The Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers a wide array of plant and animal life with elevations ranging from 875 to 6,643 feet. Over a half a million acres make this idyllic area one of the largest natural areas in the eastern United States. Within the park there are over 270 miles of road, offering drivers access to amazing views and a variety of forest types. Visitors can also stay within the park, either with an RV at one of the 10 frontcountry campgrounds, or the horse campground or backcountry. Hikers might also stay at LeConte Lodge, which is only accessible on foot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ridge upon ridge of forest straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Smokies are home to more than 18,000 species of plants and animals, including more native tree species than any other national park and more than 1 million wildflowers blooming on any given spring day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1587,"featured_media":2574,"parent":1834,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-destination-thingstodo.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1875","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n