At 75, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is at its peak

The ancient blue-green mountains with breathtaking vistas and distinctive mists are home to black bears, 19th-century log cabins, waterfalls and 800 miles of trails.

It’s small wonder the Great Smoky Mountains attract more than 9 million visitors a year, twice as many as any other national park in the United States.

“No matter what your interest is, everybody that visits here can make a personal connection in one way or another,” said Ann Froschauer, who works with key park support groups, the Friends of the Smokies and the Great Smoky Mountain Association.

“That’s why we have folks who come back year after year. They bring their kids and their grandkids. Because something here touched them.”

The 520,000-acre preserve straddling the Tennessee-North Carolina border, named by the Cherokee Indians “The Land of Blue Smoke” for its signature natural mist, marks its 75th birthday this year.