Great Smoky Mountains National Park—A Green Paradise

If you haven’t ridden in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park yet, what are you waiting for? Set time for a trip and get in the saddle, because you’re missing out.

Covering 522,000 acres on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the largest protected forest areas in the eastern U.S. It is also the most visited national park in the country—which should tell you just how amazing it is.

Considering the beauty and popularity of the area, it’s strange to think that we came quite close to losing it altogether. The mountains were aggressively logged in the early 20th century and, by the 1930s, the Smokies had lost an estimated 80% of their forests.

Fortunately, that was a wake-up call. In 1934, the Congress officially founded the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated it in 1940 atop Newfound Gap.

And it’s a good thing he did. Today, the Great Smoky Mountains range is home to 187,000 acres of old-growth forest—more than anywhere else east of the Mississippi River.

This national park is among the most outstanding areas of natural beauty in America. The diversity of flora and fauna in the park is nothing short of incredible.