Great Smoky Mountains National Park - North Carolina
Posted by: 
DougK
N 35° 30.018 W 083° 18.006
17S E 291379 N 3930959
The east entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park comes through Cherokee, NC. The North Carolina side of the park is served by the Oconaluffte Visitor Center.
Waymark Code: WMKQH5
Location: North Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 05/17/2014
Views: 8
The Great Smokey Mountain NP straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The park resides in both North Carolina and Tennessee.
The Cherokee Indians described these mountains as shaconage, meaning "blue, like smoke". They farmed the land and built log homes. During the 1790s white settlement began in the lowlands and climbed the hills as eastern farmland became scarce. The Eastern Band of Cherokee now lives on its reservation next to the national park.
Alarmed at commercial logging threats to the forests, Congress authorized the park in 1926. Established in 1934, this was among the first national parks assembled from private lands. The states of North Carolina and Tennessee, private citizens and groups, and schools contributed money to purchase these lands for donation to the federal government. The park was officially dedicated in 1940 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The park was designated a World Heritage site in 1983.
No place this size in a temperate climate can match the Great Smokey Mountain NP's variey of plant and animal life. International Biosphere Reserve has recognized the remarkable biological diversity. Most of the park is now managed as wilderness. The park has over 850 miles of hiking trails including 70 miles of the Appalachian Trail threading the length of the park along the Smokies' crest.
Unlike most other national parks, there is no entry fee to the park.
Coordinates are posted near the east entrance where the national park sign is, outside of Cherokee, NC.
Note: Visit logs to this waymark should focus on the North Carolina section of the park. Visit logs for the western portion in Tennessee, should be made to waymark WM1J00.