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I'm Katy Koontz and I wrote a book called Family Fun in the Smokies
that is a great guide for families to use when they visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
I've been exploring the Smokies and writing about them for more than two decades now
and I'm fascinated every time that I go. It's the most visited national park in the
country for a lot of really good reasons, and this guide will let you know
everything that you need to know for a really successful and fun visit with your family.
The Smokies is a really special place to visit.
There are more than a 100,000 life forms, both plant and animal, in the Smokies,
and it has more than any other national park in the continental U.S..
You can see elk in Cataloochee and they are such magnificent creatures.
It's such a special thing to see them especially when they're bugling in the fall.
And of course the black bear--everybody wants to see black bear when they come to
the Smokies.
You can see a mama bear putting her little black bear cubs up in a tree.
You can see deer in the meadow in Cades Cove. Sometimes they leap right across the road.
You can see butterflies, for instance. I remember going on a hike once where
butterflies surrounded me like confetti in the air. It was so special.
And then in June, they have synchronous fireflies in the Smokies that flash on
and off all together.
It's the most magical thing, and that doesn't happen
anywhere else in the United States.
The Smoky Mountains has to some of the best ranger programs in the country, and
they're not boring lectures. They're really exciting programs where kids can really
get involved. They can go hiking, they can go stargazing. They can look for
salamanders. They can do all sorts of things to really experience the park.
And also you can go horseback riding, you can go hiking. If you don't
want to go on a big hike, you can go on a short nature trail.
There are really excellent museums and exhibits.
They are terrific overlooks.
There are places that you can go to get a real high view of the mountains and the peaks.
And in addition to that, not only is there a lot of great nature here, but
there's also a lot of Appalachian history and culture here.
When the Smokies was established in the 30s, there were people living in
these mountains and the park service wisely decided to preserve some of those
buildings so that you can see them today. It's a little a slice of Appalachian life.
So you can actually walk through
grist mills and churches and barns and houses
and all kinds of places to see what people's lives were like who lived here.
So it has both the natural component
and historic component which make it really unique in the National Park Service.
We really don't spend as much time outdoors as we could or as we should.
And kids are pluged-in to all sorts of electronic devices all the time,
which is fine,
but it's also really important to turn that off
and really tune into the natural world every once in awhile, and to see what
makes it special,
and to dig your toes in the earth, and to watch a mountain stream and see the
sunlight dappling across
the top of the water.
Watch animals, watch wildlife, watch a bug.
It's really important to feel a part of this earth,
and I feel very strongly that when children are given a chance to
experience something special like the Smokies,
they really learn to appreciate it,
and then they care about saving it when they grow older.
The book is organized in a way that makes it really, really easy for families
to get the information they need to know
right away at first glance.
The first chapter talks about all the stuff families need to know. When to come
to the park, different things that are happening at different seasons, how to find
out about road closures.
It has websites and phone numbers.
It talks about what to bring, driving distances within the park.
Things like that that you need to know to be prepared.
And then it goes on to suggested itineraries for half a day,
one day, two days, or three days
that you can follow or change however you want to.
Then there's a chapter on animals that talks about the different animals in the park,
and where to go to see them and tips on how to see them.
On the plants and wildflowers and trees. It talks about the visitor centers,
scenic drives.
It describes ranger programs and different educational opportunities.
And then it talks about picnicking and every single picnic area in the park is detailed.
All the self-guiding nature trails are detailed,
all the waterfall hikes,
hikes and walks with a view,
other family fun hikes where you can see things like an old Cadillac in the bushes.
All the campgrounds are described, where to go horseback riding and getting hay rides
and carriage rides.
And then there's a chapter on fishing that tells you everything you need to know to
go fishing in the park.
And there's a couple best bets outside the park, too--educational opportunities
that are right outside the park that really enrich your experience of the park.
And in the back there's a really great geographic index too, so if you know what
area of the park you're going to, you can go to the geographic index and see all
the family-friendly things that are there to do right in that area.
I had an absolute blast researching and writing this book. It was so much fun.
I actually went and visited every single thing I talked about in the book, even if
I had been there many times in the past.
I went back and looked at every single
picnic spot, every campground, every horseback riding stable. I hiked
every single step of every single trail that I describe in the book because I
wanted to look at it again specifically from the point of view of what do families
need to know about this.
Get your copy of Family Fun in the Smokies at the Great Smoky Mountains Association website,
www.SmokiesInformation.org
or at visitor centers throughout the park.