(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (light music) - Welcome to Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

There are more than 500,000 acres in this national park.

It's actually the most visited one in the entire country.

It straddles the borders of Tennessee and North Carolina, and right now, I'm here in the winter.

It's January.

It actually just started snowing, so I'm gonna be showing you some of the best things to do here in the winter.

The name Smoky actually refers to this kind of like fog and haze that hangs over the mountains here.

It's actually from vegetation, but from far away, it looks like plumes of smoke, and that's where the historical name Smoky Mountains came from.

The park is renowned for its rich biodiversity and well-preserved cultural heritage, and also offers a vast network of hiking trails, including portions of the Appalachian Trail.

It boasts a remarkable array of wildlife and plant species and miles of dense forest, cascading waterfalls, and meandering streams.

My journey through the park started in the south in the small town of Bryson City, where I headed for my first trail to see some of the park's iconic waterways.

(gentle music) My first trail here in the Smoky Mountain National Park is going to be the Deep Creek Trail to Indian Falls.

It's about 4.3 miles, and it's gonna take us by not one, but two waterfalls on our first winter hike.

(gentle music) The first waterfall lies just .2 miles into the trail, making this a great walk for even non-hikers.

Come summertime, this section of river is full with inner tubes mixed with tourists and locals alike enjoying a hot summer day floating down the river.

(gentle music) The coolest little river crossing I've ever seen.

This little one boarded bridge takes you right across the river.

(light music) There are certainly no shortage of trails here in the Smoky Mountains.

There's actually over 800 miles of trails here in this park.

70-plus miles of the Appalachian Trail also goes through this park, and if you're wanting to do backpacking trips, or multi-day camping trips, there are a ton of options with dozens of trails that are more than 15 miles in length, and there's more than a dozen waterfalls.

(light music) The Smokies are considered a temperate rainforest with up to 80 inches of rain in some areas, and all that moisture has helped give this park another nickname, the Salamander Capital of the World.

The wet conditions have made these species thrive.

There are more than 30 species of salamander, and in summer you can easily spot many species of frog, toad, and snake.

(light music) (light music continues) As you enter the park near Cherokee, you will pass the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, which has the replica of an old Appalachian farmstead.

A lot of settlers actually lived in this area before it became a national park, and when it became a national park, all those people had to move out.

Now, when we're hiking in some of these trails, we should hopefully see some of the old remains of some of the homes that still exist here, but there used to be over 1,000 people that lived in this area and more than 1,200 structures.

So this visitor center actually has a model.

You can see what it would've been like if you lived here.

Something I was really excited to see here at the park were the elk, who happened to also love this big open field by the visitor center.

Elk actually went extinct in this area more than 200 years ago, so this has been somewhat of a conservation success story that began in 2001 when the Park Service brought in 25 elk, and today, there are over 100 here in the park.

The Oconaluftee Visitor Center is a common place for you to be able to spot them and is a definite must-stop.

When you're coming up from Georgia, or North Carolina.

the main road you're gonna be on is called the Newfound Gap Road.

This road, after you pass by the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, takes you up in elevation, and right through the center of the park, spitting you out in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

The drive is beautiful, and follows along the Oconaluftee River, one of many waterways here in the park that make up more than 2,900 miles of river and stream.

Anglers will rejoice at the ample places to pull over and cast a line in the waters looking for trout.

(light music) Now, we're starting to drive up a little bit higher elevation, and there's a little bit of glimmers of snow and ice now.

So the landscape is definitely changing.

And now that we're kind of up on this ridge line also you can see all of the forests.

Back in the 1800s and early 1900s, almost all of these trees were gone.

They were logged almost to just pasture land.

And so, once this area became a national park, it gave a chance for all these trees to regrow.

(light music) (light music continues) We are heading up to Clingmans Dome today, the highest point in the Smoky Mountains.

Clingmans Dome is one of the most popular stops in the Smokies, but in the winter, the road to access the normally short stroll to the observation deck at its summit is actually closed to vehicles.

So accessing this 360-degree view of the Smokies means walking, skiing, or snowshoeing the seven miles to reach its base.

Well, the going just got a little bit more tough.

All of the footsteps that had been on the trail have now gone.

So this means everyone else that hiked this turned around a couple hundred feet back there.

There are still some cross-country ski tracks, but not a ton of fun hiking in this.

I am so fortunate today to have the most beautiful blue skies, hardly any wind, and temperatures in the high 30s, which is making this hike much more pleasurable, despite the deep snow.

One of my favorite parts is certainly seeing all the frozen waterfalls and icicles that drip on the sides of the hills.

Now, hiking a trail in winter certainly comes with its challenges, and while this hike is up a roadway, the deep snow and remoteness could put even the most experienced people in a lot of trouble.

So if you're gonna attempt this almost 20-mile hike, make sure you're prepared with the proper attire, food, water, emergency kit, headlamp, and an extra pair of dry socks, just in case.

If you do this hike in the winter, or even drive up in the summer, you will notice signs for the Appalachian Trail.

The Appalachian Trail actually runs right alongside this road.

If you wanted to, you could hike on that right now instead of on this road.

But with the conditions that we have out here, there's definitely gonna be a deeper snow pack deep into the woods.

So I'm gonna stick with the road for now, and luckily, there's another hiker in front of me packing the trail.

One of the little tricks you're supposed to do when hiking when it's below freezing, like today, is drink every few minutes out of your water bladder.

See all that?

Ice.

So things like this don't happen.

Now, I actually have a sleeve on this, which usually helps, and I usually put warm water in it, but this morning this thing is almost frozen solid just trying to get a couple sips.

(light music) This trail has so many great viewpoints to see the iconic blue color of these mountains.

And if you're wondering why they're blue, well, the trees in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina have high concentrations of VOCs, or Volatile Organic Compounds, that scatter blue light.

The Smokies also benefit from abundant rainfall, plenty of sunlight, and high levels of humidity.

Take all these together, and these factors produce a breathtaking fog that is truly worthy of the name Land of the Blue Smoke.

(gentle music) Clingmans Dome was built in 1959, and is not only the tallest point in the Smokies, but also in all of Tennessee.

(gentle music) Holy moly, that was a very long hike.

But we are at the top of Clingmans Dome right now.

As you saw on the way up here, this really cool sculptural observation tower just looks out with 360 degree views of all of the Smoky Mountains, Some of the Blue Ridge Parkway for miles and miles you can see in all directions.

What a beautiful, clear sky day.

It was certainly hard work getting here, but wow, what a payoff to be alone at the highest point in the Smokies.

(gentle music) Always, always, always pack a hot beverage on a cold winter hike.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) I just checked into my hotel here in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and I wanted to show you guys this map, because this is the park, and it shows you a great kind of glimpse of what I did today.

I'm staying at a place called the Bearskin Lodge, and it was only $100.

I've got a fireplace, and in the summertime there's a pool here.

I'm sure it's much more expensive in the summer.

So here is a map of the park.

I actually started last night down in Bryson City, and then today hiked Deep Creek, and I drove up here to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, which is where we saw that old town.

And then I drove up this way past Newfound Gap, and then up this way past the Sugarlands Visitor Center to end in Gatlinburg.

This is exactly what you need after a long day on the trails.

And today, we might not get a long day on the trails, because it's raining.

The weather today is not in my favor, so I'm gonna try and wait it out a little bit, and I figured in the meantime we could go grab some breakfast.

(light music) I grabbed some country style breakfast at a place called Crockett's, an homage to the 1950s Disney movie "Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier," which filmed in the park.

And when I had gobbled up the last bite, the rain had all but departed, and I was off to explore more of the park.

Right now, we're driving down the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, a 5.5 mile one-way loop road, which is a favorite among many visitors to this area of the park.

It's full of old growth forests, well-preserved log cabins, and some beautiful waterways.

(light music) Yesterday at the visitor center that we stopped at, we saw one of the replicas of one of these old farmsteads, and if you drive along the Roaring Fork Motor Trail outside Gatlinburg, there are actually some real old farmsteads and homesteads from many years ago back when people lived here before it became a national park in 1934.

There are about 90 structures inside the park that remain today from the days of homesteading in Appalachia, from houses like this one to barns, churches, schools, and grist mills, many of which are listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

(light music) (light music continues) Right up the road from that old farmstead is the starting point to Rainbow Falls Trail.

Now, this trail is 5.4 miles round trip and takes you to a really beautiful waterfall, and if you continue on, you can actually get to the top of Mount Le Conte, which is one of the, one of the highest mountains here in the national park.

You can also continue on from there to the Alum Cave Trail.

So you'd make this big giant loop, and it's a really pretty trail that you can do like an overnight camping, or backpacking trip on, 'cause it is over 15 miles in length if you do the whole thing.

(light music) The Smokies have a vast array of plant and animal life, so much so that it was actually designated an International Biosphere Reserve in 1976, and certified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

More than 100 types of native trees and shrubs have been identified in the park.

The Smoky Mountains actually have the densest population of black bears on the Eastern Seaboard, and because it's winter, we probably won't see one.

They tend to come out in the early mornings and late evenings, and in the winter time, they do what I like to call hiber-napping, because they don't hibernate for the whole winter, but they will take really long periods of sleep, and they'll get up to relieve themselves, have a snack, and then go back to bed.

So they're able to lower their body temperatures to almost freezing.

Squirrels do this as well, but here, it doesn't get too cold, so they're not gonna hibernate as long as they would in places like Alaska, or other places where there's lots of snow.

There are somewhere around 1,500 black bears living in the park, which is about two bears per square mile.

And in summertime, some of the roadways and busy areas of this park are known to have bear jams, slowing traffic for miles.

(upbeat music) If you do see a bear on the trail, it's very important that you do not approach it.

You always wanna back away slowly.

Make yourself known.

If it does start to come towards you, you can make a lot of noise, make yourself look bigger than you actually are, and another thing that you need to know about bears is to make sure you have proper food storage.

So if you are camping out here, or backpacking, make sure that everything is in a bear canister.

Do not litter on the trail, because this can actually kill the bears, not because of them eating your garbage, but because it brings them closer to people, and makes them less afraid, and a lot of the times this ends up in the bears having to be euthanized and caught after they've gotten into people's cars, or homes.

So please be bear-aware, and make sure that you're doing what you need to do to make sure the bears stay safe.

(upbeat music) The rain has gone away.

It is a beautiful day now, and I am so excited, because right now I'm gonna be taking you guys up the Alum Cave Trail to Mount Le Conte, which is a mountaintop here in the park, and I am just thrilled that the rain is gone.

It's about 10.5 miles round trip, and we're gonna be starting right here crossing a river, and it's gonna take hopefully less than six hours.

So let's get going.

(gentle music) Pretty chilly this morning.

I think it was about 38 when I got outta the car.

So I do have quite a few layers on today.

I've got a Smartwool long underwear.

Wool really is great at not only wicking moisture, but keeping you warm, especially if it's the base layer up against your skin.

I wore it on Kilimanjaro, and it kept me really nice and warm.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) Mile two, we are just getting over the tree line here, and now you can really see the mountain ranges.

(gentle music) We just reached Alum Cave.

This is actually where most people turn around.

It's about 2 1/2 miles in, and it's not really a cave much so as a giant overhang here, where there's lots of icicles and water dripping down.

(gentle music) We're about 3 1/2 miles in now, and (sighs) definitely working up a sweat.

The last about mile, the trail's been pretty icy.

So couple things that I highly recommend that you have in your backpack for hiking here in the Smokies in winter, or really hiking anywhere where there might be ice and snow, is to have a good pair of microspikes, which I do have in my bag.

If it gets a bit icier here, probably throw some on, and trucking poles are just such a great resource to have, especially if you don't have great balance, or you're carrying a heavy pack.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) With so many rivers and streams in this park, this trail got icier and icier as I made my way up to the summit of Mount Le Conte, and less than half a mile later, my microspikes were on, and I was clomping my way up the trail.

(gentle music) Almost there, and check out these views.

Hello, Smoky Mountains.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) Woo-hoo!

We are at the top of Mount Le Conte right now at the Mount Le Conte Lodge, which is closed right now, but this place was actually built in 1925.

It's the only lodging within Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

And if you hike up here and stay, you're gonna have some of the most amazing views of the Smoky Mountains.

The lodge itself is only open in summer, and is quite possibly one of the most unique backcountry accommodations in the National Park System.

Getting a reservation here is not easy.

It consists of seven log cabins with individual bedrooms, three lodges, and a communal dining room.

The Alum Cave Trail is just one of six trails that lead to the summit of this mountain, where summer hikers can enjoy water, packed lunches, or for those lucky few spending the night, a nice hot dinner.

(light music) (light music continues) Now, I've driven over to Townsend, Tennessee to the northwestern section of the park here, and I'm in an area pretty close to Cades Cove, which is a super popular place to come in the summer months.

Cades Cove is a broad verdant valley surrounded by mountains.

It is one of the most popular areas of the park, and was home to numerous settlers before the park came to be.

Driving through this part of the park is along an 11 mile one-way paved road, offering scenic views, numerous hikes, and a few great waterfalls.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) All right, we found another trail.

We are on the Spruce Falls Trail.

This is near the Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont, which is a research and education center that has all kinds of great activities and scholarships as well.

So this trail is just two miles round trip.

It's a short one, and can't wait to see what we find at the end.

(gentle music) If you're a rock lover like me, then you're going to love looking around the trails here, because there's a ton of quartz, pretty pink quartz.

It's everywhere, and there's tons of colorful rocks here.

Fun fact, growing up, my family and I actually had a rock tumbler, so one of the things we would always do on hikes is look for rocks and we'd bring them home and we'd put them in the rock tumbler, which luckily was in the garage, and turn that thing on for two days of really loud tumbling, but you ended up with beautiful rocks in the end.

(gentle music) (upbeat music) One of the other things I'm loving about this trail is that this is the first time we've really had the mountains in view with a great representation of that fog and mist that's coming out of the mountains that give the Smoky Mountains their name.

(light music) Okay, so there's this weird fungus.

I'll show it to you guys.

This fungus looks just like Jell-O.

It's actually a species of jelly fungus called witch's butter, and it can actually change color and grow in the rain, which isn't creepy at all.

Luckily, it's not harmful to humans, but it is considered a cannibal in the fungus world.

The Falls Trail ended at a beautiful waterfall, and with the end of the trail came the end of this adventure exploring Smoky Mountain National Park.

With miles of trail, river, and forest still to explore here, this certainly won't be my last walk through the Great Smoky Mountains.

I will see you all in the next adventure.

As always, I'm Alice Ford.

Never stop exploring.

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