The timing was right: Nickens, who lives in Raleigh, NC, had already booked a site at the Smokemont Campground in Great Smoky Mountains National Park when he got a call from EV to write a kid-friendly story about the Smokies.
Salamander Capital of the World
I’ve been vacationing in the Smokies ever since I was a kid, and I couldn’t wait to unleash my own children (Markie, 11, and Jack, 8) in the East’s greatest wilderness. One thing I love about the park is that there’s always something unexpected—like waterfalls of salamanders. I’d read about Mingo Falls, a series of cascades some 120 feet high in the Big Cove region right outside Cherokee, but in all my visits to the Smokies, I’d never gotten there. I thought it’d be a quick side trip one afternoon, but once we climbed the 150 steps to the base of the falls, the kids begged to stay. Tucked into mossy cracks and crevices and scurrying across tiny rivulets were hundreds of finger-sized salamanders, dark and shiny and mottled with red spots. For more than an hour Markie and Jack clambered over wet ledges and through ice-cold ankle-deep pools to spy on the amphibians. And they’re still talking about the fun they had at “Salamander Falls.”
Extra, Extra: Elk Are Back
Black bear and white-tailed deer are common sights in the Smokies, but many visitors are surprised by the park’s recently reintroduced herd of elk. Before they were hunted out of the region in the 19th century, elk roamed across the Southern Appalachians. Since 2001, about 75 of the enormous animals have been set free or have been born in the Smokies. Radio collars help park wardens keep tabs on their whereabouts, and visitors flock to score a sighting.
By late summer, elk antlers are fully grown, and the animals are a majestic sight. During the September and October breeding seasons, the big bulls—they can weigh as much as 700 pounds—bugle with eerie squeals and grunts that carry for more than a mile. Most of the Smokies’ elk make a home near Cataloochee Valley, a deep, secluded valley that’s still pretty easy to access. From Interstate 40, take Exit 20 in North Carolina, drive 1/5th of a mile and turn right onto Cove Creek Road. It’s about a 45-minute drive to Cataloochee. Try to get there in the early morning or late afternoon, especially on cloudy days when the animals are most active.
The Appalachian Challenge
The famous 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail runs right through the middle of the Great Smokies, and many park visitors hope to notch a few miles of the trail. (Others are more ambitious: Each year, a couple of thousand hikers attempt to “through-hike” the AT, most starting in Georgia and ending in Maine. About one in four completes the trip.) A three-sided log shelter near Fontana Dam is perhaps the best known of the 250-plus trail shelters along the route. It’s a hoot to hang out at the “Fontana Hilton” for an hour or two, and then join a group of gnarly through-hikers for a few miles as they climb the hills. Many through-hikers have packages of food and supplies mailed to the Fontana Dam post office—you’ll see them eagerly opening up their care packages and letters from home. Ask a through-hiker about their most memorable night on the trail so far and you might hear about snowstorms, food-stealing bears or shelter mice running rampant at night.