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Bear Safety Urged by US Forest Service

April 17, 2014 0 Comments

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…
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Bloomin Barbeque and Bluegrass 2014 in Sevierville in May

April 15, 2014 0 Comments

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…
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Anonymous Donor Gives Over $2 million to Great Smoky Mountains National Park

April 11, 2014 0 Comments

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…
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Dollywood DreamMore Resort to Open in Summer of 2015

April 6, 2014 0 Comments

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…
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Popular Great Smoky Mountains Hiking Trails

April 5, 2014 0 Comments

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…
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Cades Cove Recently Used for Emergency Rescue Missions Training

April 2, 2014 0 Comments

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.

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Biking in Cades Cove

March 30, 2014 0 Comments

Get Those Bikes Ready! Did you know that Cades Cove loop road is closed to motor vehicles every Saturday and Wednesday mornings so bikers and walker/hikers/runners can have the road all to themselves? The 11 mile loop road is open only to bicycle and foot traffic before 10:00am every Saturday and Wednesday morning starting in early May and all summer long. Take a slow relaxing ride through Cades Cove on two wheels or on foot and enjoy the scenery and wildlife. Watch Biking in the Smokies: Cades Cove and Townsend by SMCVB on youtube

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Great Smoky Mountains and Blue Ridge Parkway 2014 Openings

March 23, 2014

Last spring the many attractions in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway were closed due to federal budget cuts (and the October government shutdown), but this year there will be more campgrounds and buildings opening earlier in the spring. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park will soon be opening the secondary roads that have to be closed in the winter due to winter weather, and the Blue Ridge Parkway is set to open the campgrounds and buildings earlier this year than they opened last year. Most campgrounds  and picnic areas on the Blue Ridge Parkway have an opening date…
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Dollywood Open March 22, 2014 With New FireChaser Express Roller Coaster

March 20, 2014

Dollywood opens for the 2014 season Saturday March 22, 2014. This year the new attraction is “the nation’s first dual launch family coaster – blasting riders forward and backward!” Take a trip to Pigeon Forge and visit Dolly Parton’s Theme Park near the Great Smoky Mountains. You won’t regret it!Dollywood just keeps getting bigger and better every year. Get there soon. Dollywood Tickets Prices for 2014  (one day)  Regular (Ages 12-59) $58 Child (Ages 4 – 11) $46 Senior (Ages 60+) $53 Dollywood Opens New FireChaser Express Roller Coaster!

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Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Open Seasonal Roads as Spring and Warm Weather Arrive

March 19, 2014

Major roads in and around the Great Smoky Mountains National Park such as US-441 (Newfound Gap Road), Little River Road, and the Cades Cove Loop Road are open year round when weather permits. As warm weather and spring time arrives the park will begin to open the secondary roads normally closed in the Winter. Clingmans Dome Road will open April 1 Little Greenbrier Road will  open April 11 Buses, RVs and motorhomes are prohibited on this road. Parson Branch Road will open April 11 Rich Mountain Road will open April 11 Buses, RVs and motorhomes are prohibited on this one-way…
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