Directions: Sevierville to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

How to get to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from Sevierville.

If you’re vacationing in Sevierville likely one of your chosen destinations is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. And before you say it’s just too hard to find your way around a new place, the route from Sevierville to the national park is basically a straight line.

So, let’s say you’re in downtown Sevierville. The parkway run parallel to downtown, so if you head west from anywhere downtown, you’ll take a left onto the parkway. From there, it’s a 15 mile drive through Sevierville and Pigeon Forge, keeping right at the fork for 0.7 miles as you leave town. Soon thereafter you’ll make a right onto Park Headquarters Road and travel another 0.4 miles to 107 Park Headquarters Road in Gatlinburg – the official entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Easy as that!

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is still recognized as the most visited park system in the country with around 10 million people coming through the half-million acre nature preserve each year. Due partly to the popularity of the national park, towns like Sevierville have grown and developed. Each offer the full range of lodging choices, fine dining and exciting attractions for visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville area.

Plans for the national park originated in the 1920s with the support of groups from both Knoxville, TN and Asheville, NC— groups who wanted to protect the natural beauty the area. At the time, most of the land was owned by lumber companies, the rest consisted primarily of small family farms. In June 1934, Congress officially established the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Civilian Conservation Corps built most of the hiking trails, stone bridges, and campgrounds that travelers can still enjoy. The wealthy Rockefeller family donated the then princely sum of $5 million needed to complete the Park, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Park in 1940.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park preserves 3 visitor centers, 77 historic pioneer structures, 1,100 campsites (including 100 backcountry campsites), 11 picnic grounds, over 800 miles of trails and 700 miles of pristine streams. The wildlife protected in the park include black bear, whitetail deer, and wild turkey.


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1 thought on “Directions: Sevierville to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park”

  1. Hello there!! Great information I found here. I love this park. This park is a major tourist attraction. I have been to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the most popular and preserved area of this park is Cades Cove. You can have activities like hiking trials, fishing etc. The park is very huge and home to more than 1,500 bears. Plenty of information about this park I found on historicalplacesinamerica.

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