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Hiking Great Smoky Mountains National Park: A Guide to the Park's Greatest Hiking Adventures
This guide features 82 hikes within Great Smoky Mountains National Park, America's most visited national park. It is complete revised and updated.
- GenresTravelNonfiction
320 pages, Paperback
First published March 5, 2013
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19 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Adams
16 books1 followerLibrarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 16, 2020
I bought this book in 2015 with the intention of heading to the Smoky Mountains for a long weekend.
That trip didn't happen until November 2020.
While my version is slightly outdated it was still full of good information. I assume the newer version has revisions related to the fires that happened in 2016. All of the hikes I did were as listed in this book.
I found this to be an excellent starting point for finding hikes then using the Official hiking guide and Nat Geo map to determine if it was a good fit for my family to tackle.
That trip didn't happen until November 2020.
While my version is slightly outdated it was still full of good information. I assume the newer version has revisions related to the fires that happened in 2016. All of the hikes I did were as listed in this book.
I found this to be an excellent starting point for finding hikes then using the Official hiking guide and Nat Geo map to determine if it was a good fit for my family to tackle.
March 1, 2018
very informative, easy to read. maps for every trail. easy to plan a trip
December 21, 2020
Before every road trip we buy a Falcon Guide. We have a shelf of them. These help us choose our hikes and decide how many days a park warrants.
Out of all the Falcon Guides we’ve ever read, this is the thickest and most detailed (the Smoky Mountains National Park IS the most visited in America,
so makes sense).
I had three major problems with this guide though:
1) The photos were pretty awful. We use photos as a way to pick hikes and the vast majority of them were uninspiring. After doing some of those “uninspiring” hikes we were flabbergasted at what the author could have taken pictures of but didn’t.
2) The author’s idea of a moderate hike is not ours or the majority of people’s I guarantee you. In this book you had the choice between a 1 mile nature trail or an 11-mile “moderate” hike or a three day backpack. There were very few hikes in the 3-7 mile range, which is what I consider “moderate.” Perhaps that’s the fault of the park? I find it hard to believe that such a large park with such a network of trails is that lacking though.
3) This author chronically bad-mouthed every trail. It became a joke with my husband and I. On first read, we were horrified that we came to such an ugly, environmentally damaged and crowded park. The more we read and hiked, the more we realized that there is such a thing as an unreliable narrator for non-fiction, and that this guy had terrible things to say about every trail no matter how beautiful. Some zingers include:
“If you’re looking to hike a true trail, this hike will disappoint you.” (207)
“If you’ve been to Gregory Bald, you might be a little disappointed in Andrews. Andrews Bald is like a smaller cousin to Gregory—fewer azaleas, restricted views and with more encroaching vegetation.” (188)
“Hiking to the top of the highest mountain in the park and the third highest in the East... is bittersweet.... On the other hand, you experience the extreme of humankind’s negative influence on the environment—smog, introduced pests, crowds and bulldozed mountainsides.” (185)
“Any day between spring and fall and weekends during the winter, you can expect to encounter a few billion people on this hike.” (117)
We actually hiked these last three and they were beautiful. Yes, a bit crowded, but it’s a crowded park, which everyone knows. And to be clear, these are not untrue facts or unfair comparisons the author makes. I have a philosophical issue with a guidebook that focuses more on the negative than the positive. There was a lot to love on these hikes that WASN’T mentioned.
Out of all the Falcon Guides we’ve ever read, this is the thickest and most detailed (the Smoky Mountains National Park IS the most visited in America,
so makes sense).
I had three major problems with this guide though:
1) The photos were pretty awful. We use photos as a way to pick hikes and the vast majority of them were uninspiring. After doing some of those “uninspiring” hikes we were flabbergasted at what the author could have taken pictures of but didn’t.
2) The author’s idea of a moderate hike is not ours or the majority of people’s I guarantee you. In this book you had the choice between a 1 mile nature trail or an 11-mile “moderate” hike or a three day backpack. There were very few hikes in the 3-7 mile range, which is what I consider “moderate.” Perhaps that’s the fault of the park? I find it hard to believe that such a large park with such a network of trails is that lacking though.
3) This author chronically bad-mouthed every trail. It became a joke with my husband and I. On first read, we were horrified that we came to such an ugly, environmentally damaged and crowded park. The more we read and hiked, the more we realized that there is such a thing as an unreliable narrator for non-fiction, and that this guy had terrible things to say about every trail no matter how beautiful. Some zingers include:
“If you’re looking to hike a true trail, this hike will disappoint you.” (207)
“If you’ve been to Gregory Bald, you might be a little disappointed in Andrews. Andrews Bald is like a smaller cousin to Gregory—fewer azaleas, restricted views and with more encroaching vegetation.” (188)
“Hiking to the top of the highest mountain in the park and the third highest in the East... is bittersweet.... On the other hand, you experience the extreme of humankind’s negative influence on the environment—smog, introduced pests, crowds and bulldozed mountainsides.” (185)
“Any day between spring and fall and weekends during the winter, you can expect to encounter a few billion people on this hike.” (117)
We actually hiked these last three and they were beautiful. Yes, a bit crowded, but it’s a crowded park, which everyone knows. And to be clear, these are not untrue facts or unfair comparisons the author makes. I have a philosophical issue with a guidebook that focuses more on the negative than the positive. There was a lot to love on these hikes that WASN’T mentioned.
July 26, 2013
Wonderful guidebook for hiking in the Smokies. There are great maps, so you know right where to go to find the trailhead. The hikes are rated by diffuculty and also give information such as trail length. I loved the descriptions of what we'd see along the way on the trails. I looked at this book several times before our trip to get an idea of what hikes to do, and then brought it along on our trip for quick reference while we were out and about. Perfect!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews