Weddings in the Smoky Mountains

Details

There are no motels or rental cabins located within the national park other than Le Conte Lodge. However, communities surrounding the national park offer a wide choice of accommodations including hotels, cabins, bed and breakfasts, and campgrounds. For information about accommodations please contact:

North Carolina
Bryson City (800) 867-9246
Cherokee (800) 438-1601
Fontana (800) 849-2258
Graham County (800) 470-3790
Haywood County (877) 456-3073
Maggie Valley (800) 624-4431

Tennessee
Cosby/Newport (423) 623-7201
Gatlinburg (800) 267-7088
Pigeon Forge (800) 251-9100
Sevierville (800) 738-4378
Townsend (800) 525-6834

The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad (http://www.gsmr.com/ ) has depots in Dillsboro (15 miles south of Cherokee and on Highway 441) and Bryson City (on the Tuckasegee river) and runs a variety of scenic tours from both depots.

The guidebook describes it as a “unique journey through the scenic mountains and countryside of western North Carolina along the Murphy Branch line established in 1891”. It certainly is all of these and for both “Train buffs” and Tourists alike the experience is a great one.

As mentioned above, trips depart from both Dillsboro and Bryson City depots and include excursions to the Nantahala Gorge and Tuckasegee river, the Fontana Trestle and Whittier.

Like all small Railway organisations they have now started to run a variety of other excursions and trips and amongst these now are Gourmet Dinner trains, mystery-theatre dinner trains and train and rafting combinations from the Bryson City depot. More info

There are a a number of places within the Great Smoky Mountain National Park that cater for the teaching of Arts and Crafts. One of which is the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont (http://www.gsmit.org)

This Institute is a year round residential environmental education centre in the Smokies. The Institute offers workshops and programmes for everyone from Children to “Elderhostel” groups and teachers.

Some of the programmes and classes include from time to time, hiking, slide shows on the flora, fauna and ecosystem of the Smokies, mountain music, living history lessons and wildlife demonstrations.

Another Centre is called A Walk in the Woods in Gatlinburg and features a wide range of classes and seminars for learned, established and budding naturalists. Some of the classes on offer from A Walk in the Woods include classes on edible and medicinal plants, primitive skills, compass navigation, backpacking and nature exploration with Children.

Also in Gatlinburg is the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (http://www.arrowmont.org). This teaches year-round arts and crafts classes for everyone from the novice to the professional. Weekend classes and longer workshops cover subjects ranging from basketry and woodturning to organic sculpture and metal arts.

The Great Smoky Mountain National Park has been described as “The most magical national park in the United States of America”.

The Smoky Mountains or “Smokies” are part of the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States and the whole area is steeped in history, folklore and is incredibly beautiful to boot! The Smoky Mountain section of the Appalachians was called “Shaconage” or “Place of Smoke” (hence the name) by the native American Indians.

Like most places on the planet however the Smokies are not without the risk and threat of environmental damage (some of it caused by humans in the strangest of ways*) caused by either industrial Pollution drifting in the from the Industrial eastern seaboard of the United States and at some times of the year exacerbated by the pollution arising from the vast numbers of cars that drive through the National Park on a regular basis.

It has been said that one of the dangers threatening the Smokies is that they could be “loved to death”