The Great Smoky Mountains National Park – a Great Site Outside of Maggie Valley
Maggie Valley is located at the southeastern fringe of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This park features many different attractions ranging from hundreds of miles of hiking trails to all sorts of different animals and plants.
This is an amazing place to visit when in the Maggie Valley area.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was formed in 1934 by the United States National Park Service. This area is one that covers a large portion of North Carolina and Tennessee. It starts at the southeastern part near Maggie Valley and moves around the North Carolina and Tennessee state border and ends at the north near Gatlinburg and at the west on Happy Valley in Tennessee. Various parts of the park can be accessed through US Rote 441, a route near Maggie Valley and Gatlinburg.
There are many different features of this national park to check out. The hiking trails available at the park are very popular. There are more than eight hundred miles of trails scattered around the park. Many of these trails are short but there are plenty that are very long and have backcountry camping sites available for visitors.
All sorts of wildlife can be found in the park too. Black bears are especially notable animals that call the park home. It is estimated that more than fifteen hundred bears live in the park. Deer and elk can be found in the park as well. It is always exciting to observe and see these animals in their natural habitats. However, park rules state that people cannot get within fifty yards of any animals and feeding or disturbing them is prohibited.
Many plants can be found in this area too. There are more than fifteen hundred different types of plants that can be found in this park. Different types of flowers can be found at different parts of the year too.
Getting to this park from Maggie Valley is very easy to do. The park can be accessed by traveling west on US Route 19 through the nearby Cherokee Indian reservation and then up north on US Route 441, the highway that goes right through the park. It generally takes only a couple of minutes to get to the park from Maggie Valley.
When in Maggie Valley it is great to make a side trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This is an amazing park that is home to all sorts of unique parts of wildlife and plants and is very easy to get to from Maggie Valley. Be sure to visit the park's official website at nps.gov/grsm for additional details on this great place to visit.
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