Tin Man
04-28-2006, 07:18
From Asheville Citizen-Times.com (http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060427/SPORTS03/60426062/1019/ENT)
Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers diverse opportunities
by Lindsay Nash, LNASH@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM
published April 27, 2006 12:15 am
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CHEROKEE — It was known by the Cherokee as “shaconage”— the place of blue smoke.
And hundreds of years later, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park —the most visited park in the United States with more than 9 million visitors annually — still lives true to its name.
On a rainy April morning, between periods of spring rain showers, mist and a blue haze rise up from the mountains.
It’s National Park Week across the country, proclaimed by the president to celebrate America’s national parks, and visitors in the Smokies are being reminded of the parks’ smoky roots.
“The Cherokee thought it always looked like the mountains were on fire,” said Brad Free, a park ranger at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center — the only North Carolina visitor center, just down Newfound Gap Road from Cherokee.
National Park Week runs through this weekend and is focusing on children, park spokeswoman Nancy Gray said.
This year’s theme is “Connecting Our Children to America’s National Parks.”
But along with the many children’s events scheduled for the week, the park is hosting the 56th annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage, a weeklong event for people of all ages.
“The role of the park service is to preserve history and protect natural resources,” Gray said. “National Park Week is a special week that will highlight to the American public who we are, who we serve and what we stand for.”
From hikes to history
With free entrance to the park and scores of free activities like guided hikes, camping, fishing, historical exhibits and children’s programs, the park is one of the best (and closest) bargains for outdoors entertainment in Western North Carolina.
“The park is within a day’s drive for one-third of America’s population,” Gray said. “For the East, it’s a significant treasure that is accessible and affordable for many. There a lot of things for people to do.”
The most popular activities in the park are hiking and sightseeing, with hundreds of tour buses and people making their way through the park every day.
“We have great resources here — cultural as well as natural resources,” she said. “We have an abundance of plant and animal life that people are thrilled to see and learn about.”
Linda Black, a tour guide with Steve Ellis Tours, said the spring is a busy time for tours, especially with the dogwoods blooming. “We always bring them here (to Newfound Gap) and for a picnic in the Chimneys Picnic Area,” she said.
“We try to encourage people to get out of their cars,” said Free, the ranger at Oconaluftee. “There is so much to see — the river trail, Cataloochee, Clingmans Dome and the waterfalls.”
Also new is the opening of the streams for brook trout fishing. While it’s too early to see if more anglers are coming, Gray said park officials have received positive feedback.
Be aware of the bears
The Smokies has one of the largest bear populations in the country, with about 1,600 bears in the park, Gray said.
Visitors are concerned after a recent bear attack in the Cherokee National Forest, where a black bear killed a 6-year-old and mauled her mother and 2-year-old brother.
Bear attacks are rare, but they do happen, Gray said.
In May 2000, a bear attacked and killed a woman in the Smokies. Since then, park officials have taken steps to reduce human and bear interaction, including strengthening the message that bears can kill to park visitors and more closely monitoring bear behaviors.
“Bears are wild animals,” Gray said. “They do have unpredictable behaviors we should understand.”
While the park has a large bear population, there have been fewer interactions between bears and people over the last decade.
There were 19 incidents last year, down from about 100 incidents a year in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Gray said.
The recent attack hasn’t stopped the number of visitors coming through the park. In fact, visitation is up about 10 percent from last year at this time, said Free, the park ranger at Oconaluftee Visitor Center.
Crossing the road at Newfound Gap, where the Appalachian Trail winds across, through-hikers Becca Eza, 23, of Athens, Ga., and Gary Scanlon, 30, of Akron, Ohio, made their way into Tennessee.
“We’ve had some great weather, up until today,” Scanlon said. “But I guess the Smokies are just living up to their name.”
Contact Lindsay Nash at 828-232-5953 or via e-mail at lnash@ashevill.gannett.com.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers diverse opportunities
by Lindsay Nash, LNASH@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM
published April 27, 2006 12:15 am
Reader Feedback: Comment on this article | Register here
CHEROKEE — It was known by the Cherokee as “shaconage”— the place of blue smoke.
And hundreds of years later, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park —the most visited park in the United States with more than 9 million visitors annually — still lives true to its name.
On a rainy April morning, between periods of spring rain showers, mist and a blue haze rise up from the mountains.
It’s National Park Week across the country, proclaimed by the president to celebrate America’s national parks, and visitors in the Smokies are being reminded of the parks’ smoky roots.
“The Cherokee thought it always looked like the mountains were on fire,” said Brad Free, a park ranger at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center — the only North Carolina visitor center, just down Newfound Gap Road from Cherokee.
National Park Week runs through this weekend and is focusing on children, park spokeswoman Nancy Gray said.
This year’s theme is “Connecting Our Children to America’s National Parks.”
But along with the many children’s events scheduled for the week, the park is hosting the 56th annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage, a weeklong event for people of all ages.
“The role of the park service is to preserve history and protect natural resources,” Gray said. “National Park Week is a special week that will highlight to the American public who we are, who we serve and what we stand for.”
From hikes to history
With free entrance to the park and scores of free activities like guided hikes, camping, fishing, historical exhibits and children’s programs, the park is one of the best (and closest) bargains for outdoors entertainment in Western North Carolina.
“The park is within a day’s drive for one-third of America’s population,” Gray said. “For the East, it’s a significant treasure that is accessible and affordable for many. There a lot of things for people to do.”
The most popular activities in the park are hiking and sightseeing, with hundreds of tour buses and people making their way through the park every day.
“We have great resources here — cultural as well as natural resources,” she said. “We have an abundance of plant and animal life that people are thrilled to see and learn about.”
Linda Black, a tour guide with Steve Ellis Tours, said the spring is a busy time for tours, especially with the dogwoods blooming. “We always bring them here (to Newfound Gap) and for a picnic in the Chimneys Picnic Area,” she said.
“We try to encourage people to get out of their cars,” said Free, the ranger at Oconaluftee. “There is so much to see — the river trail, Cataloochee, Clingmans Dome and the waterfalls.”
Also new is the opening of the streams for brook trout fishing. While it’s too early to see if more anglers are coming, Gray said park officials have received positive feedback.
Be aware of the bears
The Smokies has one of the largest bear populations in the country, with about 1,600 bears in the park, Gray said.
Visitors are concerned after a recent bear attack in the Cherokee National Forest, where a black bear killed a 6-year-old and mauled her mother and 2-year-old brother.
Bear attacks are rare, but they do happen, Gray said.
In May 2000, a bear attacked and killed a woman in the Smokies. Since then, park officials have taken steps to reduce human and bear interaction, including strengthening the message that bears can kill to park visitors and more closely monitoring bear behaviors.
“Bears are wild animals,” Gray said. “They do have unpredictable behaviors we should understand.”
While the park has a large bear population, there have been fewer interactions between bears and people over the last decade.
There were 19 incidents last year, down from about 100 incidents a year in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Gray said.
The recent attack hasn’t stopped the number of visitors coming through the park. In fact, visitation is up about 10 percent from last year at this time, said Free, the park ranger at Oconaluftee Visitor Center.
Crossing the road at Newfound Gap, where the Appalachian Trail winds across, through-hikers Becca Eza, 23, of Athens, Ga., and Gary Scanlon, 30, of Akron, Ohio, made their way into Tennessee.
“We’ve had some great weather, up until today,” Scanlon said. “But I guess the Smokies are just living up to their name.”
Contact Lindsay Nash at 828-232-5953 or via e-mail at lnash@ashevill.gannett.com.