Great Smoky Mountains
Great Smoky Mountains, western segment of the high Appalachian Mountains in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, U.S. The Great Smokies lie between Knoxville, Tennessee (just to the west), and Asheville, North Carolina (just to the east), blending into the Blue Ridge escarpment to the east in North Carolina. They are sometimes considered a division of the Unaka Mountains. The loftiest portion lies within Great Smoky Mountains National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage site) and includes Kuwohi (6,643 feet [2,025 meters]; the highest point in Tennessee) and Mounts Guyot, Chapman, Collins, Le Conte, and Kephart—all at elevations above 6,000 feet (1,830 meters). The mountains form a popular resort area that includes the national park, a segment of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, the southern terminus of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the tourist city of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and the Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. A transmountain highway crosses at Newfound Gap (5,046 feet [1,538 meters]).
Covered by forests, of which about 40 percent is virgin growth, the Great Smokies support an abundance of plant and animal life. Large amounts of rain feed dozens of streams and waterfalls. Originally the domain of the Cherokee people, the mountains embrace the Cherokee Indian Reservation and parts of Pisgah, Nantahala, and Cherokee national forests. They were explored in the mid-19th century by Thomas L. Clingman (a U.S. representative and senator from North Carolina) and the geographer Arnold Guyot and were named for the bluish haze characteristic of the region. European farmers began to settle the valleys in the late 18th century. The mountains were heavily logged during the first quarter of the 20th century.