14 GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
NATIONAL PARK
Horseback Riding
Three riding stables provide guided horseback rides
from mid-March through late November. Rides can
last from 45 minutes to several hours. The stables also
offer carriage rides and Cades Cove hayrides.
Junior Ranger Program
National parks offer a special Junior Ranger program Year-round Colors
for kids 5-12 years old. By completing a series of From early spring through the end of fall, Great Smoky
activities during a park visit and sharing answers with a Mountains National Park is filled with colors provided
park ranger, youngsters may receive an official Junior by more than 1,500 species of flowering plants and fall
Ranger patch and certificate. Booklets are available at foliage. Violets, black-eyed susans, trillium and azaleas
any park visitor center ($2.50) or can be downloaded at are some of the seasonal flowers that brighten the park
gps.gov/grsm. landscapes. Beginning in mid-September, leaves begin
to change to autumn glory, peaking between
mid-October and early November.
Reports on color change are
posted beginning in September at
nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/fallcolor.htm.
Wildlife
Leave It Like You Found It
Park visitors are urged to respect nature’s beauty
More than 400 species of animals, including an and leave no trace behind when you depart. Never
estimated 1,500 black bears, live in Great Smoky leave food, trash, personal items or equipment in the
Mountains National Park. Bear-watching opportunities park. Regulations for leaving the park like you found
are best along Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail and it are at nps.gov.
Cades Cove Loop Road. Remember that wildlife
should be viewed at a safe distance.
Reminder:
Wildlife should be viewed
at a safe distance.