Hiking in the
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About the Authors Spring
Wildflower Hikes in the Smokies Recent Hikes Smoky Mountains current conditions and webcam Check out the
Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine web site |
Day Hiker’s Guide to all the Trails in the Smoky Mountains By
Elizabeth L. Etnier Graphics
by Michael Etnier Want to hike all the trails
in the Smoky Mountains? The Smoky Mountains National
Park contains 522,000 acres of forested land that traverses the Blue Ridge
mountains between Tennessee and North Carolina and may be accessed from
either state. There are approximately 800 miles of trails in the Great Smoky
Mountains (GRSM) that are officially maintained by the Park Service and may
be used for horseback riding or hiking. I have hiked all 800 miles
of trails in the Smokies, and have written the Day
Hiker’s Guide to all the Trails in the Smoky Mountains to assist others
who aspire to hike all the trails in the GRSM. Currently, there are 151 maintained trails
in the Smokies and I have laid them out in 75 easy
to follow day hikes ranging from just a few miles to over 20 miles in length.
I provide you with an approach to hiking all of these trails that minimizes
duplication of miles hiked while ensuring that no trail segments, or spurs,
are left behind. Indeed, if you follow my approach, you can hike all the
maintained trails in the Smokies in a total of only
1060 miles! Although intended for the experienced hiker, this guide is
helpful for the hiker who wants to go to a particular section of the Smokies and plan out a shorter hike that suits his level
of endurance. This guide has color-coded
maps showing the hikes for each area and tables that list the trail sequence
and total mileages for each hike. Included are a list of available car or
boat shuttle services for the more remote hikes, a handy checklist of all
trails, and over 30 color photographs of the Smoky Mountains, wildflowers,
and historic structures in the Park. Paperback, 6 x
9, Spiral-bound, 136 pages ISBN
0-9759953-6-7, $17.95 To pay by
check, order at dipnet at utk.edu (note, replace
the “at” with @ symbol) To pay with
credit card, order at www.singingriverpublications.com My passion, along with hiking, is
photographing wildflowers, and I have documented many of those that I saw
last spring. You can read about the hikes I took in the spring of 2007, and see
my photographs on my blog. I’ve included links
for the flowers I saw on several hikes to the left, on the sidebar, as well
as below.
Other spring wildflowers that I saw in the Smokies, or in my personal
wildflower garden can also be seen on my blog. To the right is a
closeup of bloodroot, Sanquinaria canadensis.
My favorites are the trilliums, and I
have a variety of species in my wildflower garden. These can be seen at this link, as well as many other wildflowers, including shooting stars, celandine
poppies, wild ginger and little brown jug. Trillium
rugelii |
