Tag Archive: hiking

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Got Over 1 Million Visitors in 2014

2014 A Huge Year For Visitors and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Last year was huge for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the park got over 10 million visitors. The busiest year was in 1999 with 10,284,000 visitors. Last year there were 10,099,000 visitors. There was also a higher number of campers in the campgrounds and backcountry camping sites. This was good news for the park since the government shutdown caused a significant loss of revenue in the 2012 year. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the second most visited National Park in the United States. The park has…
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Chimney Tops Trail Reopens After Restoration Completed

Chimney Tops Trails Restoration Completed and Reopened on Friday After three years of hard labor Chimney Tops Trail has been reopened to public access every day of the week. Restoration to the trail has finally been completed to the popular hiking trail in the Great Smoky Mountains. The trail was in need of many repairs to make the trail safer for hikers. The restoration included placing or replacing rock stairs, building retainer walls, improving drainage ditches, making or replacing log steps, removing old trees and placing crushed rock or gravel along parts of the trail. Those involved in the three-year restoration…
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park Rescue of Hiker on Mt. LeConte

Park Rangers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Rescue Hiker Sunday Another Great Smoky Mountains National Park rescue was successful by rangers this past weekend. A man had to be rescued Sunday in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A 56-year-old man hiking on a trail on Mt. LeConte had to be rescued by rangers after breaking his leg reports say. This took place this past Sunday on 11/23/2014. There was an ice warning for hikers this past weekend due to cold temperatures in the higher elevations of the Great Smoky Mountains. It is common for hiking trails in…
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Lost Hikers Found – Family of Six in Great Smoky Mountains

Lost hikers found this past weekend in the Great Smoky Mountains. The Ferrell family set out for a day hike to Mt LeConte on Saturday but had to make a cell phone call Sunday morning at 2:12am when the family became lost. The parents and their 4 children, aged 4-12, are from Louisiana and became lost  while hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains this past weekend.  After receiving the call for help Park Rangers searched both Bull Head Trail and Rainbow Falls Trail. The family of six was found early Sunday morning about 7:30am on Bull Head Trail and were…
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Popular Chimney Tops Trail Improvements Nearly Completed

Chimney Tops Trail is one of the most popular trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it is also one of the steepest and rockiest trails in the park. Crews have been working on the trail since 2012. Now crews that started working at the trailhead in 2012 have made it almost to the top. The trail work and  improvements should be completed by the middle of October. The trail was badly eroded in areas and when it rained the trail had water drainage problems that posed problems for hikers. The Chimney Tops Trail improvement project is the second Trails Forever…
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