Welcome
to The Great Smoky Mountains Backwoods with great information about
hiking, camping, and day hikes near Gatlinburg Tennessee. The Blue Ridge
Parkway is a great place for photography, picnics and views of
Appalachia beginning at Cherokee, North Carolina.
Originally a southeastern species,
indigenous to the Smoky Mountains, the
red-bellied woodpecker has extended its range into New England. It lives
in forests and backyards. It eats insects and fruits. Both males and
females work to dig a nesting cavity five to seventy feet above the ground
in a tree, utility pole, or building. It has zebra-like stripes on its
back and grows to about nine inches. The male has more red on his head.
Ray, I stumbled onto your site and was so happy to find someone else who has seen a cougar in the Smokies. Years ago I was coming back across the mountain and just to the G-burg side of the Clingman's Dome parking lot, a cougar leaped across the road in front of our car.
Probably @ 8 feet from nose to tail and bounded about twice to completely clear the two lanes. People said we didn't know what we saw but we sure did. Happy to know someone else has witnessed the beauty of one of these big cats other than me!
Mike
I was hiking alone August
17 on the Balsam Mountain Trail. I was hiking down
from the AT and had passed the trail split. A cougar walked across the trail about 35 feet down from me. I
reported it to the ranger on Sunday.
I had a can of bear spray and picked up a rock just in case. None
of this was necessary since the cougar did not pay any attention to me. (unsigned)
LeConte Trail
The image to the
right is the trail headed up Mt. LeConte at Alum Cave Bluffs
parking area. Soon, wildflowers and lightening bugs will become
alive for the season, offering everyone the chance to visit the
wilderness areas and experience the Great Smoky Mountains in full
bloom. Wildflower walks will be best between April 10th and 20th
in lower elevations then climbing up the mountain thereafter. Late
May and June is the time to find Mountain Laurel and Rhododendron.
THE
PARK: With 10 million visitors yearly, this most-visited national
park protects a delicate ecosystem of rare plants and wildlife as
well as structures representing traditional Appalachian culture.
Biosphere
reserves are areas of terrestrial and coastal
ecosystems promoting solutions to reconcile the conservation
of biodiversity with its sustainable use.
More
detailed information on biosphere reserves to be found here.
In
the UNESCO
- MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory you
will find information on all the biosphere reserves, using
the following links:
"We've
been discussing releasing elk, an elk program in the Park, for 10
years," said Park spokeswoman Nancy Gray. The talk becomes
reality Feb. 2 when 25 elk will be brought to the Cataloochee area
after a 150-year absence. The project started out with three
questions, Gray said. Is the project biologically feasible?
Politically feasible? And if so, where is the funding going to
come from?
Gatlinburg
Weather
Great blue heron Ardea herodias
