Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North Carolina runs northeast to southwest through the centerline of the park.

What do you know about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park? Try this Quick National Parks Quiz.

1) Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the United States.

• True or False?

2) An experimental program to reintroduce elk to the park was begun in 2001. Elk once roamed the Smokies, but were eliminated from the region in the mid 1800s by over-hunting and loss of habitat. Other animals successfully reintroduced to the park include river otters and barn owls.

• True or False?

3) A branch of the Iroquois nation, can trace their history in this region back more than a thousand years. Originally their society was based on hunting, trading, and agriculture. Who was the branch?

• Apache
• Lakota
• Cherokee

4) Though Congress had authorized the park in 1926, there was no nucleus of federally-owned land around which to build a park. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. contributed $5 million, the U.S. government added $2 million, and private citizens from Tennessee and North Carolina pitched in to assemble the land for the park, piece by piece. When was the park officially established?

• June 15, 1934
• June 15, 1938
• June 15, 1940

5) Elevations in the park range from 876 feet at the mouth of Abrams Creek. The highest point is Clingmans Dome? What is the elevation?

• 5,548 feet
• 6,643 feet
• 8,686 feet

6) The park has a noteworthy black bear population. What is the estimated population of black bears?

• 900
• 1,800
• 6,600

7) It is an isolated valley located in the Tennessee section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The valley was home to numerous settlers before the formation of the national park. Today it is the single most popular destination for visitors to the park, attracting over two million visitors a year, due to its well preserved homesteads, scenic mountain views, and abundant display of wildlife. What is the location?

• Pigeon Forge
• Cades Cove
• Hunter Mountain

8) Newfound Gap (el. 5048 ft.) is a mountain pass located near the center of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is the site of Roosevelt Memorial, a popular destination within the national park and the site from where former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt formally dedicated the park on September 2, 1940.

• True or False?

9) It is a former schoolhouse and church in the ghost town in Sevier County, Tennessee. Located near Gatlinburg in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it was built in 1882, and was used as a school and church almost continuously until 1936. What is the name of the school?

• Gatlinburg School
• Little Greenbrier School
• Potter Henry School

10) There are 850 miles of trails and unpaved roads in the park for hiking, including seventy miles of the Appalachian Trail. Mount Le Conte is one of the most frequented destinations in the park. Its elevation is 6,593 feet — the third highest summit in the park and, measured from its base to its highest peak, the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi River. Its Alum Cave Trail, which is the most heavily used of the five paths en route to the summit, provides many scenic overlooks and unique natural attractions such as Alum Cave Bluffs and Arch Rock.

• True or False?

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Answers

1. True
2. True
3. Cherokee
4. June 15, 1934
5. 6,643 feet
6. 1,800
7. Cades Cove
8. False. It is the Rockefeller Memorial at Newfound Gap.
9. Little Greenbrier School
10. True

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