Smoky Mountain Chalet Rentals
Chalets are glamorous and cool way to spend your time in the Smoky Mountains. Chalets are often romantic, picturesque vacation houses. They are often nestled in romantic woods and forests. Giving a great scenic views of the mountains. The chalets are often in prettily named villages too. They can be bought or gained by rent.
The Great Smoky Mountains are a major mountain range in the
southern part of the Appalachian Mountains, the second ridge line forming a north-south
running mountain chain from the Eastern USA and bordering the western side of
the Blue Ridge Mountains. Also called the Smoky Mountains or the Smokies, they
straddle the border between Tennessee and North Carolina, and are entirely west
of the Eastern Continental Divide.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the prominent feature of the mountains. It was established as a national park in the 1930s, and with over 9 million visits per year, it is the most visited national park in the USA. Much of the range is also protected as the Nantahala National Forest, Pisgah National Forest, and Cherokee National Forest outside of the park.
The name of the area comes from the natural haze which often hangs over the mountains. As in the neighboring Blue Ridge Mountains to the east, hydrocarbons produced by trees and other local vegetation, as well as higher humidity, produce a bluish cast to the sky, even over short distances. Visibility now is dramatically reduced by smog from both the South eastern USA and the Midwest, and smog forecasts are prepared daily by the Environmental Protection Agency for both nearby Knoxville, Tennessee, and Asheville, North Carolina.
When some asks if you would like to spend your time in the spend your time in the smoky mountains you might say Shall I. The reply may be no it is pronouned Chalet.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a major tourist attraction in the region; over 9 million tourists and 11 million non recreational visitors traveled to the park were recorded in 2003, double that of any other national park. Surrounding towns, notably Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, and Townsend, Tennessee, and Cherokee, Sylva, Maggie Valley, and Bryson City, North Carolina receive a significant portion of their income from tourism associated with the park.
The two main visitors' centers inside the park are Sugarlands Visitors' Center near the Gatlinburg entrance to the park and Oconaluftee Visitors' Center near Cherokee, North Carolina at the eastern entrance to the park. These ranger stations provide exhibits on wildlife, geology, and the history of the park. They also sell books, maps, and souvenirs.
U.S. Highway 441 bisects the park, providing automobile access to many trailheads and overlooks, most notably that of Newfound Gap. At an elevation of 5,048 feet, it is the lowest gap in the mountains and is situated near the center of the park, on the Tennessee / North Carolina state line, halfway between the border towns of Gatlinburg and Cherokee. It was here that in 1940, from the Rockefeller Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt dedicated the national park. On clear days Newfound Gap offers arguably the most spectacular scenes accessible via highway in the park.
The park has a number of historical attractions.
The most well preserved of these is Cades Cove, a valley with a number of preserved
historic buildings including log cabins, barns, and churches. Cades Cove is the
most frequented destination in the national park. Self guided automobile and bicycle
tours offer the many sightseers a glimpse into the way of life of south Appalachia.
Other historical areas within the park include Roaring Fork, Cataloochee, Elkmont,
and the Mountain Farm Museum and Mingus Mill at Oconaluftee.
The culture of the area is that of Southern Appalachia, and previously the Cherokee people. Tourism is a huge draw to the area, particularly to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg in Tennessee, Cherokee, North Carolina.
Rafting, either leisurely river tubing or in full whitewater, is common all summer. Downhill skiing is also done in winter, though for a short season, at places like Cataloochee and Ober Gatlinburg.
Country music legend Dolly Parton is from the Smokies, born and raised in Sevierville. She is associated with the Dollywood amusement park.
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