Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The morning sun peeks over my highest peaks, and a cool mist tickles my trees. If you stand very still, you can hear my streams babbling secrets and my leaves whispering in the wind. From far away, my rolling hills look like they are covered in a soft, blue blanket of smoke. It’s not really smoke from a fire, though. It’s a special haze that my millions of trees breathe out into the air, making me look magical and mysterious. It's how I got my name. For as long as anyone can remember, I have been a home for sleepy black bears, gentle deer, and birds that sing the sweetest songs. I have watched the sun rise and set more times than you can count. I am a place of wonder, a place of peace, and a place for adventures. I am the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

A long, long time ago, before there were roads or big cities nearby, my first friends lived here. They were the Cherokee people, and they gave me a beautiful name: Shaconage. It means “land of the blue smoke.” They knew all my secret paths and fished in my clear rivers. Then, new people called settlers came. They built log cabins and started farms. Soon, big logging companies arrived, and they saw my tall, old trees as something to sell. Their giant saws buzzed loudly, and many of my oldest trees fell down. CRASH. It made my heart sad. But then, some very kind people saw what was happening. They said, “This place is too special. We have to save it.”. They knew I needed to be protected forever. So, they worked together. Schoolchildren saved their pennies in jars. Families gave what they could. A very generous man named John D. Rockefeller Jr. heard about my trouble and gave a lot of money to help buy the land back, piece by piece. It was a giant puzzle, and everyone helped put it together. Finally, on June 15th, 1934, I was safe. I officially became a national park, a gift for everyone to share, forever. A few years later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt stood on one of my big rocks and told the whole world I was a place for all people.

Today, I am your wild playground. You can walk on my trails that wiggle through forests of giant trees. You can dip your toes in my icy-cold streams and watch salamanders scoot under the rocks. If you’re quiet and patient, you might see a family of black bears looking for berries or a white-tailed deer peeking through the leaves. And in the early summer, something truly magical happens. Thousands of my fireflies light up all at the same time, blinking together like a secret code. I am a special place where you can listen to the quiet sounds of nature and make happy memories with your family and friends. I will always be here, with my smoky hills and singing streams, waiting for you to come and explore.