Great Smoky Mountains National Park
National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior
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The Official Newspaper of the Smokies • Fall 2023
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Words with a Ranger As branch chief of buildings and grounds, I oversee a talented and dedicated team responsible for maintaining 10 campgrounds, 11 picnic areas, and more than 360 structures here in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It may not be the first thing you notice as you take in the scenery, but our team works hard year-round to make sure all kinds of critical park facilities stay clean, safe, and structurally sound. I began my 31-year career in the Smokies at the age of 16 as a Job Corps member serving in Oconaluftee and then as a ‘student in training’ before I was eventually hired as a permanent staff member. Between then and now, I’ve worked as a laborer, maintenance worker, work leader, sign maker, building utility supervisor, and maintenance mechanic supervisor. If you’ve ever enjoyed a campground or picnic area in the Smokies, chances are your experience was made possible by a custodial or grounds employee. These staff members perform vital services like cleaning bathrooms, removing trash, Continued on page 8
Vacation homes constructed just prior to the creation of the national park are preserved in the Daisy Town area of Elkmont. Thirteen renovated cabins were recently reopened for visitors to explore. Image by Susan Milinkovich.
Windows into the Past Historic structures help tell the Smokies story
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he Great Smoky Mountains are home to an amazing diversity of wildlife, more than 100 species of native trees, and some of the largest stands of old-growth forest in the eastern United States. While much of this mountain range may seem like a rugged wilderness, human stories have been embedded within this landscape even longer than the park’s very oldest blackgum tree. “For thousands of years, there has been a human footprint on this land,” said Interpretive Ranger Brad Free. Today, traces of these stories can still be found in everything from the routes of trails first created by Cherokee people to the many historic homes, schools, churches, and mills maintained by the park’s Forever Places preservation crew. “Over a hundred structures have become tangible pieces of evidence
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that show us how life was here in the Smokies,” said Free. “It doesn’t give us the whole picture, but it does give us a foundation on which to gain more knowledge of the folks who once lived here.” Historic buildings recently renovated and reopened to the public include more than a dozen cabins in the Daisy Town area of Elkmont as well as the Walker Sisters Cabin near Metcalf Bottoms. Cades Cove, Cataloochee, and Oconaluftee also offer opportunities to explore the Smokies’ rich cultural history. Several structures in these areas date to the 1800s, and nearly all make use of materials sourced nearby. To learn more, talk to a volunteer or ranger, pick up a book in a park bookstore, or visit nps.gov/grsm. You can also visit Elkmont during Daisy Town Day (see page 3) or dive into the Daisy Town scavenger hunt on page 11. GreatSmokyMountainsNPS
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PARKING TAG REQUIRED! Parking in the Smokies for more than 15 minutes requires a valid parking tag (annual tag pictured). For more info, scan code with camera app
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