates as well as a Clean Fuel Advanced Technology grant The Smoky Mountains National Park will soon be able to fuel their diesel fleet of almost 2 dozen vehicles on the North Carolina side with a biodiesel blended fuel.

Biodiesel is a cleaner burning alternative to petroleum diesel and is produced domestically from renewable sources such as used cooking oils, soybeans, corn and various other organic oil sources. Since it is produced domestically, it reduces our dependence on foreign petroleum and production of biodiesel creates virtually no polluting byproducts.

Biodiesel in its purest form is from 100% "organic" sources but is often blended with petroleum diesel. The National Park service will be using B-50 which means it is a 50 - 50 mixture. Regardless of the blend as long as the "bio" part f the blend is clean and pure, diesel engines usually don't require any modifications. While 100% bio is preferred this is a huge step in the right direction.

According to Dale Ditmanson the Park Superintendent "This biodiesel refueling project will help us achieve our long-term goal of stabilizing or improving air quality in the park...We also see it as a great opportunity to lead by example as we host local school groups and millions of visitors from all across the country and world."

Just having the Great Smoky Mountains National Park committed to using Biodiesel is not enough. Two distribution centers are going to be set up on the North Carolina side of the national park. The first larger Biodiesel station will be a 4,000-gallon tank at the Oconaluftee Maintenance Yard in Swain County, and the second smaller 1,000 gallon tank will be located to fill park vehicles in Cataloochee Valley. Combined these distribution points will dispense and estimated 12,000 gallons a year reducing the national parks annual consumption of petroleum diesel by 6,000 gallons a year.

In order the finance this incredible project, the Friends of the Smokies is donating more than $8,000 which was raised from the sales of specialty license plates in NC and TN. $20 of the $30 charged for these special plates ends up with Friends of the Smokies.

The Friends of the Smokies also secured grant that exceeded $33,000 from the Clean Fuel Advanced Technology Project, which is managed in North Carolina by the North Carolina Solar Center and NC State University. Help from the project was also received from the NC Department of Transportation, the State Energy Office of the NC Department of Administration, and the NC Division of Air Quality.

If you don't have a Friends of the Smokies license plate to help support the Great Smoky Mountains National Park order your Friends of the Smokies plate on your next Tennessee or North Carolina license plate on your next renewal!

Wilderness 911 training North Carolina being offered by the National Outdoor Leadership School's Wilderness Medical Institute

When accidents or a medical emergency occurs in the wilderness, being cool and collected and having proper emergency medical training can mean the difference between life and death.

So far more than 8,000 students in about 350 courses have been trained by the renowned National Outdoor Leadership School's Wilderness Medical Institute. They are taught not only how to lower their risk for accident in the backcountry, but how to perform emergency triage and determine the course of action during a medical emergency, field dressing and cleansing of wounds, caring for sprains and broken bones by making splints with available natural materials.

You don't have to go all the way to Wyoming to receive this valuable training from the NOLS, you can go to Landmark Learning based in Cullowhee North Carolina who has been offering this valuable backcountry emergency training for more than 10 years now and now that they are teaming up with NOLS for this win win opportunity for lovers of the great outdoors.

Wildfire in Cove Mountain TN chars 500 acres and destroys 6 vacation rental cabins.

High winds, dead tress and the right conditions for a fire spelled disaster for the Cove Mountain area of Wears Valley in Sevier County Tennessee where flames as high as 50 feet tall have kept crews busy to suppress this untamed beast.

Firefighters have even contemplated using a helicopter if necessary to dump water on the fire. Presently crews have already been using bulldozers to create a fire break to keep the fire contained. Another firefighting tactic that is going to be deployed is to set smaller "back fires" in order to keep the fire from spreading along the fire break the firefighters created with the bulldozers.

Although the cause of the fire has yet to be determined, since there has been an infestation of pine beetles in the trees in the Cove Mountain area, the fire has been using the abundance of dead and damaged trees as a fuel source further accelerating the growth and speed of the wild fire.

Nathan Waters the Assistant Director of Forestry for the Tennessee Division of Forestry was quoted as saying "It's the high winds that are hurting us the most even though we got some rain the winds keep it dry and keeps the fire moving".

Local residents close to the blaze as well as cabin rental companies managing property for absentee owners are keeping a close eye on the situation.

This wildfires damage has been exacerbated by the fact that an insect infestation killed or damaged trees in the area. This further demonstrates the fact that that the Hemlock woolly adelgid that is infesting and destroying many of the hemlock trees throughout the entire Smoky Mountain region must be brought under control. Please support the Friends of Smokies page in their battle for this important cause.

Fire Burns in Townsend TN so National Park Service says no to Cataloochee fire.

Today's prescribed burn which was to take place in Cataloochee valley in the Great Smoky Mountains national park has been postponed again.

With relative humilities for too low for a safe burn, the fire management staff decided at 2:00 pm to call off today prescribed burn.

According to the national park service a high fire danger exists right now in both Tennessee as well as North Carolina and there is even a reported wildfire burning just north of the national park boundaries in Townsend TN.

Weaverville North Carolina emergency call system launching in March 2007

The township of Weaverville North Carolina located near Asheville in the Smoky Mountains is about to launch their CodeRED emergency notification system so that town officials can contact Weaverville resident in case of an emergency.

The CodeRED automated emergency notification system would call up to 60,000 residents an hour and warm them if there is a potential danger and can be used by the police, fire and public works officials. The system is capable of contacting residents on a specific street, neighborhood or the entire town of Weaverville NC and the Weaverville fire district.

At Your Smokies we encourage all residents of Weaverville North Carolina to log onto the Weaverville town web site and fill out the free CodeRED emergency notification registration and make sure that your home, cell and work numbers are listed. The town of Weaverville is still updating its database of emergency contact phone numbers in anticipation of the system launch in March.

According to Town Council member Don Hallingse “Whether it’s a waterline break, a missing child, we can get a hold of the people we need to instantly." He went on to say "It’s definitely important for us to have this, so, in case of an emergency, we can get a hold of the folks that are affected by what’s going on".

Burn Baby Burn - so says the National Park Service in the Smoky Mountains.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was expecting to conduct a prescribed burn in the Cataloochee Valley North Carolina last Saturday but due to the weather in the Smokies creating an unsafe condition, the burn has been rescheduled for today February 28th.

Last Saturday in Cataloochee Valley both the humidity was too low and the forecasted winds would have been too high to have allowed a safe burn. The idea of a safe prescribed burn is to have the condition as such that the fire would do its job but not get out of control and spread throughout the Smoky Mountains National park.

Again I suggest that you stay away from the area and let the national park service do their job.

National Park Service will start a prescribed burn in Cataloochee North Carolina section of the National Park February 24th 2007

I would suggest if you are visiting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park this weekend that you avoid the Cataloochee NC area because of the smoke, partial road closures, fire fighting equipment and fire personal needed to help restore both pine and Oak woodlands.

Fire can pose a huge danger to the parks inhabitants, historical building, neighboring farms and homes because an uncontrolled fire in the wild can spread like - well - wildfire. Because of this National Parks and state parks and forests have been suppressing forest fires for years.

Unfortunately a natural environment needs fires to maintain a healthy balance and the forests, valleys, fields and woodlands of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is no exception.

Fires can clear old vegetation, open tree canopies to allow more sunlight to reach the forest floor allowing more bio diversity. Some plants such as some pine trees have seeds that won't germinate unless exposed to heat created by fire. Different species of trees and bushes have different flammability factors and thus a fast burning fire may burn and kill some plants while other plants which are more fire tolerant may not be affected.

Since natural and accidental forest fires have been suppressed for more than 60 years in the Smoky Mountains, some species of tress such as maple trees which have a low fire tolerance, have spread quickly, dominated habitats and have taken over what was traditionally a xeric oak forest community in the Smokies. Along with the black oak, scarlet oak, and chestnut oaks a fire tolerant xeric oak forest community also has hickory trees a staple wood of locally made Smoky Mountains furniture.

The national park service is planning to burn a 530 acre area in the forest of the Cataloochee Valley this weekend in an effort to help in the restoration of both pine and oak woodlands. Oak woodlands are crucial to the survival of black bears in the Smokies as their diet largely consists of acorns and bears commonly use oak trees in order to den. The new habitat and additional forage created by this prescribed burn will also benefit the Elk that have been introduced into the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Surprisingly this is not the first time that this area has been intentionally burned by the NPS. The same area had a prescribed burn treatment in April of 2004 and more treatments will be needed in order to completely restore the xeric oak forest habitat.

In order to help keep the fire under control that area where the prescribed burn is to take place is bordered an established fire control line, 2 wet drainages, a road, and grassy meadowland all of which borders the open meadows of Cataloochee at the western end of the Cataloochee Valley.

You will also find up to 25 Park firefighters and 2 fire engines will be in the area to keep the fire under control with some fire personnel helping to escort hikers to trails that remain open.

Still insist on going to Cataloochee NC this weekend?

The following areas will be closed:

• The road from Shanty Branch to the Rough Fork Trailhead in Cataloochee Valley
• The Hiram Caldwell Cemetery

The following will remain open:

• Rough Fork Trail
• Big Fork Ridge Trail
• Dock Caldwell Cemetery (E of Shanty Branch)

My suggestion is stay away from this section of the GSMNP and let the National Park Service do their job. There is plenty to see and do in other sections of the park.

The Smoky Mountains National Park grows in popularity but is that a good thing?

The figures are in. America's most popular national park the Great Smoky Mountains National Park continues to grow in popularity with 9,416,734 visitors in 2006 - a 2% increase over 2005 but is this good news for the most loved national park?

This is the largest increase in visitors to the GSMNP in 5 years. Even higher gas prices didn't drive away tourists and locals from coming. Even the off season months are seeing huge gains some of which have broken previous national park visitor records but summer peak season was off compared to previous years. Leaf season which runs from September to November picked up the slack for the lower summer visitation numbers.

Camping within the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is also on the increase with approximately 351,000 campers staying in both the frontcountry and backcountry areas of the National Park. Backcountry camping has seen only a negligible increase of a few hundred campers and frontcountry camping has seen an increase of almost 2 percent increase of approximately 6,000 additional visitors.

Visitation increases in 2006 to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park did not increase evenly across all of the park entrances. Where the Gatlinburg TN entrance to the park has seen almost flat increases visitation figures, outlying areas such as Cosby TN, Big Creek TN, Cataloochee NC and the like have seen visitor increases of 5%.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park Visitation by Park Entrance for 2006
Outlying Areas (TN and NC)	2,211,186	+ 5%
Townsend Tennessee	1,482,059	+ 3%
Cherokee N Carolina	2,321,471	+ 2%
Gatlinburg Tennessee	3,402,018	< +1%
Total	9,416,734	+ 2%

So what does all mean to the park, the visitors and outlying businesses in and around the Smoky Mountains?

The park is already stressed. The entire park staff and volunteers are doing an exceptional job with extremely limited resources which are already stretched to the breaking point.

Some of the roads, facilities and trails are badly in need of repair and show signs of overuse or abuse. Where 1 person carelessly tossing a tissue on a trail is bad, dozen or hundreds dropping even small pieces of litter or even organic matter such as apple cores or orange peels in quite another thing.

Walking or hiking off of designated trails is not illegal, but can do serious damage to environmentally sensitive areas. One person who is careful may not do significant damage but again, in numbers many people wondering around off of designated hiking trails can do serious damage to plants as well as the habitats of sensitive insects, aquatic life and animals.

What goes for staying on the "beaten path" also goes for walking through streams and moving rocks and aquatic plants. It is best to cross streams at regular crossings and not to disturb what is in the stream bed.

The areas in and around the Smoky Mountains are growing by leaps and bounds making the top Real Estate agents and real estate brokers and well as mortgage companies and banks in the Smokies quite happy.

Cabin companies, hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions are also seeing increased revenue due to the many people who fall in love with the Smokies many of which come back again and again.

What these 2006 park visitation figures are showing is that more and more people are looking to experience the lesser known and lesser visited parts of the Smoky Mountains National Park. Is this phenomenon because the same visitors have seen the more popular areas of the park and are looking for some place new or are they trying to avoid the crowds of the most visited parts of this national park? I would be interested to know and I am conducting my own straw poll in regard to this.

Since so many businesses in the Smokies benefit because of tourism to the park, I make this plea to donate to organizations such as Friends of the Smokies or have a company picnic in the park after you have everyone spend an hour or two picking up litter in the park. Not only will the visitors who come to the park - your customers - appreciate it, you will feel better doing something good for the environment.

Hiking Clubs in the Smokies...where are you?

Hiking clubs that go for day hikes or overnight hikes on the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the surrounding National Forests, State Parks, and local parks in the Smokies - we want to hear from you!

Not only do we want to hear from hiking clubs in the North Carolina and Tennessee Smoky Mountains but also local historical societies, bird watching groups, conservation groups and animal rescue groups.

Smokies Hiking Group in Elkmont

In the past month and a half I have had the honor on hiking with a local hiking group as well as working with a conservation group in the Smokies. It is always interesting to meet and enjoy the company of like minded people and I want more people to enjoy these outdoor activities in the Smoky Mountains as I do.

We are looking to add your non profit wildlife group or organization for free in our listings of local resources order to promote your activities and fund raising efforts in the Your Smokies Smoky Mountain directory.

With so many people who are interested in the enjoyment and preservation of the Smoky Mountains moving into the area everyday, we want to be able to match these great potential volunteers, members and contributors to your Smoky Mountain group.

Thousands of people visit Your Smokies everyday actively looking for wildlife, hiking and conservation information. Locals and tourist alike use our resources so this is a fantastic way to promote your Smoky Mountains organization or club for free.

Hiking, historical and conservation groups in any area of the Smokies email us at: SmokiesClubs2 (at) YourSmokies.com

The new Great Smoky Mountains National Park camping reservation system.

Campground reservations in the Smoky Mountains National Park can now be made on the new reservation system on the new web site: www.Recreation.Gov.

Not only can campground reservations in the Smokies can be made on this web site, it takes reservations for other federal recreation areas and offers information of tours and various facilities as well as intergraded Google maps.

This new interagency recreation portal site is filled with information and links to other government and public information and scientific sites. Recreation.gov is a consolidation of Recreation.gov, ReserveUSA.com, and reservations.nps.gov and offers a far more user friendly option for people researching natural and historic sites.

I immediately signed up for the site and joined the mailing list and did in depth research on the site and found while there is a long way to go before I consider the site complete, this is the best government recreational site by far. More pretravel research can be done from the comfort of your armchair than ever before and you can now book your campsite up to 6 months in advance.

You can even reserve group campsites and picnic pavilions in the Great Smoky Mountains national park up to 12 months in advance.

If you want, there is a toll free number (877) 444-6777 which is open from 10 am to midnight (EST).

Your Smokies is looking for a few good men and women for advertising sales

The fastest growing Smoky Mountain Directory is looking for professional sales associates throughout the entire Smoky Mountain Region. Areas of key interest are Asheville North Carolina, Knoxville Tennessee and the Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Sevierville TN area. We need dozens more sales people to cover the tens of thousands of potential advertisers in the Smoky Mountains.

We are looking for honest, professional, self motivated salespersons with good communications skills and a high level of computer literacy. Marketing and advertising experience a big plus.

This is a high commission opportunity paying comsssions starting at 20% with an unlimited income potential. The only limits to your income potentials are your sales skills and effort. We even pay commissions on advertising renewals and for recruiting high performing salespersons into our sales program.

Full Time or Part time the choice is your as well as your hours. Work harder and smarter and we both make more.

Interested in working for the best internet site for the Smokies?

More information can be found at our Help Wanted for Internet Advertising Account Executive page.

National Parks benefit from Digital Cameras.

When talking with a National Park official of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park almost 2 weeks ago I suddenly had a realization about how much the proliferation of digital photography has helped the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and for that mater all national parks in the United States.

The funny thing is that all these years traveling in national and state parks around the country hiking trails, fishing, boating, and horseback riding in all the nooks and crannies of these parks that it took until now to realize how tremendous the positive effect of this new technology.

As you can see by yesterday's article on littering in the Smokies, I hate litter bugs. Whether I am hiking on a trail or snorkeling on a reef, I clean up trash when I see it. Over the years I have picked up trash of all sorts from beer cans to old shoes and hundreds and hundreds of 35mm film canisters, empty Kodak and Fuji film boxes and my fair share of used flash bulbs, flash cubes and flash sticks.

While most serious nature photographers that visit our national parks are great protectors of the environment, many amateur and professional photographers have been careless over the years and tossed or lost photographic trash on and around trails and waterways within our national and state parks and forests.

I also gave great thought to all the chemicals used in the manufacturer of the film itself and as well as the processing and the printing let alone the plastics, metal film and cardboard used in the packaging of 35mm or other size photographic film.

All is not golden however with digital outdoor photography. The excessive use and improper disposal of batteries can be a huge environmental disadvantage of digital cameras. The chemicals and the heavy metals inside the common household battery can do far more damage to the environment and its inhabitants than the cardboard and plastic packaging ever could.

The environmental damage of the batteries from digital camera could very easily be avoided by simply having enough rechargeable batteries on hand. Not only would this save any photographer a bundle over the lifetime of the camera, it would greatly reduce the environmental impact of digital photography to virtually zero.

I close with a quick outdoor digital photography tip for those photographing the great outdoors in the Smoky Mountains. Turn your flash off when taking pictures during a snow fall or foggy weather. Both snow and fog reflect your flash making for very poor pictures.

Here's to taking great pictures in one of the most beautiful places in the world - the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the surrounding areas in the Smoky Mountains!

Help stop litter in the Tennessee Smokies!

Someone listened about one of my biggest pet peeves -litter - and now there is something you can do about it as the state of Tennessee now gives you the power to report litter bugs in the Smokies and all over the state!

Littering is not only filthy, selfish behavior, it is a crime. The penalties might not be monetarily as stiff as I wish they would be, but the community service for even first time offenders is fitting to the crime.

Tennessee law states that first time offenders will have to pay a $500 fine and are required to pick up the mess they made as well as other litterbugs in public places for anywhere between 40 hours on up to 6 months. Get caught littering again and your fine is $1,500 and you may also be ordered to clean up wherever you littered and spend up to 6 months cleaning up of the offensive litter or work in a recycling center.

So what can you do as the law abiding no littering Good Samaritan in Tennessee? Now if you see some offensive jerk throw something out the window of their car or litter in any way the highways or byways of Tennessee call (877)-8-LITTER (877) 854-8837 and provide the required information that can lead to the arrest and conviction of the offender and you can earn as much as $250!

The information you need to supply is:

• Make, model and license plate of the vehicle
• Location, time and date of the littering incident
• What type of litter the offender tossed from the vehicle or dumped

What happens next is the new StopLitter statewide anti-litter campaign takes over and the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) sends a letter to the registered owner of the offending vehicle reminding them of the severity offender of the law and warning them of the consequence of future offenses and provides the offender with a portable ashtray or trash bag.

Personally I feel as though they should save the money rather than sending these trinkets to offenders or they should be billed for these souvenirs that they earned for such disgusting and offense behavior.

The director of the StopLitter campaign Allison Teeters has been quoted as saying that it is more effective deterrent that the sate is contacting the litterbugs rather than local entities. She goes on to say "If churches, businesses, and schools would get together to pick up litter, they can make a positive impact." and that "We provide gloves, bags, and litter pickers for free. ... We are about enabling citizens to take action, and for them to decide a clean community is important."

I strongly agree that if an area is clean and litter free, often it is a deterrent to people who may litter not to do it. If an area is riddled with trash or graffiti for that matter people often don't care as much.

Please help keep the Smokies and all communities clean and put this phone number into your cell phones speed dial today - I bet you will use it within months! The Smokies and I thank you for doing you part in keeping this beautiful area clean of litter and trash.

Newfound Gap (441) Road Reopened

Finally after days of opening and closing of Newfound Gap Road (441) was reopened to all vehicles but icy conditions are still possible and drivers should still drive with extra caution.

The past few days have seen numerous closings and restrictions to 4 wheel drive vehicles on this main road going through the Smoky Mountain National Park due to mother nature and old man winter.

Drivers should also pay special care on the North Carolina side as there has been continuing road construction and repair and with the additional danger of possible ice.

Smoky Mountains Park Road Closure

Newfound Gap road(441) road is closing right now to all but 4 drive vehicles due to snow and ice.

Keep your eyes open for people wearing the Your Smokies Logo!

We will be doing an extended tour for the next few weeks of back country areas as well as some of the most popular attractions.

Keep your eyes open for the Your Smokies and say hi when you see us!   

The Largest Threat to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park!

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is under attack from aliens! These tiny unwanted aliens can cause major devastation to not only the plant life in the Smokies National Park but can destroy animals and fish as well.

About 15 years after Orson Welles famous radio broadcast in 1938 where Martians were taking over earth in a War of the Worlds, a real invasion of an alien creature from Asia was found in the South Eastern United States near Richmond Virginia.

Just as deadly as the fictitious Martians were to man, the woolly adelgid insect is to hemlocks. This unwelcome guest feeds variously on the base of hemlock needles which cases a prolonged starvation to the tree which will ultimately die in as long as 10 years from the initial infestation to a short as 3 years.

Hemlocks are the evergreen of the Smokies

Since the Hemlock is such a key component in the natural balance of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the hemlock trees that reside in the national park have no resistance to the woolly adelgid, what the hemlocks need right now is a super hero to save the day.

Who is that super hero? What can you do to help? Learn about the Hemlock woolly adelgid infestation and what is being done.

The Hemlock woolly adelgid infestation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is no laughing matter and we desperately need your help.

Roaring Fork Road Project Environmental Assessment in the GSM National Park

Less than a month is left for the public to comment on the Great Smoky Mountain National Park Environmental Assessment of the proposed Roaring Fork Road Project. If green lighted the project would begin sometime between 2009 - 2010 and may cause some closures of this popular motor trail in the national Park.

The Roaring Fork area of the Smoky Mountain National Park borders Gatlinburg Tennessee and is not accessible with any other roads from within the national park but contains key trailheads including one of the better trails going to the peak of Mt Le Conte. There are also trailhead to 2 popular wonderful waterfalls - rainbow falls and Grotto falls and a collection of beautiful historic buildings.

The Roaring Fork Section of the park has a beautiful 9 mile one way drive that is far less traveled that the Cades Cove Loop trail, but goes through a much denser wooded section that Cades Cove which includes some old growth forest, has a spectacular mountain vista view from one of the pull offs, and a fantastic collection of historic cabins and small buildings.

The winding barrow road crosses some small bridges and towards the end of the trail some steep drop offs to the right with a river running alongside the road. In bad weather this road can be quiet hazardous if one is not driving with extreme caution and thus the National Park Service is looking to repair and expand the existing road.

The agenda of the Roaring Fork Road Project is:

• Milling and then repaving of roads
• Replacing 7 bridges
• Widening 1 bridge
• Widening a 1,500 feet of Roaring Fork Motor Nature trail

This project has been estimated at $9.8 million and is fortunately a joint effort between both the National Park Service as well as the Federal Highway Administration. Both organizations are also responsible for the Environmental Assessment.

While the Park service is hoping to facilitate as much of the road improvements to the Motor trail during off-peak months that is possible it is expected that this popular motor trail and some of the adjuring areas in this section of the park may be closed during busier months that would normally receive a high volume of visitors.

According to Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson he commented "The basic character of the road will not be changed. It will remain a narrow, low-speed byway which provides visitors with an intimate forest experience as close to a hike as you can have in your vehicle. Vehicles larger than passenger vans and those pulling trailers will continue to be barred from the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail."

You can obtain printed copies of the Roaring Fork Road Project Environmental Assessment at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Sugarlands Visitors Center or in Gatlinburg TN at the Anna Porter Public Library and clicking here for more information in a PDF version.

The Environmental Assessment outlines the work, the proposed mitigation measures that the Park Service would have to take in order to minimize the impact on the Smoky Mountains Park's natural and cultural resources and you - it visitors.

The EA describes how the various alternative actions including the Smoky Mountains Park's preferred alternative and what each of their potential environmental impacts might be which is in accordance with requirements of the National Environmental Policy.

Any comment you wish to make to the National Park Service in regard to the Roaring Fork Road Project Environmental Assessment must be done so the NPS receives it at or before February 5, 2007. Comments can be made via email or regular mail to:

Superintendent
Great Smoky Mountains National Park,
107 Park Headquarters Road.
Gatlinburg, TN 37738

Email:grsmcomments@nps.gov

Smoky Mountains Day Hikers Guide to the National Park.

Hikers and outdoor enthusiasts very often have libraries filled with books and maps of areas that they are looking to explore on their upcoming excursions. Here is an opportunity to get one definitive book on all of the trails of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Day hikers guide to all the trails in the Smoky Mountains by Elizabeth L Etnier shows you in great detail the most efficient way to explore all 800 miles of hiking trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Day hikers guide to all GSMNP trails

Chock full of accurate trail descriptions, charts, tables, color photographs, detailed maps, a hiking trail index, checklist of trails in the Great Smoky Mountain National park you hiked with mileage and more in a handy sized wire bound book - this guide has it all.

You will even finds descriptions of wildlife and wildflowers in this hiking guide for the national park.

You can find out more about The Day hikers guide to all the trails in the Smoky Mountains by Elizabeth L Etnier here.

Example of detailed map in the hiking guide book.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Reopens Newfound Gap Road (US 441)

Drivers can now use the popular Newfound Gap Road (US 441) that runs through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park from North Carolina to Tennessee without 4 wheel drive or snow chains restrictions.

It is strongly advised that drivers still remain extremely cautious especially on the Tennessee side and in shadier areas as there are still some icy spots on the road which should melt by later today.

Road closure due to Ice in the Smoky Mountain National Park

Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441) which runs through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has just been closed by park officials for the night.

Too many areas of the road started freezing again make driving on this major park road hazardous. Park officials hope to reopen the road weather permitting by 9:00 tomorrow but have advised us that there may be restrictions again allowing only vehicles with 4 wheel-drive or tire chains when the road reopens.

Newfound Gap Road opens to 4 wheel drive vehicles

The Great Smoky Mountains National Parks major thoroughfare Newfound Gap Road has just been opened between Cherokee North Carolina and Gatlinburg Tennessee - but only to 4 wheel drive vehicles or vehicles with tire chains.

Yesterday's stormy weather closed the road to all traffic but as long as the Smokies weather permits and the snow and ice on the road keep melting Newfound Gap Road (441) will remain open.

Drivers are cautioned that there are still some icy stretches on the Tennessee side of the road mostly in shaded areas.

Before driving late in the day or this evening you may wish to call the Great Smoky Mountains National Park automated information telephone number at (865) 436-1200 as the road may close again as lower temperatures may cause further freezing and hazardous conditions even for vehicles that are driving with snow chains or 4 wheel drive.

2 horseback trails still closed in the Smoky Mountain National Park

A strong windstorm in October closed most of the roads, hiking trails and horseback riding trails in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The roads were all opened rather quickly as well as the hiking trails but 2 trails are still closed to horseback riding.

Enough of the 2 closed trails are still damaged from uprooted tress that riding horses on these trails would pose a hazard to riders so the Lower Mount Cammerer Trail and the Gregory Bald Trail from campsite #13 to Parsons Branch Road in the Cades Cove area of the National Park remain closed and will hopefully be able to reopen some time in the spring.

Grotto Falls Trail Closed in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Hazardous conditions caused by hillside erosion prompted the national park service to close the Popular Grotto Falls hiking trail in the Roaring Fork area of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park near Gatlinburg Tennessee.

The hillside above the trail has been made unstable due to 3 large hemlock trees that fell down a steep slope by the trail. Even though the trees have been removed by the national parks trail crew, rock and mud will continue to slide down causing an unsafe condition for hikers.

The normal freeze and thaw cycle and rain will further loosen the rock and losses vegetation which is expected to fall before the hiking trail is reopened hopefully sometime in the spring of 2007. Since these trees originally kept the hillside reinforced, the National park service has to now let nature take its course.

The actual slide area pictured above (Photo courtesy of the National Park Service) closure takes place approximately 1/4 mile from the trailhead which is located right next to the Roaring Fork Motor Trail. The closure affects a 1.3 mile section of the Trillium Gap Trail between the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail and the Grotto Falls.

Hikers who come from Cherokee Orchard Road will still be able to trek for a little less than 2-1/2 miles before they reach the closure which will keep hikers form reaching Mt. LeConte from the Trillium Gap Trail. Hikers have a choice of 4 other trails such as Alum Cave that will take them to the summit of Mount Le Conte.

Snow Closes National Park Newfound Gap Road today

A mess rainy and snow mixture in the higher elevations of the Smoky Mountain National Park made for dangerous traveling and prompted a road closure on Newfound Gap Road (US 441) a major through road.

The rangers made decision at 10:00 am this morning to close the roads as the conditions are worsening. What started out a rain became slush and then eventually icy conditions on the road as the temperatures dropped throughout the national park.

Sand trucks were at first effective in the Smoky Mountain National Park but with 30 mph plus wind gusts and heavy snow, the park service realized that it wasn't going to get any better so they closed the road.

An effort is on right now with the sand trucks trying to help cars already on the roads to get down the mountains safely and help them out of the Smoky Mountain National Park.

While sudden extreme blizzards are rare in the Smoky Mountain National Park, it is always best to check the local Smoky Mountain Weather this time of year before venturing into high altitudes.

A Merry Christmas from Your Smokies

One crisp morning last January a light snow started falling in Gatlinburg before dawn broke. I walked out on the deck of my cabin near the Roaring Fork and decided to hike up to Mount Le Conte in the fresh snow.

I bundled up and drove to the Roaring Fork motor trail expecting to park near the Rainbow Falls parking area, but enough snow feel that the gates were closed. The road ahead of me was dusted with snow and besides foot prints from white tail deer and small animals the snow was pristine.

I grabbed my camera and hiking poles and headed up hill through the virgin snow. The peace and beauty were over whelming. Every few minutes I could hear the sound of snow falling from the rhododendron leaves because it piled to high for them to hold another single flake.

I reached the trailhead for Rainbow falls which would take me past the falls all the way to Le Conte. The snow was already past my ankles but I knew this hike would be worth the effort. Hiking parallel to the creek which was to my right I kept stopping to catch my breath - not from exertion but just the sheer beauty of the Smokies in winter.

The roar of the ice cold creek in the ravine was strong, but not so much that I couldn't hear the deer to my left bolt into the woods in a flash - too fast for me to take a picture but long enough for me to enjoy. I turned to continue up the trail and saw some ferns peeking through some snow in an area where some large pine tress sheltered them from the brunt of the snow.

Even though it was mid January all I could think was Christmas and click - here it is!

Hundreds of pictures that day - some spectacular - some inspirational - this one, simple and plain speaks to me about Christmas and peace.

Wishing a very Merry Christmas with a happy and healthy New Year to all of our visitors, customers, sales persons and vendors. I could not have the best job in the world without each and every one of you. May all of you find the peace and joy in the Smokies that I have.

Christopher Hibbard - President of Your Smokies