Monthly Archive: April 2014
GSM Guide
April 29, 2014
Make plans to see this annual amazing Elkmont synchronous fireflies light show. Every year at Elkmont in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park there is a firefly viewing that is very popular and attracts thousands of spectators. In late May and early June synchronous fireflies or Photinus carolinus, a species of fireflies that live in the park provide a interesting show due to their mating pattern. This flash pattern unique to the type of firefly (also referred to by southerns as lighting bug) has a flash pattern that male and female fireflies of this species recognize and is part of their…
Read more
News
Elkmont, great smoky mountains, Synchronous fireflies
GSM Guide
April 26, 2014
Fun day for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Junior Ranger Day. Today in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was National Junior Ranger Day. Activities were held at Oconaluftee, Sugarlands and Cades Cove visitor centers. Children had fun taking ranger-guided walks, talking with a wildland firefighter, working in a blacksmith shop, and holding real animal skins, skulls and scat. Children could earn a Junior Ranger patch and Junior Ranger booklets. It was a lot of fun for the kids as well as the entire families with everybody learning neat stuff about the Great Smoky Mountains.
News
great smoky mountains national park, Junior Ranger Day
GSM Guide
April 22, 2014
US Highway 441 between Gatlinburg, TN and Cherokee, NC is a great drive this time of year. The highway goes right through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and connects North Carolina and Tennessee. With the trees turning green and the wild flowers blooming this is a great time to enjoy a ride through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There are also a lot of stops along the route for hiking, a picnic or some beautiful pictures at an overlook. The weather for the rest of the week is suppose to be really nice. Get out and enjoy this…
Read more
GSM Travel
North Carolina, TN
GSM Guide
April 17, 2014
Bear safety tips. It’s spring time and the bears are on the prowl looking for food. It is a known fact bears like to seek food in campgrounds going through trash cans or even tents and cars looking for food. If you life in a bear prone area never leave trash and garbage just lying around, the smell of the food can attract bears. Even backyard BBQ grills that have remnants of steak, chicken, fish or other grilled food can attract bears. If you are hiking or camping and you encounter a bear do not run. A bear can outrun…
Read more
News
bear safety, Clingmans Dome, great smoky mountains, nc mountains
GSM Guide
April 15, 2014
The Bloomin Barbeque and Bluegrass 2014 will be in Sevierville, TN May 16 and 17, 2014. “During Bloomin’ Barbeque & Bluegrass, Sevierville plays host to barbeque cook teams from all across the United States. If you’ve never tasted award-winning competition barbeque, you’re in for a treat. The Bloomin’ Barbeque & Bluegrass Cook-Off is a Tennessee State Championship Competition and is sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society.” Bloomin Barbeque and Bluegrass 2014 has almost 37,000 attendees each year. It’s two days of music, food, crafts and fun located in Sevierville in the shadow of the Great Smoky Mountains. Sevierville is the hometown of…
Read more
News
BBQ competition, Bloomin Barbeque and Bluegrass, sevierville, TENNESSEE
GSM Guide
April 11, 2014
An anonymous donor will give a donation of $2,185,000 to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is one of the largest cash donations ever to the GSMNP. The donation has two stipulations. The donation must be used on the Oconaluftee Visitor Center loan and a new loan for the construction of the new Collections Preservation Center. And the identity of the donor must never be made public. The Collections Preservation Center will be built in Townsend, TN and will house more than 144,000 artifacts, 220,000 archival records and 275 linear feet of library materials documenting the history of Great Smoky Mountains National Park…
Read more
News
donation, great smoky mountains national park
GSM Guide
April 6, 2014
Dollywood DreamMore Resort is going to be a 300-room resort on 100 acres of land adjacent to Dollywood Theme Park. The resort will have beautiful views of the Great Smoky Mountains, an indoor and outdoor resort pool complex, a spa, a family activities center and a farmhouse-style restaurant. DreamMore Resort will have a variety of accommodations to suit all needs and a special Dolly’s Suite Dreams celebrity suite for that added luxury accommodations. Dollywood DreamMore Resort is scheduled to open in the summer of 2015. It is sure to be an added treat to that fun Great Smoky Mountains vacation! Take a peek…
Read more
News
Dollywood Theme Park, Dollywood's DreamMore Resort, Doolywood, great smoky mountains, Pigeon Forge, Suite Dreams
GSM Guide
April 5, 2014
Hiking is popular in the Great Smoky Mountains and with this warmer weather is a great time to get out and enjoy the outdoors. Here are some popular Great Smoky Mountains hiking trails that are easy and a great way to enjoy spring after that long cold winter. Trees are turning green again and the flowers are just starting to make an appearance. Get out there and enjoy nature. Sugarlands Valley Trail-an easy 1/2 mile paved and flat trail. Accessible by wheelchair and strollers. Located at Sugarlands Visitors Center near Gatlinburg. Gatlinburg Trail- an easy 4 mile riverside trail at…
Read more
News
Gatlinburg Trail, great smoky mountains, Hiking Trails, Oconaluftee River
GSM Guide
April 2, 2014
Cades Cove was recently the site for emergency rescue mission training in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Tennessee Highway Patrol’s Aviation Unit had training in Cades Cove along with National Park Services Rangers, Tennessee State Parks Rangers, and first responders from across East Tennessee. The training involved air rescue and evacuation skills, procedures and drills. Exercises included a mock rescue of a stranded and injured “victim” and a mock rescue of an incapacitated “victim” due to severe weather. Helicopters were used as part of the training to lower rescuers down and then safely airlift a victim up into the helicopter.
News
cades cove, East Tennessee, great smoky mountains national park, National Park
