by Great Smokies | Activities, History & Culture
In September 2013, NOC was the center of the paddling universe when it hosted the ICF Canoe Freestyle World Championships. 200 athletes from 30 different countries competed for the title of Freestyle World Champion. Bryson City’s phenomenal growth as an outdoor...
by Great Smokies | History & Culture
Years before Bryson City had its well-known ‘Road to Nowhere’, there was another road that really did go somewhere. In the 1930s, NC 288 was the only road connecting Bryson City to Proctor, a lumber town in the western end of Swain County, and beyond. The...
by Great Smokies | History & Culture
Horace Kephart’s grave. Photo: plugitinhikes. An icon of the Southern Appalachian region, Horace Kephart (1862-1931) is best known for his efforts to protect the Smoky Mountains as a national park. He was also vigilant in efforts to establish the Appalachian...
by Great Smokies | Attractions, History & Culture
A lot of people who visit Mingus Mill in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park have no idea that there is a slave cemetery adjacent to the parking lot. Off the trails of Mingus Mill and up a hill, lies a small cemetery beneath the trees. It is not known exactly...
