“The Green Tunnel” through the Smokies

The Appalachian Trail (AT) is an iconic American long-distance path. In Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it runs over 70 miles along the park’s high ridges and gaps, including Clingmans Dome, the highest point on the AT. For many hikers, it’s the premier trail in the park. And while the trail runs predominantly along the […]

Horace Kephart, “a student, first, last, and always”

In early 2009, during the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Libby Kephart Hargrave, the great-granddaughter of noted Smoky Mountain writer Horace Kephart, offered a complete manuscript of an unpublished novel, written in the 1920s by her ancestor, to the director of Great Smoky Mountains Association for possible publication. The novel, […]

Henry Lix, founder of the park’s natural history association

Seventy years ago, a friendly and generous man with boundless curiosity founded the park partner organization that today is known as Great Smoky Mountains Association. As GSMA celebrates seven decades of educational service and now nearly $50 million in support to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, we reflect on this important pioneer and how he […]

Eric Mingus uncovers origins of a famous family’s saga

Eric Mingus is intimately familiar with his father’s story. For better or worse, it’s a story that has followed him throughout his life and shaped his own path as a performing artist. The story goes something like this: Born in 1922, Charles Mingus Jr. came of age in Los Angeles, California, where he received training […]

Trailside Talk: Appreciating the forest for the trees­­­

Visits to Great Smoky Mountains National Park often are highlighted by sudden “moments” among the all-encompassing trees. A black bear and her cubs pop out of undergrowth along a park roadway. The dense tree canopy on a ridge opens to reveal a view stretching far into the distance. A majestic old-growth tree spreads its branches […]

Camp Margaret Townsend: Wild women in the woods

I was perched one day on the stoop of my tiny apartment on the campus of Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont when an old woman walked up to me and said, “You’re sitting where my kitchen used to be.” I’ve had numerous encounters over the years with such individuals, each of whom spent time […]

70 years of partnership: Trio of leaders reflects on GSMA legacy

In 2023, GSMA celebrates its 70th year of continuous operations supporting Great Smoky Mountains National Park—a major milestone that has us looking back to chart the evolution of the organization and the work it has accomplished over that time. An interview with the late Terry Maddox along with Steve Kemp and Kent Cave in the fall […]

Volunteer Robin Goddard helps bring park’s rich history to life

I never imagined a pumpkin might mean the difference between life and death. The only time I’ve ever paid the slightest attention to the large, lopsided orange fruit is during jack-o’-lantern and pumpkin pie season. Then I met Robin Goddard during my stint as the 2022 Steve Kemp Writer-in-Residence and was, as I have so […]

African American project leader reflects on 2022, plans for 2023

Who were they? How did they get here? What were their lives like? These are questions that constantly resonate with me when I gaze upon clouds and mountains and dare to consider the 9,000 years of human history that lie untold within this region that we call home. Often left out of the popular modern […]

Moonshining in and around the Great Smokies: Part 2 – the process

With some variations, all moonshiners used common techniques for making illegal whiskey. The process, bolstered by a few secret tricks of the trade, was passed down through the generations. Former revenue agent John Wesley Atkinson in After the Moonshiners By One of the Raiders: A Book of Thrilling, Yet Truthful Narratives provided extensive details on moonshine […]