The park is of exceptional natural beauty with undisturbed, virgin forest including the largest block of virgin red spruce remaining on earth.Ĭriterion (vii): The site is of exceptional natural beauty with scenic vistas of characteristic mist-shrouded (“smoky”) mountains, vast stretches of virgin timber, and clear running streams.Ĭriterion (viii): Great Smoky Mountains National Park is of world importance as the outstanding example of the diverse Arcto-Tertiary geoflora era, providing an indication of what the late Pleistocene flora looked like before recent human impacts.Ĭriterion (ix): The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the largest remaining remnants of the diverse Arcto-Tertiary geoflora era in the world. It is large enough to allow the continuing biological evolution of this natural system, and its biological diversity exceeds that of other temperate-zone protected areas of comparable size. The park includes the largest remnant of the diverse Arcto-Tertiary geoflora era left in the world, and provides an indication of the appearance of late Pleistocene flora. The Cataloochee area is also one of the two best places to see reintroduced elk in the national park.The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a major North American refuge of temperate zone flora and fauna that survived the Pleistocene glaciations. That’s not just because of the foliage and the abundant historical buildings you’ll see, including multiple homesteader cabins and the 1889-built Little Cataloochee Baptist Church. The six-mile (one-way) Little Cataloochee Trail in the southeastern part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park is another winner of a fall hike. And there’s plenty of fall foliage to enjoy along the way, and right around the waterfall too! You may be able to enjoy the highlight of the trail-80-foot, double-decker Laurel Falls itself-with a bit more elbow room than in the height of summer. Likely the most popular trail in all of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the 2.6-mile round-trip hike to Laurel Falls is a great choice for fall. You’ve also got an excellent chance of seeing wildlife, which tends to be in peak hustle-and-bustle mode this time of year: whitetail bucks and bull elk gearing up for the rut, black bears packing on the pounds as much as possible.Īt the later end of the leaf-peeping interval in the Great Smokies, furthermore, hikers may enjoy the spectacle of the high ridges and peaks dusted with the first snows of winter.Īll in all, this is a wonderful time to hoof it along the 800-plus miles of trails in Great Smoky Mountains National Park! Here are nine of the best fall hikes in the Smokies, in no particular order. The weather tends to be exceptional, with warm days and typically clearer atmospheric conditions than summertime. The colorful leaves of turning maples, hickories, tulip trees, cherries, beeches, sweetgums, basswoods, and other Smoky Mountain hardwoods aren’t the only attraction of fall hiking, by the way.
Still, there’s a lot to be said for hitting the hiking trail to actually get out into those blazing woods-or reach killer backcountry vantages with 360-degree fall-color sightlines.
You’ll be able to enjoy this wonderful natural show from the park’s road system (and from the Foothills Parkway nearby), for sure. Indeed, October-the all-around fall-color peak, usually-is the second-most popular month to visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park for this very reason. The splendidly rich forests of the Great Smokies put on a world-class foliage display across a long autumn window, drawing “leaf-peepers” from around the world from September into early November. Among many reasons the Great Smoky Mountains are so beloved is the fall colors.
0 kommentar(er)
