Hiking Trails of the Great Smoky Mountains is an essential guide to one of America’s most breathtaking and rugged national parks. The second edition of this compellingly readable and useful book is completely updated, giving outdoor enthusiasts the most current information they need to explore this world-renowned wilderness.Included here are facts on more than 125 official trails recognized by the Park Service. Each one has its own setting, purpose, style, and theme, and a...

Widely regarded as the crown jewel of the Great Smoky Mountains, Mount Le Conte harbors the greatest concentration of notable geological features in all of the Smokies. This unique book tells the history of the mountain, offering visitors a greater appreciation of its scenic splendor.Kenneth Wise and Ron Petersen combine their intimate knowledge of Le Conte with a wealth of scientific and historical information. Following introductory coverage of the mountain's geologic history and...

Located astride the Tennessee–North Carolina border, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park contains more than one hundred trails that trace eight hundred miles of rugged terrain. This fact is certain to bewilder any newcomer who might be eager to explore the Park’s backcountry but is unsure where to start. This book, intended as a beginner’s guide to hiking the Smokies, offers lively, informative descriptions of twenty-two trails that can be completed in a day or less.For anyone ...

The Best Short Hikes in the Great Smoky MountainsKenneth Wise and James AndrewsLocated astride the Tennessee–North Carolina border, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park contains more than one hundred trails that trace eight hundred miles of rugged terrain. This fact is certain to bewilder any newcomer who might be eager to explore the Park’s backcountry but is unsure where to start. This book, intended as a beginner’s guide to hiking the Smokies, offers lively, informative...

In print for the first time in fifty years, Mount Le Conte is a reissue of the important 1966 self-published memoir by Paul J. Adams (1901–1985), a well-known Tennessee naturalist and the first custodian of the Smoky Mountain’s majestic summit in the years before the area was declared a national park.Appointed custodian of Mount Le Conte in 1925 by the Great Smoky Mountains Conservation Association, Adams went to work immediately and spent a year making the camp suitable f...

In 1925, Paul Adams was appointed custodian of Mount Le Conte, the third-highest peak of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. His job was to welcome tourists, give guided tours, and establish a camp that would become known as LeConte Lodge, which still stands in what has become America's most popular national park. Adams had everything he needed for the job: a passion for the outdoors, a love of hiking, a desire to preserve the native habitat while welcoming visitors, and the companion...

Buried By Table Rock Lake is a comprehensive study of everything covered by water with the building of Table Rock Lake on the White River in the Missouri Ozarks. Covers towns, farms, archaeological sites, natural features, ferries, camps, roads and bridges. Includes interviews with several local residents who lived in the area before and after construction of the lake and whose lives were directly impacted. Highlighted by several historical photos that reveal what the area was like before ...

In addition to the mile-by-mile guide to the highlights of the Parkway, author Rose Houk's evocative essays reveal the rich human and natural history of the entire region. Beginning with its initial conceptualization in 1906; its principal construction by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s; to its final completion in the 1980s, it is a story of American vision and dedication.Ultimately extending 469 miles, from Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina to ...

How can you know a place? Historian and naturalist Jack Nisbet—author of Sources of the River: Tracking David Thompson Across Western North America—looks to the relics of a region to connect the present moment to the distant past. In the vast Western territory defined by the Columbia River, Nisbet tracks the stories and meaning of relics such as a trilobite fossil that points to a tropical prehistoric ecology; the nearly extinct California condor, once the largest thing in the skies, descr...

Author and naturalist Marci Spencer reveals the history and splendor of the Nantahala National Forest.The 500,000-acre Nantahala National Forest dominates the rugged southwestern corner of North Carolina. Rivers such as the Cheoah, Cullasaja, and Tuckasegee carve deep gorges, making the region one of the wettest in the nation. The Whitewater River tumbles over the highest waterfall in the eastern United States. Power companies dammed local rivers, creating some of ...

"An engaging narrative . . . braiding together [Schnurr's] personal observations with history, science, and folklore." —Scott Russell Sanders, author, Earth Works: Selected Essays and A Conservationist ManifestoFor several years, Ryan Schnurr watched media coverage of Lake Erie algae blooms with a growing sense of unease. An Indiana native, he wanted to learn more about role of the Maumee River in the lake's environmental woes: the Maumee is Lake ...

Explore the sacred homeland of the Cherokee people Created in 1920, the 650,000-acre Cherokee National Forest lies north and south of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Located in the sacred homeland of the Cherokees, it pays tribute to its heritage in its name and protects ancient indigenous burial caves and portions of the Trail of Tears. By car, foot, horse, or watercraft, visitors explore the natural beauties of the region, such as the Roan, Max Patch, Unicoi, and Unaka mountains...