Guide Sections
Use History of the Park's guide sections to understand how this stop fits into the larger park plan.
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History of the Park Details
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Learn About the Park
Great Smoky Mountain National Park straddles the border between Tennessee and North Carolina, encompassing 814 square miles centered on the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains. The peaks of the Smokies get up to 85 inches of rainfall each year, qualifying the upper elevations as temperate rain forests. The mountains were named by the Cherokee people for the blue mists that cling to the high peaks -- the result of rain and evaporation from trees. The most-visited national park in the United States, Great Smoky Mountain National Park was established in 1934.