{"id":3169,"date":"2015-11-23T13:19:07","date_gmt":"2015-11-23T18:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cabinsforyou.com\/blog\/?p=3169"},"modified":"2026-04-28T11:12:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T11:12:18","slug":"20-facts-about-great-smoky-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cabinsforyou.com\/blog\/advice\/20-facts-about-great-smoky-mountains.htm","title":{"rendered":"20 Facts to Know about the Great Smoky Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a beautiful place to visit, home to a huge variety of wildlife, wildflowers and trees, and trails to explore. It also has a rich history, with historic buildings and a lot of culture. It\u2019s no wonder that millions of people visit this park annually. Want to know more about the park that\u2019s such a big hit? Read on for some fun facts about the Great Smoky Mountains. <\/p>\n

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  1. \tThe Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited in the national park system, bringing in about 8-10 million visitors each year. <\/li>\n

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  2. \tMore than 17,000 species of plants and animals have been discovered in the park, and scientists believe that there may be 30,000-80,000 more species living there!<\/li>\n

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  3. \tThere are about 2,900 miles of streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and fishing is now allowed in all streams! <\/li>\n

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  4. \tElevations in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park range from 850 feet to more than 6,500 feet. The altitude change is similar to what you would find if you drove north or south across the eastern United States.<\/li>\n

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  5. \tMore than 70 historic structures \u2013 from churches and schools to mills and farm buildings \u2013 have been preserved in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This collection is the largest of its kind in the East.<\/li>\n

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  6. \tAverage rainfall in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is anywhere from 55 inches (down in the valleys) to 85 inches (on the highest peaks). <\/li>\n

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  7. \tThere are about 100 species of trees that are native to the Smokies \u2013 more than any other national park in North America. <\/li>\n

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  8. \tThe Sweet Fanny Adams Theatre in downtown Gatlinburg is the oldest professional theatre in East Tennessee. <\/li>\n

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  9. \tAlong the drive in Cades Cove, you can see black bears, coyotes, turkeys, white-tailed deer, and more. <\/li>\n

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  10. \tClingmans Dome is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains at a staggering 6,643 feet. <\/li>\n

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  11. \tMore than 1,500 flowering plant species call the national park their home. <\/li>\n

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  12. \tThe Great Smoky Mountains are the \u201cSalamander Capital of the World,\u201d home to 24 species of lungless salamanders. <\/li>\n

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  13. \tThe lungless salamanders in the Smokies \u201cbreathe\u201d through walls of tiny blood vessels in their skin and linings of their throats and mouths. <\/li>\n

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  14. \tAlong Newfound Gap Road, you\u2019ll find the Rockefeller Memorial. It stands where President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the national park in 1940. <\/li>\n

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  15. \tThe largest mammal in the park is the elk, which weighs in at almost 700 pounds. <\/li>\n

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  16. \tThe park is home to 27 species of rodents, including the deer mouse, white-footed mouse, chipmunks, gray squirrels, red squirrels, and woodchucks (ground hogs). <\/li>\n

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  17. \tThe Cades Cove loop road is only open to pedestrians and bicyclists on Saturday and Wednesday mornings until 10 a.m. <\/li>\n

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  18. \tThere are about 1,500 black bears living in the national park, which equals about two bears per square mile. <\/li>\n

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  19. \tThere are more than 800 miles of trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park! <\/li>\n

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  20. \tThe beautiful waterfalls in the park attract a lot of attention. More than 200,000 people hike to Grotto Falls, Laurel Falls, Abrams Falls, and Rainbow Falls annually.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Can\u2019t wait to head to the Smokies to experience the flora and fauna, history, and outdoor fun for yourself? Check out our wide range of cabins, from cozy 1-2 bedroom cabins<\/a> to spacious large group cabins<\/a>. You can also follow us on Facebook or check out our blog<\/a> for more information about the area, including upcoming events, area attractions, great local restaurants, and recipe ideas to try in the cabin. The area is always bursting with excitement and family-friendly fun \u2013 especially during the holidays! Grab a beer at Oktoberfest, check out the holiday lights during Winterfest, have breakfast with the Easter Bunny in spring, or celebrate summer with a fun festival! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a beautiful place to visit, home to a huge variety of wildlife, wildflowers and trees, and trails to explore. It also has a rich history, with historic buildings and a lot of culture. It\u2019s no wonder that millions of people visit this park annually. Want to know more about the park that\u2019s such a big hit? Read on for some fun facts about the Great Smoky Mountains. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited in the national park system, bringing in about 8-10 million visitors each year. More than 17,000 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[288],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cabinsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cabinsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cabinsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cabinsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cabinsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3169"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cabinsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11337,"href":"https:\/\/www.cabinsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169\/revisions\/11337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cabinsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cabinsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cabinsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cabinsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}