Locate and Access

I will locate the sources that I found from the best sources and find information within the sources.

I found how many visitors the Great Smoky Mountains had last year, which was 10,099,276.  This information is at the Natural Parks Conservation Association site:  http://www.npca.org/exploring-our-parks/visitation.html.

The national part service has a great site for the smoky mountains.  When  you google the Great Smoky Mountains look for ones that say gov because you know they are good sites.  Here is the site for the Smoky Mountains National Park from the nps site: http://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm .  Here you will find information on maps, things to do in the park, information on the park and so much more.  I want to know what to do in the park, so I click plan your visit and then things to do.  I chose auto touring, hiking, historic buildings and waterfalls.  This should keep me busy.  The favorite auto-touring destinations are Newfound Gap, Cades Cove, Cataloochee, Clingmans Dome and Roaring Fork.  I printed a map from the site and circled these spots.  There is visitor center at Cades Cove.  The sugarlands Visitor Center is close to Gatlinburg.  This is a good place to start.  There is a good rule of thumb for hiking - see how long the trail is and plan 1.5 miles per hours.  You don't want to be there after dark.  You need to beware of parking lot thieves and bears.  You may need to carry bear pepper spray.  The best places to see the historic buildings are Cades Cove, Cataloochee, Oconaluftee and along the Roaring Fork Motor Nature trail.  The waterfalls are shown on the trail map.  There are 10 that are the most popular.  The falls are: Abrams Falls, Grotto Falls, Hen Wallow Falls, Indian Creek and Toms Branch Falls, Juney Whank Falls, Laurel Falls, Mingo Falls, Mouse Creek Falls, Rainbow Falls and the Ramsey Cascades. You must decide which of these falls you have time to see and hike.  I would really like to see the last one, but it is a 5 to 7 hour hike.  I figured it would take 33 hours to go to all of the waterfalls.  I would be happy to see at least three good ones.  

 I went to tripadvisor and found hotels from 36 dollars to 117 dollars on the days that I selected.  Here is the tripadvisor site:http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g143031-Great_Smoky_Mountains_National_Park_Tennessee-Vacations.html     . If you want to find a hotel you click on hotels and it will show you the best prices.  It also has ideas about restaurants and things to do in the Smoky Mountains.  Since I plan to stay in Gatlinburg, it is best to go to www.gatlinburg.com/.  You can find things about the city, places to stay with lots of options, places to play and dine.  There are campgrounds, bed and breakfast places, cabins and other resorts.  I found a place called Camp LeConte where you can stay in a primitive ten, a safari tent and a luxury tree house from 29 dollars to 169 dollars per night.  They also have deals on the gatlinburg site.
When you click on play and family attractions you see plenty of things to do in Gatlinburg, which includes the tram and ripley's believe it or not museum and a big aquarium.