A guide to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and vicinity. Includes mountain peak identifications, using panoramic photographs, for views in and around the park in North Carolina and Tennessee. This guidebook includes articles on activities and attractions in the Smokies and the national park.

Second edition of Blue Ridge Parkway Vistas book

Johnny Molloy, who has spent more than 800 nights backpacking in the Smokies, has updated his classic guide Top Trails: Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This revised edition has been completely updated, including the new backcountry reservation system implemented in the park. He has also added some excellent hikes, some of them well off the beaten path. For example, the hike to Baskins Creek Falls takes you past a pioneer homesite and to a scenic cascade overshadowed by more popular waterfalls nearby, making it an ideal destination for those who want to escape the crowds. A longer trek traverses the regal pine-oak forests of the western part of the park, making a stop at Abrams Falls, mixing solitude with a must-visit waterfall on every Smokies bucket list. Johnny also explores early park history on a hike up Kephart Prong. Here, you can see the remains of a fish hatchery constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps, as well as a trail shelter erected by the CCC when the park was just coming to be. Backpackers will enjoy the new loop incorporating Walnut Bottoms along cascading Big Creek, coupled with a stop by historic Mount Cammerer tower, replete with stellar views, before overnighting at Davenport Shelter on the Appalachian Trail. Additionally, Johnny--who considers the Smokies his home stomping ground--makes sure that all the necessary information to help you execute a hike from directions to maps are correct. New photos add flair to the book.

Now in its third printing and second edition with 55 new images. The Great Smoky Mountains National park has a chameleon-like quality, capable of providing some subtle and some not so subtle changes to the discerning eye. For 50 years, award-winning photographer Richard Mack has tracked and captured the various vistas found in the United States¿ most visited National Park. From the top of Balsam Mountain to the fields of Cades Cove, this exquisite collection of images spans more than 50 years and showcases the immense diversity found in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, presented by the different areas within the park. Each section has an introduction by writer and long-time resident Steve Kemp. His insights presented in the foreword and chapter writings bring a unique perspective to the images - whether it's the hard-scrabble life along Roaring Fork or the history of the Native Americans along the Oconaluftee River. Yet it is the captivating colors and imagery that will bring you back again and again. Richard's view of the park ¿ from the bold seasonal displays to the subtle hues of wildflowers is exhilarating. His fresh look at familiar places transports you into a world that otherwise might not have been seen. Once your eyes take in the back country locales or some of the off-the-beaten-path areas like Cataloochee and Noland Creek, your mind will never forget. The Great Smoky Mountain National Park has described this book as the best photographic book on the park.

God only knows what possessed Bill Bryson, a reluctant adventurer if ever there was one, to undertake a gruelling hike along the world's longest continuous footpath—The Appalachian Trail. The 2,000-plus-mile trail winds through 14 states, stretching along the east coast of the United States, from Georgia to Maine. It snakes through some of the wildest and most spectacular landscapes in North America, as well as through some of its most poverty-stricken and primitive backwoods areas. With his offbeat sensibility, his eye for the absurd, and his laugh-out-loud sense of humour, Bryson recounts his confrontations with nature at its most uncompromising over his five-month journey. An instant classic, riotously funny, A Walk in the Woods will add a whole new audience to the legions of Bill Bryson fans.

One of the most accessible of the country’s national parks, Great Smoky Mountains NP is by far the most visited--averaging some 10 million visitors each year (for comparison, Grand Canyon NP averages 5.5 million annually). It covers 814 square miles in Tennessee and North Carolina. The park offers a wide variety of outdoor activities for the visitor: great hiking and camping, scenic driving routes, wildlife watching, stunning photography opportunities, paddling, fishing, climbing, and streamside rambling, as well as a number of historic sites. Highlights of a visit to the park include: Climbing Clingmans Dome Fabulous Vistas at Cades Cove Wildlife Watching at Roaring Fork Photographing Grotto Falls Rafting Pigeon River Exploring Elkmont Ghost Town Camping at Cataloochee Picnicking at the Chimneys Fishing Little River Solitude of Upper Tremont Road Biking the Loop Road

Best Easy Day Hikes Great Smoky Mountains National Park includes concise descriptions of the best short hikes in the area, with detailed maps of the routes. The 22 hikes in this guide are generally short, easy to follow, and guaranteed to please.