Information, Great Smoky National Park

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Set in some of the oldest mountains on Earth, 814-square-mile Great Smoky Mountain National Park is so remarkably biodiverse that scientists haven't even come close to documenting every living thing that resides here.

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Encompassing 814 square miles.

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The Cherokee people have lived in the lands that now comprise the park for more than 1,000 years.

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The first homesteaders began arriving in Oconaluftee.

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An irresistible lure of early 1900s industrialization.

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Inspired by the urgent need to preserve.

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Early life in the Great Smoky Mountains was tough.

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Eighty percent of the Park is deciduous forest.

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Thank the park's high elevation and ample rainfall.

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The worst of any national park in the U.S.

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The symbol of the Great Smoky Mountains.

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In 2001 a group of 25 elk were reintroduced.

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The forests of the Park are alive with wildlife.