Spring Brings A Colorful Procession Of Wildflowers To The Smokies

The highly varied vegetation of the Smoky Mountains includes approximately 1,500 species of native flowering herbs, shrubs and trees. And the spring ephemerals are already poking their heads up looking for sun before the trees leaf out. Appearing in March, violets, buttercups, spring beauty, pussy's toes and bloodroot make early appearances in the mountains. April & May are showy months for crested dwarf iris, trillium (seen above), phacelia, trout lily, silverbell and jack-in-the-pulpit. Take a look at our Wildflower Blooming Calendar and plan a trip to see the Smokies in Spring! ABC's Good Morning America Features the Deal's Gap 'Dragon' A November "Weekend Adventure" segment on "Good Morning America" featured the Deals Gap "Dragon," a section of Western North Carolina highway that's popular with motorcycle riders. The section of U.S. Hwy. 129 has more than 30 turns per mile. Host Bill Weir drove a North Carolina-made Indian Motorcycle along the famed highway, and interviewed Dale Walksler, curator of the Wheels Through Time motorcycle museum in Maggie Valley, about what makes the mountains such a great place to ride motorcycles. View the segment.   VISIT OUR COMPANION SITE This week's "Postcards From The Smokies — our 100th in the series — describes the origin of Fontana Dam.     Subscribe to Postcards — Email or RSS feed.     Now optimized for the iPhone.

I-40 & US 64 ROAD DETOUR INFO Two Roads Closed In Western North Carolina Due to a rockslide, Interstate 40 is closed at the Tennessee - North Carolina border. US 64 in the Ocoee Gorge is also closed due to a rockslide. Click here for a map and alternate routes to the North Carolina Smokies. All routes are open as usual from North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Anniversary year The Blue Ridge Parkway Celebrates 75 Years As The Nation's Favorite Backroad The 469-mile-long Parkway began in the 1930s as a Depression-era public works project and was more than a half-century in the making. It was the nation's first, and ultimately longest, rural parkway, connecting Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. The anniversary year kicked off in November with special events, including this one in Cherokee. For more info, visit the official 75th anniversary website. Nature's Water Park More Ways To Enjoy Water in the Smokies Nowhere else in the Smokies can you find as many ways to enjoy water as the Bryson City area offers. From mountain cascades and waterfalls to scenic rivers to the mighty Lake Fontana, you can fish, swim, ski, go boating, tubing, rafting and kayaking. More

Things To Do in the Smokies

March Events in the North Carolina Smokies

Ongoing Entertainment - Click here for more info about music and entertainment in Western North Carolina.

Through March Special Tarheel Ticket discounts for North Carolina residents on Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. Info

Friday, March 12 - Randy Travis.. Smoky Mountain Center, Franklin. More info

Sat-Sun, March 27-28 - Bank of America US Open. Nantahala Outdoor Center. More info

Bryson City — Better Known Than You Might Have Thought

Bryson City and the North Carolina Smokies have been connected with numerous books, films and songs. One of our best-known authors was Horace Kephart, whose "Our Southern Highlanders" focused national attention on the Great Smoky Mountains. And much of the "The Fugitive" starring Harrison Ford was filmed in and around Bryson City. More about Bryson City in Books, Film and Music.

Recommended By The National Media

The book "101 Best Outdoor Towns" named Bryson City the nation's third best whitewater paddling town. "If you can't find something exciting to do in Bryson City, you're not breathing," it says.

Paddler Magazine named Bryson City one of the "best paddling towns" in the US.Along with the multiple spots for great paddling, they focus on Tsali mountain bike trails, area adventure races and canoe camping on Fontana Lake.