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Visit a national park: Great Smoky Mountains
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Great Smoky Mountains (Paul McDaniel)
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
On the Tennessee/North Carolina border, the Great Smoky Mountains are ancient, but are also some of the highest in the eastern United States. Most visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park travel through the park along U.S. Highway 441 (Newfound Gap Road) between the Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and the Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee, North Carolina, and the southern terminus of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Many attractions are located along this route, including many hiking trails and trailheads, picnic areas, and sights such as the Chimney Tops, Alum Cave Bluffs trailhead (to Mount LeConte via Alum Cave Bluffs), Newfound Gap (with access to the Appalachian trail), the road to Clingman's Dome (closed in Winter), which is the highest point in the park at 6,643 feet above sea level, and several waterfalls. Another popular area of the park is Cades Cove (a farming valley with several preserved or restored structures), accessible via a road from the Sugarlands Visitor Center, or from Townsend, Tennessee. Laurel Falls is a popular waterfall along the road from Sugarlands to Cades Cove. Backpacking and camping are also popular in the park. Other, more remote areas of the park also worth visiting include: Mt. Sterling, Cosby area, Greenbriar area, Elkmont area, and Cataloochee Valley area. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited park in the National Park Service system, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve.
Driving Distances from Charlotte, North Carolina:
Cherokee, NC – 166 miles
Oconaluftee Visitor Center – 169 miles
Newfound Gap – 185 miles
Sugarlands Visitor Center – 199 miles
Gatlinburg, TN – 203 miles
For More Info:
Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Official Site)
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