The Junior Ranger program is a great way to learn about the natural wonders of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You can learn how to become a Junior Ranger in this new video with guest video blogger Walter Wuthmann.

  For some Smokies visitors, Deep Creek is an unexplored area of the park. But those visitors are missing out on a wonderland of water and forests that’s just too good to pass up. Come along on a short hike to three different waterfalls and enjoy the sights of Deep Creek in this new video.

More than two months after a tornado tore it’s way through the park, trail crews are busy clearing trails. See what it takes to clean up such a mess, and have a look at the Abrams Falls Trail now that it’s reopened in this new video. Trail closure map (June 24, 2011) Updated trail closure [...]

  Come down to the Mountain Farm Museum and get a glimpse of what life was like for women in the old days at the Women’s Work Festival. Watch weaving, cooking, and basket-making demonstrations and other activities that represent a portion of the daily chores performed by women. This year’s event will be on June [...]

Watch this video to see my trip to magnificent Mingo Falls, a stunning 180 foot cascade located just outside the park near Cherokee, NC. It’s worth a visit! And you can click here to see a beautiful full-length shot of the entire waterfall viewable from the bridge. It’s so tall that it wouldn’t all fit [...]

Even the mountains couldn’t escape the historic severe weather that occurred during the “Super Outbreak” of late April. The park has had to close several trails and portions of trails on the west end of the park during clean-up. To see some of the damage on the closed trails and the path of destruction from [...]

J.C. McCaulley spent part of his childhood growing up in Cades Cove. He and his wife Margaret have collected his stories in their book, A Cades Cove Childhood, and spoke to park visitors recently about his family and their life in the Cove. Watch this video to hear Margaret and J.C. share some stories from [...]