Fact Sheet: Great Smoky Mountains National Park At a Glance
May 28, 2009
ESTABLISHED: June 15, 1934
SIZE: 800 square miles, 1/2 million acres (1/4 million each in North Carolina and Tennessee)
VISITATION: 9,372,253 recreational visits in 2007. The park is located within 550 miles of one-third of the American population and receives the highest visitation of any of the 58 national parks. The second most heavily visited national park is Grand Canyon with 4.4 million visits, third is Yosemite at 3.3 million, and Yellowstone is fourth at 3.2 million
RECREATION: Hands-on exploration and educational experiences:
- 10 developed campgrounds with a total of 1000 sites
- 100-plus backcountry campsites, including shelters
- 11 picnic areas, totaling 1050 sites
- 800-plus miles of trails, including 70 miles of the Appalachian Trail
- 384 miles of roadway for scenic driving
- 730 miles of fish-bearing streams and another 1,300 miles of tributaries
- 80 historic structures, with preserved scenes and landscapes
- 4 horse riding stables
- Educational experiences: family-friendly ranger led programs and kids programs; Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont and University of Tennessee Field School workshops and classes
BUILDINGS: 342 structures are maintained which includes 78 historic structures preserving Southern Appalachian heritage, including log buildings, churches, schoolhouses, barns, and working grist mills
VISITOR CENTERS: Sugarlands and Cades Cove, TN, and Oconaluftee, NC
MOUNTAINS: Elevation in the park ranges from 840 feet to 6,643 feet with 16 peaks exceed 6,000 feet
STREAMS: 2100+ miles total, 700+ miles for fishing
PRIMARY RESOURCES: The park is a defacto wilderness with 95 percent of the land forested, of which 25 percent is old-growth forest. It is renowned for the diversity of plant and animal life and scenic beauty of its ancient mountains. The park preserves a significant collection of historic structures, representing European settlement in the 1800s, and has six historic districts.
SIGNIFICANT RESOURCE ISSUES: Air quality impacts on park flora, fauna, soil, and water; impact of non-native insects and diseases on forest; impact of visitor use on backcountry trails and facilities; and impacts to visitor enjoyment from overcrowding on park roadways during peak season
PARK DESIGNATIONS: International Biosphere Reserve (designated October 26, 1976) and World Heritage Site (designated December 6, 1983)
PERSONNEL: Approximately 240 permanent and more than 100 seasonal
VOLUNTEERS: 2,439 volunteers donated 114,364 hours in FY 2007
INTERNET SITE: http://www.nps.gov/grsm
