While not quite as extreme as the Rocky Mountains in the West, Pennsylvania does boast its own impressive stretch of mountains, with the central part of this state being notorious for its stretch of the Appalachians. For instance, here in Happy Valley, most Penn State students live within view of Mount Nittany, a staple of the local terrain and a testament to the geological formations of the Eastern United States. Throughout the course of this blog, the vast majority of attractions covered have been found in the Western parts of the country, with the region itself containing most of the well-known and large parks in the United States. To counter this, the subject of this week’s post is found much closer to home (relatively), and shows that there is just as much to see in the East as there is in America’s former frontier.
(Image from https://www.visitmysmokies.com/blog/smoky-mountains/what-makes-the-smoky-mountains-smoky/)
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee may not be the largest park to visit, but it is most certainly the most popular. In 2018, the National Park Service reported that over 11.4 million people visited the Smoky Mountains, nearly doubling the runner up, the Grand Canyon, which boasted just under 6.4 million visitors. This is probably due to the fact that it is one of the largest and centrally located parks in the Eastern United States, as well as because of its beautiful views.
(Image from https://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/clingmansdome.htm)
The park contains, as its name suggests, the Smoky Mountain Range, a sub-range of the Appalachians, the same range that runs north through Pennsylvania. The peaks of these mountains easily rise above 6,000 feet, with Clingman’s Dome boasting a height of 6,643 feet, the highest in the park and the third highest peak east of the Mississippi River overall. This impressive and beautiful area is also known for its seemingly constant mist and fog coverage, inspiring the range’s name due to its smoke-like appearance.
In addition to the mountains, the park is home to many different varieties of wildlife. Most of the more notable animals of the Eastern United States can be found in the park, as well as several reintroduced species that had been previously hunted to extinction, such as elk. Possibly the most notable resident of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the American Black Bear, which is found in great numbers throughout the region. As someone who has personally visited the park, I can attest to this fact after seeing five bears up close in a little under a week.
While the Appalachian Mountains may not be as large as their western counterparts, the Smoky Mountains show that they can be just as impressive. With a diverse assortment of wildlife and sights to see, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a must-visit for anyone in the region. Although the park itself is much smaller than most of the others covered in this blog, it deserves all of the recognition it gets.