by Great Smokies | Activities
In the Smokies, the nighttime sounds can be magical — a comforting chorus of katydids, crickets and tree frogs occasionally interrupted by a polite conversation of owls. But imagine the surprise when that nocturnal tranquility is broken by the startling “whooshes” of...
by Great Smokies | Attractions
In pioneer times, mountain families often subsisted by carrying their garden vegetables and hand-crafted items to town to sell. Today, those traditional cottage industries are very much alive, at the Smoky Mountain Farmers & Artisans Market in downtown Bryson...
by Great Smokies | Activities
If you enjoyed Robert Redford’s 1992 film starring Brad Pitt, the phrase “a river runs through it” evokes images of fly fishermen casting for Montana mountain trout. Yet that phrase also describes Bryson City, an Appalachian fly fisherman’s paradise where the...
by Great Smokies | Attractions, Nature
If you want to see the Smokies’ annual synchronous firefly show in early June each year, you’ll have to win the lottery! NOTE: This event is near the Great Smoky Mountains National headquarters in Gatlinburg, TN. Since 2006, the Great Smoky Mountains...
by Great Smokies | Attractions, Nature
A visit to Bryson City’s Appalachian Rivers Aquarium my be your only opportunity to see a reclusive hellbender. They’ve been around for 6 million years, yet there are people who have spent their entire life in these mountains and have never seen one. The aquarium has...