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Spring opening schedule announced for the Smokies
Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials have announced plans to open Clingmans Dome Road this Saturday, March 31.
Because weather in the Smokies can be fickle, the Dome road will continue to be monitored for hazardous conditions for several weeks and could be closed to motorists for safety reasons. For the most up-to-date information on road closures, follow SmokiesRoadsNPS on Twitter.
At 6,643 feet, Clingmans Dome is the highest point in the park and the third highest mountain east of the Mississippi. Park visitors can enjoy views from the parking area or climb the steep, half-mile walk to the observation tower on the summit of Clingmans Dome, which offers spectacular 360° views of the Smokies. Visitors may also receive information and trip planning advice at the Clingmans Dome Information Center, which includes a bookstore managed by Great Smoky Mountains Association.
View the park's spring opening schedule:
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George Masa
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The late George Masa, whose photographs were pivotal to the creation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and can be seen in GSMA's
Pictures for a Park, is among the eighth class of Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame honorees to be inducted Friday, May 4.
Through his photographic artistry, Masa captured the beauty, mystery and moods of the Appalachian Mountains, especially seeking cloud effects that created an ethereal quality, even through black-and-white images. Horace Kephart and George Masa were close personal friends who were movers and shakers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Appalachian Trail movements...
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NOTE: While our webstore is down for maintenance, call our Mail Order Department at 865.436.7318, Ext. 226, to get your copy of Pictures for a Park, which features many of Masa's iconic Smokies images.
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Caring for our park's wildflowers
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Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage:
A 2012 GSMA Video by Valerie Polk
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Registration for this year's Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage, now in its 68th year in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, has closed with nearly 800 participants signed up to attend this year's sessions.
The April 24-28 event headquartered in Gatlinburg, TN, features professionally guided walks to explore the region's rich natural and cultural resources. Pilgrims experience and hopefully come to appreciate fungi, ferns, wildflowers, trees and shrubs, medicinal plants, insects (terrestrial and aquatic), salamanders and snakes, birds, mammals (bats to bears), birds, journaling, art and photography, and park history.
All park visitors here to experience our natural diversity should bear in mind the responsibility we have to protect our wildflowers for future generations. Trampling and/or picking a wildflower means it doesn't have a chance to create a seed, thus it will never mature and pass along its unique genetic material. Don't be that human.
While Whiteoak Sink, one of the park's most pristine wildflower environments, will most likely be available to wildflower
enthusiasts during most of April, its access will be limited. Not only is the area's flora sensitive to human interactions, but its fauna, including bats occupying nearby caves, also requires care, as park officials continue their study of white-nose syndrome.
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Celebrate National Park Week!
Our April quiz is all about our national park, too.
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Congratulations!
February Quiz
Winner:
Jeff Scheafnocker, Tennessee
March Quiz
Winner: Arlin Boles, Illinois
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Rainbow Falls Trail maintenance schedule resumes April 16
Popular with visitors, Rainbow Falls Trail will be closed on weekdays beginning April 16 - November 15 for some much needed maintenance as part of the Trails Forever program. Click HERE to learn more about volunteering to help.
Rainbow Falls Trailhead begins close to the spot where a group gathered to walk to LeConte in 1924 to ascertain whether the Great Smokies would be a fitting place to establish a national park. It features the single highest-drop waterfall in all the Smokies. Other highlights of this trail are outstanding views, old-growth forests and wildflowers. Rainbow Falls Trail provides something special for every Smokies hiker.
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Take a walk to Spruce Flats Falls
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Spruce Flats Falls
A GSMA short film by Valerie Polk
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Take a walk to Spruce Flats Falls with GSMA filmmaker Valerie Polk and her family. Spruce Flats is a multi-level cascade that drops a total of 125 feet. This beautiful waterfall is reached by a 1.9-mile moderate hike, one which becomes progressively narrow, rocky and steep along the way.
Viewing the falls at the end of the trail is a worthy reward, and on this overcast spring day, the Polks were delighted to see wildflowers in bloom - or just ready to burst - including star chickweed, yellow trillium, hepatica, trailing arbutus, rue-anemone, bloodroot, toothwort, pennywort, stonecrop, and violets of purple and yellow varieties.
Listen to the quiet of the forest and the power of the waterfall in this short video. For information about waterfalls and wildflowers in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, get a copy of Waterfalls of the Smokies and
Wildflowers of the Smokies
, both available in park bookstores and by calling 865.436.7318, Ext. 226.
If you enjoy videos like this, please subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
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Into the Mist
author to speak at Hot Springs Trail Fest
Among
several upcoming public appearances for
David Brill,
author of GSMA's recent release Into the Mist, is Hot Springs Trail Fest, where he will speak Friday, April 20, at 7 p.m. at the town welcome center in Hot Springs, N.C. Brill will recount his 2,100-mile trek across 14 states as he joined thousands of other men and women following the white blazes along the Appalachian Trail.
"The annual Trail Fest celebration draws a large and diverse crowd of current thru-hikers, trail enthusiasts and nature lovers to one of the best-loved towns along the entire trail route," Brill said. "For the event, Hot Springs pulls out all the stops in providing great entertainment, food and music to celebrate the arrival of spring, when the weather's warm and flowering plants and trees are at their peak."
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Shop the Smokies
All purchases support the national park
CUB REPORT EXCLUSIVE!
You're the first to catch a glimpse of our Spring 2018 Deneen Pottery Mug featuring the delicate Southern Harebell. This mug, the next in our line of seasonal wildflower patterns, is scheduled to arrive in the Smokies by mid-April, which means you'll be sipping your favorite warm beverage from this beautiful design faster than you can say, "Mmmmm!"
"With its open, radially symmetrical flowers, southern harebell looks vastly different than its closest relative, the lobelias." ~ From
Wildflowers of the Smokies
While our web store remains offline for maintenance, all our Ranger-approved educational and interpretive products are available at all
park visitor centers and by Mail Order at 865.436.7318, Ext. 226.
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Photo by Lisa Duff
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Several workdays are scheduled in the Smokies April 5-28 along the park's heavily-used trails and nature loops in preparation for the busy summer season. Volunteers are needed to help clear limbs and debris that have fallen over the winter months along with helping repair eroded trail sections.
Workdays will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in North Carolina on April 5, 7 and 19; and in Tennessee on April 12, 21 and 28. Registration is required.
Please contact Trails and Facilities Volunteer Coordinator Adam Monroe at 828-497-1949 or
by EMAIL for workday details and to register.
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Cades Cove: A Birder's Paradise
From A Place Called Cades Cove
A GSMA film by Valerie Polk
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Audubon proclaims
2018 t
he Year of the Bird
Have you heard? Audubon has proclaimed 2018 the Year of the Bird.
From
A
udubon.org:
"We never need a reason to celebrate birds here at Audubon, but in 2018 we're making an especially big deal of them. That's because not only is it the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act - a pivotal piece of legislation that continues to save countless birds' lives - but birds are also facing many new and serious threats, including attacks on the MBTA itself. And so it's with great excitement that (Audubon has) teamed up with National Geographic, BirdLife International, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to officially make 2018 the Year of the Bird."
More than a few of us here at GSMA proudly call
ourselves bird brains. We watch out our office windows for the bluebirds to return each spring; we carry heavy binoculars when hiking and stop in mid-march when a familiar sound sings out; we put out seed and suet and mealworms at home in hopes of attracting all varieties.
So you can imagine how thrilled we are with the attention Audubon is bringing to birds in 2018, and specific attention placed on bird populations within our nation's national parks. We'll let them tell you more... Birds & Climate Change in our National Parks
Those of you who consider yourself fellow
bird brains should check out our upcoming
Birding Basics on April 21 (in TN) and 22 (in NC). Then, j
oin us for an information-packed, full-day, two-part course designed to teach new birding skills and sharpening current knowledge. Sessions will be led by Keith Watson, a local birding expert, conservationist and guide. Part one will be indoor instruction using photographs and sound bites of resident and migratory bird species seen in the Smokies. Part two will be field work and lessons on the importance of record keeping and sharing in the ever-connected digital world.
*Dry Sluice: Named for a small hollow or valley called a sluice, which has a spring-fed stream that sinks beneath the surface for several hundred yards before re-emerging. Hence, the upper part of the sluice is generally dry. - From
Place Names of the Smokies
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National Pretzel Day just got a whole lot sweeter, thanks to our honey
Think pretzels are a tasty snack as is? Try this recipe, just in time for National Pretzel Day on April 26, and find out just how exciting they can be...
Spiced Honey Pretzels
Ingredients
4 C thin pretzel sticks
3 TBSP Foods of the Smokies honey
2 tsp.
butter, melted
1 tsp.
onion powder
1 tsp. chili powder
Directions Line a cookie sheet with foil. Spray the foil with cooking spray. Place pretzels in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine honey, butter, onion powder and chili powder. Pour over pretzels and toss to coat evenly. Spread pretzels in prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 8 minutes, stirring once. Cool on a piece of parchment or wax paper, stirring several times to keep separated.
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Image and recipe courtesy of Genius Kitchen
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Cub Report subscribers are the first to see this image of our new website, which is due to launch in late April. |
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"Why is your web store not working?" "Why can't I log into my online account?" "Why is my membership listed as 'expired' when I renewed three weeks ago?"
The short answer to all these question is growing pains. As we continue working toward a more user-friendly website, we greatly appreciate your understanding and support during the transition. We're looking at a launch date sometime in April.
- Park Store
- Member Login
- Smokies Insider
NEW: Get Rooted in the Smokies members can get a head start by setting up your new website account today! This
registration process is required for member benefits, including shopping discounts, Smokies Life magazine subscription mailings and Branch Out program registration discounts. In partnership with Blackbaud.com, our membership database will be accessed through this third-party avenue.
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January
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320,864
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February
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399,156
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Total
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720,020
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Shop our Lookout League
Business owners who 'look out' for the Smokies
Bogart's Restaurant and Tavern in Waynesville, NC, has been long recognized for great steaks, soups and salads. They provide a casual family atmosphere in a rustic, old-time setting with a menu noted for practical value. Located within walking distance of Waynesville's unique shops and seasonal festival activities, Thursday nights at Bogart's usually includes live bluegrass and string band music.
New Lookout League Members
For more information about our Lookout League and how theses business professionals support the Smokies, click
HERE.
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The Smokies are just a click away...
Now available to order
HERE for FREE (+$2.50 S&H)
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Got questions? We've got answers.
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Great Smoky Mountains Association publishes The Cub Report e-newsletter the last Wednesday of each month.
Laurel Rematore, Chief
Executive
Officer
Lisa Duff, Cub Report Editor
Contributors
Ginger Alfrey, Frances Figart, Karen Key,
Valerie Polk and Peyton Proffitt
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Share your thoughts about this issue
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Connecting Today to Yesterday; Preserving Today for Tomorrow
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