Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Davises a Part of Park's Start

With the attention on this year's 75th anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, some focus needs to be on Annie M. Davis, wife of Willis P. Davis, both of whom were instrumental in the park's creation.

Stewardship Focus of Great Smoky Mountains National Park's 75th Anniversary

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is celebrating a major milestone in 2009. The park, established June 15, 1934, will mark its 75th anniversary with a yearlong celebration of the people who made it possible and an emphasis on the stewardship required to keep it viable for the next 75 years and beyond.

Settling in: From Subsistence Farming to Hopes for a National Park

In the late 1780s, John Jacob Mingus and his family moved into Oconaluftee, a North Carolina valley that had been Cherokee territory for thousands of years. Among the first known white settlers of the area that would become the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Mingus became a prosperous farmer and miller.

Smokies Elk Herd Continues to Grow

It's been a good year for the small herd of elk in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

National park officials said Thursday that 19 calves were born in 2008 and 16 survived. That nearly doubles the size of the herd from the 52 animals first released in the Cataloochee Valley on the North Carolina side of the park in 2001 and 2002 to an estimated 95 animals today.

Smokies Elk Herd Continues to Grow

It's been a good year for the small herd of elk in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

National park officials said Thursday that 19 calves were born in 2008 and 16 survived. That nearly doubles the size of the herd from the 52 animals first released in the Cataloochee Valley on the North Carolina side of the park in 2001 and 2002 to an estimated 95 animals today.

New Gun Regulations for Smoky Mountains Take Effect in January

New regulations allowing people with concealed weapon permits to carry weapons in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will go into effect in January 2009.

Gatlinburg Holiday Light Show Cuts Energy Use by 95 Percent

This year, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, perched on the edge of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is adding some green to its annual Gatlinburg Winter MagicTM holiday display. Making an early New Year’s resolution to be more sustainable, the city converted the display’s 3 million holiday lights from incandescent bulbs to LEDs (light emitting diodes), thus reducing energy costs for the event by approximately 95 percent.

Wildlife Biologist Cites Reasons Behind Bear Attacks

Great Smoky Mountains National Park wildlife biologist Bill Stiver said bear management and education of the public must take place in order to decrease harmful bear and human encounters.

Park to Hold 'Festival of Christmas Past'

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park will hold the 33rd annual “Festival of Christmas Past” celebration 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Dec. 13. The event is free to the public and will take place at Sugarlands Visitor Center.

Smokies' Formation Began 500 Million to 600 Million Years Ago

As the Great Smoky Mountains National Park prepares to celebrate its 75th year, students of history and geology are pondering questions that go back much farther than the park's creation in the 1930s. The most fascinating queries to them concern the actual formation of the mountains, their age and topography.