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Great Smoky Mountains National Park

North Carolina & Tennessee · Established June 15, 1934

Ancient ridges wrapped in mist, and the salamander capital of the world

Area: 522,427 acres
Established: June 15, 1934
Recreation visits: 11,527,939 / yr
States: North Carolina & Tennessee
Established: June 15, 1934
Area: 522,427 acres (2,114 km²)

Great Smoky Mountains Weather Forecast

Loading the National Weather Service forecast for Great Smoky Mountains…

Seven-day outlook at the park's reference point (35.601, -83.508). Elevation changes everything in the mountains — expect colder, windier and wetter conditions on high ground.

Map of Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Park

The Great Smoky Mountains take their name from the soft blue haze that settles over their ridges, a breath of moisture and natural compounds released by the forest itself. Straddling the Tennessee–North Carolina line, the park protects one of the largest remaining blocks of deciduous temperate forest in the eastern United States, a place where spring wildflowers climb the slopes with the season and rain falls generously on the high crests.

Established on June 15, 1934, the park rises from about 875 ft in the valleys to 6,643 ft at Kuwohi, formerly called Clingmans Dome. That span of elevation packs forests typical of the southern lowlands and of Canada into a single range. Its species checklist includes more than 2,000 vascular plants, 83 mammals and 53 amphibians, most of them salamanders, making the Smokies one of the most biologically rich places in the temperate world.

Geography

The main crest of the Smokies runs roughly southwest to northeast and carries both the state line and the Appalachian Trail. Kuwohi is its highest summit, while Mount Le Conte stands as a massive, isolated summit on the Tennessee side. Newfound Gap, where the main park road crosses the crest, links Gatlinburg with Cherokee.

Dozens of rivers and streams tumble off the crest. On the North Carolina side, the Oconaluftee River flows past the park's Mountain Farm Museum, and Fontana Lake marks the southern boundary. On the Tennessee side, the Little River and Abrams Creek drain toward the Tennessee Valley. Broad limestone valleys such as Cades Cove sit among the ridges, open and pastoral in contrast with the surrounding forest.

The park covers about 522,000 acres and is the most visited national park in the United States, with more than 11 million recreational visits in a recent year. It was created from land purchased from thousands of families and timber companies, with help from John D. Rockefeller Jr. and donations from the public.

Landmarks

KuwohiPeak · 6,643 ftThe park's highest summit, formerly Clingmans Dome, crowned by an observation tower above spruce-fir forest.
Mount Le ContePeakA massive peak on the Tennessee side, home to a lodge reachable only on foot.
Newfound GapValleyThe low point on the main crest crossed by the park's primary road and the Appalachian Trail.
Chimney TopsPeakA pair of steep rock pinnacles of Anakeesta slate above the Newfound Gap Road.
Charlies BunionPeakA rocky knob along the Appalachian Trail laid bare by fire and a flood-triggered landslide.
Mount KephartPeakA crest peak named for writer and park advocate Horace Kephart.
Mount ChapmanPeakA remote peak of the eastern Smokies clad in spruce and fir.
Mount CammererPeakTopped by a stone fire lookout with sweeping views over the eastern end of the range.
Andrews BaldAreaA grassy bald near Kuwohi known for its June flame azalea and rhododendron displays.
Gregory BaldAreaA high grassy bald on the western crest famed for its hybrid azaleas.
Cades CoveValleyA broad limestone valley of meadows and historic buildings, one of the best places to see deer, turkeys and bears.
Abrams FallsWaterfallA wide, powerful waterfall on Abrams Creek below Cades Cove.
Oconaluftee RiverRiverA clear mountain river on the North Carolina side where elk often graze in adjacent fields.
Fontana LakeLakeA reservoir on the Little Tennessee River forming the park's southern boundary.

Geology

The Smokies are old mountains made of even older rock. The deepest foundation is Precambrian gneiss and schist more than a billion years old, formed from ancient sediments and igneous rock. On top of it accumulated the Ocoee Supergroup, sediments that washed off an eroding landmass into a Late Precambrian ocean basin between roughly 800 and 545 million years ago. In places those deposits of clay, silt, sand and gravel are more than nine miles thick.

Between about 310 and 245 million years ago, North America collided with Africa during the assembly of Pangea. The collision squeezed and mildly metamorphosed the Ocoee sediments into quartzite, slate, phyllite and schist, and drove great slabs of rock northwestward along the nearly flat Great Smoky Fault, so that older rock now rests on top of younger rock.

Erosion has since cut windows through that thrust sheet. In Cades Cove, the older overlying rock has worn away to reveal limestone and dolomite roughly 450 million years old that lies beneath the fault, which is why the cove has fertile soils and fossil-bearing rock. Over the ages the mountains, once likely far higher, have been worn down at about two inches every thousand years.

The Ice Ages did not bring glaciers this far south, but a colder climate brought intense freezing and thawing to the high ridges. That frost action shattered bedrock into the boulder fields still seen at the base of many slopes, and cold-adapted northern species such as red spruce and Fraser fir retreated onto the high peaks as the climate warmed.

Deep time

More than 1 billion years agoGneiss and schist of the Precambrian basement formed from ancient marine sediments and igneous rock.
About 800 to 545 million years agoSediment eroding from a landmass filled an ocean basin, forming the Ocoee Supergroup.
About 545 to 450 million years agoPaleozoic seas deposited limestone and dolomite now exposed in Cades Cove.
About 310 to 245 million years agoThe collision of North America and Africa folded and thrust the rocks along the Great Smoky Fault.
Pleistocene ice agesFrost action shattered high ridges into boulder fields, and northern species spread south.
PresentErosion lowers the mountains by about two inches every thousand years.

The rocks

Precambrian basement gneissMore than 1 billion years
The oldest rock in the Smokies, exposed in parts of the North Carolina side.
Ocoee SupergroupLate Proterozoic, about 800 to 545 million years
The thick sequence of metamorphosed sandstone, slate and phyllite that forms most of the park.
Great Smoky GroupLate Proterozoic
Part of the Ocoee Supergroup that makes up the high peaks of the main crest.
Thunderhead SandstoneLate Proterozoic
A thick, resistant metamorphosed sandstone of the Great Smoky Group forming many high peaks.
Anakeesta FormationLate Proterozoic
Dark slate and phyllite that breaks into sharp ridges like the Chimney Tops and weathers to acidic, landslide-prone slopes.
Cades Cove limestone and dolomiteOrdovician, about 450 million years
Fossil-bearing carbonate rock exposed through a window in the Great Smoky Fault.

Trees, Plants & Ecosystems

2,059vascular plant species recorded

Cove hardwood forestSheltered low and middle-elevation valleys
The most diverse forest in the park, with tuliptree, yellow buckeye, basswood and silverbell over carpets of spring wildflowers.
Northern hardwood forestUpper slopes below the spruce-fir zone
American beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including wind-sculpted beech gaps on the high ridges.
Spruce-fir forestThe highest peaks and ridges
A cool, damp forest of red spruce and Fraser fir resembling those of Canada, badly damaged by the balsam woolly adelgid.
Pine-oak forestDry, exposed ridges and south-facing slopes
Table Mountain pine, pitch pine and oaks shaped by fire and poor soils.
Heath balds and grassy baldsExposed ridges and high summits
Treeless openings covered in rhododendron and mountain laurel or in grasses, blazing with azaleas in June.
Streams and riversThroughout
Clear, cold waters supporting brook trout, darters, hellbenders and a remarkable variety of salamanders.

Trees

Red sprucePicea rubensThe dominant tree of the highest forests, surviving here from colder times.
Fraser firAbies fraseriA fir found only in the southern Appalachians, killed in large numbers by the balsam woolly adelgid.
Eastern hemlockTsuga canadensisA giant of shady stream valleys now threatened by the hemlock woolly adelgid.
TuliptreeLiriodendron tulipiferaA tall, straight tree of coves with tulip-shaped flowers.
Yellow buckeyeAesculus flavaOne of the first trees to leaf out in spring coves.
Sugar mapleAcer saccharumBrilliant orange and red in autumn in cove and northern hardwood forests.
American beechFagus grandifoliaForms beech gaps on high ridges and holds its leaves into winter.
Yellow birchBetula alleghaniensisOften perches on old stumps and boulders with stilt-like roots.
Mountain silverbellHalesia tetrapteraDangles white bell-shaped flowers in spring coves.
Northern red oakQuercus rubraA key acorn producer for bears, deer and turkeys.
Table Mountain pinePinus pungensAn Appalachian pine of dry, rocky ridges that depends on fire to open its cones.
American chestnutCastanea dentataOnce a dominant tree, reduced by chestnut blight to root sprouts that rarely reach maturity.

Wildflowers, shrubs & other plants

Catawba rhododendronRhododendron catawbiensePurple-pink blooms cover high ridges and heath balds in June.
Great laurelRhododendron maximumA tall rhododendron that forms dense thickets along streams, blooming in midsummer.
Flame azaleaRhododendron calendulaceumOrange to red flowers that light up grassy balds.
Mountain laurelKalmia latifoliaPink and white cup-shaped flowers on dry ridges in late spring.
White trilliumTrillium grandiflorumLarge white flowers that fade to pink in rich spring forests.
Turk's-cap lilyLilium superbumTall orange lilies with swept-back petals in midsummer.
Pink lady's slipperCypripedium acauleAn orchid of acidic pine and oak forest.
BloodrootSanguinaria canadensisOne of the earliest spring wildflowers, with red sap in its roots.
Dutchman's breechesDicentra cucullariaPantaloon-shaped white flowers in early spring coves.
Carolina spring beautyClaytonia carolinianaPink-striped flowers that carpet high forests after snowmelt.
RampAllium tricoccumA wild leek of rich coves, traditionally gathered in spring.
Highland doghobbleLeucothoe fontanesianaAn arching evergreen shrub that tangles stream banks.
GalaxGalax urceolataGlossy round leaves that turn bronze in winter.
Christmas fernPolystichum acrostichoidesAn evergreen fern common throughout the forests.

Wildlife

83mammals
229birds
41reptiles
53amphibians
83fish

Mammals

Black bearUrsus americanusThe park's symbol, with a population that supports frequent sightings in Cades Cove and along roads.
ElkCervus elaphusReintroduced to the park and often seen grazing in the Cataloochee and Oconaluftee valleys.
White-tailed deerOdocoileus virginianusCommon in open valleys such as Cades Cove.
Carolina northern flying squirrelGlaucomys sabrinus coloratusAn endangered glider of the high spruce-fir and northern hardwood forests.
BobcatLynx rufusA secretive hunter seldom seen by visitors.
Red foxVulpes vulpesHunts in open fields and forest edges.
Gray foxUrocyon cinereoargenteusA fox that can climb trees.
River otterLontra canadensisReturned to park streams through reintroduction.
WoodchuckMarmota monaxOften seen along roadsides in lower valleys.
Wild hogSus scrofaA destructive non-native species that roots up wildflowers and competes with native wildlife.
Indiana batMyotis sodalisAn endangered bat that roosts under loose bark in summer.
Eastern chipmunkTamias striatusA busy, striped ground squirrel of the forest floor.
Rock voleMicrotus chrotorrhinus carolinensisA rare vole of cool, rocky high-elevation forest.
RaccoonProcyon lotorForages along streams at night.

Birds

Wild turkeyMeleagris gallopavoFlocks are common in Cades Cove and other open valleys.
Pileated woodpeckerDryocopus pileatusA crow-sized woodpecker whose drumming echoes through old forest.
Barred owlStrix variaIts hooting call carries through stream valleys at night.
Northern saw-whet owlAegolius acadicusA tiny owl of the high spruce-fir forest.
Black-throated blue warblerSetophaga caerulescensNests in the rhododendron understory of higher forests.
Dark-eyed juncoJunco hyemalisA common year-round resident of the high peaks.
VeeryCatharus fuscescensIts spiraling song fills high-elevation forests on summer evenings.
Wood thrushHylocichla mustelinaA flute-voiced thrush of lower cove forests.
Winter wrenTroglodytes troglodytesA tiny bird with an astonishingly long, bubbling song in spruce-fir forest.
Common ravenCorvus coraxSoars along the high crests.
Scarlet tanagerPiranga olivaceaA brilliant red songbird of the oak canopy.
Red-breasted nuthatchSitta canadensisA northern bird that breeds in the high conifers.
Golden-crowned kingletRegulus satrapaA tiny, restless bird of spruce and fir.
Louisiana waterthrushParkesia motacillaA warbler that bobs along rushing streams.

Reptiles & amphibians

Red-cheeked salamanderPlethodon jordaniA salamander found only in the Great Smoky Mountains, recognizable by its red cheeks.
Imitator salamanderDesmognathus imitatorSometimes has red cheeks that resemble the unpalatable red-cheeked salamander.
Eastern hellbenderCryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensisA giant aquatic salamander that can exceed two feet in length, living under rocks in clean streams.
Red-spotted newtNotophthalmus viridescens viridescensIts bright orange juvenile stage, the red eft, wanders the forest floor.
Blue Ridge two-lined salamanderEurycea wilderaeA yellow salamander common near streams and seeps.
Timber rattlesnakeCrotalus horridusA venomous, generally shy snake of rocky, sunny slopes.
Northern copperheadAgkistrodon contortrix mokasenA well-camouflaged venomous snake of lower elevations.
Eastern box turtleTerrapene carolina carolinaA long-lived land turtle often seen after summer rains.

Fish

Brook troutSalvelinus fontinalisThe only trout native to the Smokies, found in high-elevation streams.
Rainbow troutOncorhynchus mykissA non-native trout introduced during the logging era.
Smoky madtomNoturus baileyiA rare small catfish of Abrams Creek.
Yellowfin madtomNoturus flavipinnisA rare madtom that has been restored to park waters.
Tangerine darterPercina aurantiacaA colorful darter of clear rivers.
Warpaint shinerLuxilus coccogenisA minnow with red and black breeding colors.
Banded sculpinCottus carolinaeA bottom-dwelling fish of rocky streams.

Insects & other invertebrates

Synchronous fireflyPhotinus carolinusMales flash in unison on early summer nights, drawing crowds to the Elkmont area.
Blue ghost fireflyPhausis reticulataA firefly that glows with a steady bluish-white light low to the forest floor.

Species totals are the park's certified NPSpecies checklist (occurrence: present).

Climate & When to Visit

The Smokies have a humid climate that changes dramatically with elevation. Temperatures can differ by 10 to 20°F between the valleys near 875 ft and the summits above 6,000 ft, and clear skies at low elevations do not guarantee clear conditions on the crest. The high peaks receive far more rain and snow than the lowlands and often sit in cloud.

Spring brings rapidly changing weather, with warm days and late frosts. Summers are hot and humid in the valleys, with frequent afternoon thunderstorms and a haze that softens distant ridges. Autumn is typically drier and clearer, with fall color moving down the slopes from the high peaks. Winters are variable, with mild days in the valleys, snow and ice on the high ridges, and road closures during storms.

Spring
March through May brings wildflowers moving uphill as the season warms, but weather swings widely, with warm days, cold snaps and snow possible at high elevations into April.
Summer
Hot and humid at lower elevations, cooler on the peaks. Afternoon thunderstorms are common, and early summer brings the synchronous firefly display.
Autumn
Generally clearer and drier with crisp nights. Fall color starts at high elevations in early October and moves downhill through late October.
Winter
Valleys see a mix of mild days and cold spells, while the crest can be buried in snow and ice. The road to Kuwohi closes in winter, and Newfound Gap Road may close during storms.

Weather hazards

Rapid temperature drops with elevation: Bring extra layers when driving or hiking to the high peaks, which can be 10 to 20°F cooler than the valleys.
Flash flooding: Heavy rain can raise mountain streams quickly, so avoid crossing high water and camp away from stream banks.
Thunderstorms and lightning: Summer storms build quickly, so leave exposed balds and ridges when thunder begins.
Winter ice and road closures: Check road status before driving to high elevations, since snow and ice can close routes without warning.
Slippery rocks near waterfalls: Wet, mossy rocks cause many serious injuries, so stay on trails and away from waterfall edges.

Great Smoky Mountains Questions

When is the best time to visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park?

Spring is prized for wildflowers and fall for vivid foliage, typically peaking in October. Summer is warm and busy, while winter offers solitude and occasional snowy scenery on the high peaks.

Why are the Smoky Mountains smoky?

The bluish haze comes from moisture and natural organic compounds released by the dense forests. On humid days this vapor scatters sunlight and creates the smoky look that gives the range its name.

How much cooler is it at Kuwohi?

Temperatures on the high peaks are often 10 to 20°F cooler than in the valleys. At 6,643 ft, Kuwohi can be cold, windy and wrapped in cloud even when the lowlands are warm and sunny.

Where can I see black bears and elk?

Cades Cove is one of the best places to see black bears, deer and wild turkeys, especially in early morning and evening. Elk are commonly seen in the Cataloochee valley and in fields near the Oconaluftee Visitor Center.

Why is the park called the salamander capital of the world?

The cool, wet mountains support an extraordinary variety of salamanders. The park's NPSpecies checklist includes 53 amphibians, 39 of them salamanders, including the red-cheeked salamander found nowhere else.

When do the synchronous fireflies flash?

Photinus carolinus fireflies flash in unison for a couple of weeks in late May to June. The park manages viewing at Elkmont through a lottery system because the display is so popular.

How old are the Great Smoky Mountains?

The rocks of the Ocoee Supergroup formed roughly 800 to 545 million years ago, and the mountains were raised when North America collided with Africa between about 310 and 245 million years ago. Erosion has been wearing them down ever since.

More parks in the East

← Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve Guadalupe Mountains National Park →

Sources: www.nps.gov · www.nps.gov · irmaservices.nps.gov · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · Official NPS site