Category Archives: Scenic Views

Spring Fever in the Smokies

  Experience the joys of spring, from cheerful wildflowers to adorable bear cubs and more, with this new video featuring the beautiful music of Bill Mize. You may recognize wild geranium, squawroot, yellow mandarin, and Vasey’s trillium soaking up the cool spring air. Enjoy!

Dogwoods in Bloom

Beautiful dogwood trees are common below 3,000 feet in the Smokies. With their showy white displays, they brighten up the forests during this time of year and remind us that spring is here but a short time. Get out in the park to see them right now, or take a look at this short video [...]

Beautiful Snowy Monday in the Mountains

The snow isn’t ready to go away quite yet, and Monday brought one of the most lovely and accessible snows we’ve had this winter. A morning drive on Newfound Gap Road treated visitors to a wonderland of stately trees ornately trimmed in white. And although clouds loomed around the Chimney Tops, higher on up at [...]

A Winter Postcard… Farewell to Winter!

I believe this is a golden-crowned kinglet.   The weather is beautiful in the park right now. You can almost feel spring in the air. And after all the snow we’ve had, we are READY! But maybe, just maybe, you haven’t had enough of winter yet? If you’d like to take a moment to reminisce [...]

Baskins Creek Falls Hike in Winter

Join Elizabeth and Jill for a winter hike to Baskins Creek Falls, one of the less visited waterfalls in the park. A stop at the Baskins Cemetery reminds us that this area was once a mountain community. To see it, and to find out how Baskins Creek got its name, click here to watch the [...]

A Year in the Smokies: 2010

  Experience another year’s worth of Smokies moments in this short film. Click here or on the photo to see it all. Closed captioning is available for this video by clicking the caption button in the lower right-hand corner of the video controls.

A Touch of Snow

A cold chill is in the air and temperatures are lower than we’d usually expect this early in December–highs below freezing! Snow is piling up on top of the highest mountains. Newfound Gap: 12 inches of snow, Mount Le Conte: 17 inches! Watch out for Newfound Gap Road to be closed when the snow sets [...]

Our Mountain Music Heritage

Music is abundant in this region, but do you know where our musical roots came from originally? Find out in this video featuring historic recordings from 1939 and performances from the Townsend Heritage Festival and the Mountain Life Festival at Oconaluftee Visitor Center in the park. Click here and enjoy! Closed captioning is available for [...]