The most visited national park of the States with the most romantic name and the longest hiking trail in the world is perhaps worth visiting .It is, of course, the Great Smoky Mountains, or the Great Smoky Mountains, which are located in the east of the country and are divided equally by the two states - Tennessee and North Carolina .Each year, this place is visited by about 9.5 million tourists, agree, an impressive figure .(By the way, to such an extent does not even reach the advertised Grand Canyon .) Many are attracted not so much by the flora and fauna of the amazingly picturesque mountains, as well as by the number of attractions associated with the Indians and the first settlers, how many the legendary Appalachian trail is a kind of "crowding" for all US residents, which is equivalent to fulfilling the American dream .

The name Smoky Mountains, as you might guess, comes from the fog, which often "drains" from the ridge, resembling huge clouds of smoke. It is possible to catch this mysterious and exceptionally picturesque phenomenon early in the morning or after the rain, and its origin is more than ordinary - this warm moist air of the Gulf of Mexico collides with the upper spurs of the Southern Appalachians, cools and turns into a mysterious and cold white smoke.

Infrastructure

There are no hotels or cottage settlements in the usual sense in the territory of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, not counting the miniature Le Conte Lodge that is on the top of the Le Conte mountain. However, it is possible to spend the night in Smoky, 10 stationary camping sites for 940 "car places" are equipped for tourists, each of which implies a place for a tent, a fireplace, a picnic table and convenient access roads.

The cost of renting such a site for one tent varies from 15 to 25 USD. With some large campings, shops with products, useful outfitting and souvenirs are open. In the afternoon you can stop at one of the equipped picnic areas, all in the Smoky Mountains there are 11. There are free toilets, tables and grills. Well, those who come to the mountains to ride horses, and they are loved here and even paved about 800 km of riding routes, are waiting for five specialized camps.

Detailed information on each campground and rules of conduct in the park can be obtained from one of the four information centers, they are located in Sugarlands, Central Office, Cades Cove, Oconaluftee and Clingmans Dome ). Maps, reference books, information on events and everything that the tourist needs to have available.

Flora and fauna

Much of the Great Smoky Mountains is covered by virgin forests that were not touched by the ubiquitous human hand .Altogether 130 species of trees grow here, including mighty oaks, graceful chestnuts, beeches, yellow birch, maples, silvery lime trees, poplars .Most of Smokey is famous for its wild pristine wilds, where vines and epiphytes skillfully weave into embraces with trees, creating an impenetrable labyrinth .The higher in the mountains - the more often broad-leaved forests are replaced by fragrant coniferous trees, but at the height only subalpine shrubs .

With the fauna of the national park is not worse, the choice and range is extremely rich: there are also black bears (the Smokey symbol), and foxes and white-tailed deer, and skunks, opossums, raccoons, and coyotes with bats. And they all roam quite freely over the territory of Smoky Mountains, so in the evenings it is better not to go far into the forest from tents, and all the rest of the day to fear including poisonous snakes with ticks.

Appalachian Trail

Appalachian Trail (Appalachian Trail) is the symbol of Smokey Mountains and the longest continuous route for pedestrians in the world. This is one of the most famous trails in the US, which stretches, just think !, from Maine to Georgia. Its total length reaches about 3, 5 thousand km, it is more accurate to calculate, because there are several alternative ways.

To date, there are dozens of fans of the Appalachian Trail in the States, it enjoys an incredible popularity among tourists. But do not think that you will have to follow the path by a crowd - after all, 3, 5 thousand km give a chance to "stretch out" to all comers for a comfortable distance and do not poke into the back of each other.

The route is open from spring to autumn, every year it hosts thousands of tourists (of course, not all 3, 5 thousand km, but only the liked part). There is also the Appalachian Trail and its heroes - the youngest 6-year-old conqueror who overcame all let with the parents for 8, 5 months, and the tireless 67-year-old Grendma Gatewood, who walked along the path three times with minimal equipment.

What to see

Perhaps, the Great Smoky Mountains - one of the richest in the sights of national parks in the United States. In the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries, there were several settlements of white people, as well as Indian reservations, which later equated to the "historical districts" of Smokey. And although the local residents have long been evicted from the lands of the national park, ancient houses, churches, and cemeteries, many of which are open for visiting, have been preserved here.

Cades Cove

Cades Cove (Cades Cove) - a closed valley inside the mountains, where archeologists like to dig .Findings so far not done so much, but it is for certain that in the 18th century one of the two trails used by the Indians passed through it, and later the European traders .In 1797 the .on the territory of the valley, the Indian settlement Tsiyahi ("the place where the otters live") was found .But the main local attraction is John Oliver's hut (ok .1822), the first white settler of Cades-Cove, who built a house here and lived with his wife .This is the oldest, built by the European, construction in the national park .There is also a Baptist church that gathered parishioners until the 1960s, despite all the prohibitions of the authorities, which tried to turn the park into a territory closed from daily activities of people .At one time, the administration demolished most of the buildings in Cades-Cove, leaving only the historically important .Today in the valley there is an information center, a campsite and a picnic area .

Elkmonth

Elkmont (eng .Elkmont), located in the upper valley of the Little River, is also considered to be the old habitat of the first settlers' community, later a small industrial town engaged in logging .According to the researches, the first resident of Elkmont was a certain Jacob Hauser, who suffered from a gold rush and founded the Little River colony here .Since that period, only two buildings have survived: the Studio of Avent (Mayna Treanor Avent Studio, circa 1845) and the hut of Levi Trentham cabin (1830) .Later in Elkmonte, a workers' village grew up, on the site of which today is a camping .

Okonalufti

Oconaluftee is a river and valley in the south-eastern part of the park, at the entrance from North Carolina. Here lies the boundary between the land of Smoky Mountains and the territory of the Indian reservation Kvalla-Boundari, center of which is the town of Cherokee (yes, the Cherokee, or, more precisely, the eastern branch of their clan). Directly on the territory of the National Park for tourists, there is an information center, as well as the ancient watermill of Mingus and the Museum of a mountain farm telling about the difficult life of rural residents of the 19th century.

Noah Ogla

"Noah Ogle Place", the same historical district of Junglebrook, is a few buildings erected by one of the first inhabitants of Getlinburg by Noah Ogle in the late 1880s and early 1900s. This can be said to be a sample of a typical Southern Appalachian mountain farm of the 19th century, where a "twin" house (two isolated dwellings with a common wall and a chimney), a barn and a mill were preserved.

Roaring-Fork

Roaring Fork, a stream on the shores of which several mountain farms have been preserved, is the Alex Cole Cabin, as well as the three buildings of the farmer Jim Bails (hut, barn and corn storage), the remnants of his brother Ephraim's farm Beils ("the same" plus a pigsty) and a more modern house and mill of the late 19th - early 20th centuries by Alfred Reagan.

Other attractions

To the more "shallow" but no less interesting places of Smoky Mountains is the Little Greenbrier school built in 1882, John Messer's barn built in 1875, and several former manors, for example, the Walker Sisters Place and Tyson McCarter Place.

Coordinates

Address: 107 Park Headquarters Rd, Gatlinburg, TN 37738.

How to get there: The nearest international airport that accepts flights from Russia is in Washington. From there you should rent a car and drive about 700 km (on excellent American routes it's about 7 hours) or choose an internal flight to Knoxville. Further - in any tourist bureau of the city to book an excursion or, again, to rent a car. You can get to the national park through the cities of Gatlinburg and Townshend, from Knoxville to them no more than 40 minutes drive. A visit to the national park is free of charge.