Recreation+Gardening
Featured
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Planning for Time on the Water
Picture this: A 652-mile trail, passing through four states and dozens of cities and counties. Impressive, right? Now imagine that it’s on a river. Read more
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Ben Anderson photo
Walking Across the Old North State
North Carolina’s wondrously diverse Mountains-to-Sea Trail zigs and zags nearly 1,200 miles, from Clingmans Dome in Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Jockey’s Ridge on the Outer Banks. It offers quite a journey across the Old North State. Read more
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Partner content: Color Me a Mountainside!
Are you ready to witness nature's breathtaking transformation this fall season? Fall is the time for all leaf-peepers to head to the mountains of Rabun County. Read more
A Grand Performance
As the days grow warmer and the landscape ripples with color, a growing treetop chorus drives the message home—spring is here, and new life is thriving. Read more
May 25, 2024
On the Trail in the Smokies
The scenic Cosby section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park harbors the trailheads for two extremely challenging trails: Snake Den Ridge and Low Gap (Tennessee side). It also is the jumping-off point for less strenuous paths. Read more
May 25, 2024
Smokies Life
One of the four nonprofit partners of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Smokies Life, now has a new home—The Great Smokies Welcome Center—a space to call its own that feels perfectly tailored to the organization’s mission. Read more
May 25, 2024
GSMNP Superintendent Talks Visitation, Parking Tag Program
Great Smokies Mountain National Park has seen new changes in recent years, from soaring record attendance placing it head and shoulders above the field for the most visited national park to a first-of-its-kind parking tag program. Read more
May 25, 2024
Holly Kays photo
The Best Medicine
I sat at a long table at Fontana Village’s Wildwood Grill, sinking my teeth into an enormous burger and enjoying a depth of peaceful happiness that I rarely achieve without a large dose of time in the woods like the one I’d just had. Read more
Mar 25, 2024
On the Trail in the Smokies
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is often called a hiker’s park. And it’s true that, across the seasons, hordes of hikers take to the park’s 850 miles of established trails to immerse themselves in a mix of scenery, biodiversity and human history. Read more
Mar 25, 2024
NPS photo
A Conversation with the Smokies' Chief Ranger
Originally from the mountains of Pennsylvania, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s new chief ranger, Daniel “Boone” Vandzura, grew up hunting, fishing and nurturing a love for the outdoors. Read more
Mar 25, 2024
He's walking the walk
Paul Curtin balanced himself on a pile of rocks and raised both fists over his head. The 57-year-old stood next to a weathered wooden sign, its white lettering almost gone: “Katahdin: Northern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail.” Read more
Jan 20, 2024
