The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the major point of interest in the mountains. It was founded in the 1930s as a national park serving more than 9 million visitors each year and is the most-visited US national park. Major parts of the range are also secured as the Nantahala National Forest , Cherokee National Forest and Pisgah National Forest outside the premises of the national park. The name of the Great Smoky Mountains comes from the natural mist that is seen hanging often over it. In the Blue Ridge Mountains which lies to the east of the Great Smoky Mountains , the hydrocarbons produced from the trees and other local plantations along with the extremely high humidity, create a bluish cast all over in the sky. Smog reduces the visibility radically from the Midwest and the Southeastern United States . The most important peaks of the Great Smoky Mountains are:
- Clingmans Dome 6,643 ft
- Chimney Tops 4,800 ft
- Mount LeConte 6,593 ft
- Thunderhead Mountain 5,527 ft
- Gregory Bald 4,949 ft
- Silers Bald 5,607 ft
- Mount Guyot 6,621 ft
- Mount Cammerer 4,928 ft
- Mount Sterling 5,842 ft
- Shuckstack 4,020 ft
- Newton Bald 5,176 ft
- Big Cataloochee 6,155 ft
The plantations thriving at the Great Smoky Mountains comprise:
- Bee balm
- Solomon's seal
- Dutchman's breeches
- Trilliums
- The Dragon's Advocate
- Orchids
- Red Spruce tree
- Pseudoscymnus tsugae
- Catawba rhododendron
- Rosebay rhododendron
- Flame azalea
- Mountain laurel
- Hemlock woolly adelgid
Oconaluftee River , Little Pigeon River, Pigeon River , Nantahala River originate from the Smokies while French Borad River begins its course from the Blue Ridge Mountains . The major tourist attractions in the Great Smoky Mountains encompass Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Cherokee with the most interesting recreational activities here being rafting (river tubing/in full white water) in summer and downhill skiing in winter at Ober Gatlinburg and Cataloochee. The Great Smoky Mountains is also home to legendary Dolly Parton, the famous country music singer who is linked up with the Dollywood amusement park.
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