PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (Nov. 19, 2013) – Country singer Craig Campbell, who reached a radio airplay audience of more than a billion listeners in 2012, has booked an acoustic show for a much smaller number of people in Pigeon Forge – 500 maximum. Campbell – whose hits include “Family Man,” “Fish” and “When I Get […]
The only telethon in the U.S. for a national park is on the calendar for Aug. 19 (Thursday) to raise money for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is the 19th Annual Friends Across the Mountains Telethon, a project of Friends of the Smokies, an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that supports America’s most visited national […]
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK (July 15, 2013) – A popular trail on the Tennessee side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park is open for weekend hikers after replacement of a 70-foot-long bridge over a mountain stream. Chimney Tops Trail itself is undergoing a full rehabilitation from a Trails Forever crew every Monday through Thursday […]
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK (April 15, 2013) – Instead of marking April 15 as the deadline to file income tax returns, many people near America’s most visited national park celebrated the day because of the reopening of Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441). The road – which links the Sugarlands Visitor Center in Tennessee with […]
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK (April 2013) – At age 50, the Sugarlands Visitor Center at Great Smoky Mountains National Park has gotten a major facelift. The Great Smoky Mountains Association and Friends of the Smokies, two private sector organizations, funded the project. Approximately 850,000 visitors a year come through the visitor center, which is […]
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (March 2013) – Handmade quilts can be many things in one – a source of warmth, works of art, family heirlooms and more. Quilts in all their glory are the focus of A Mountain Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge from March 12-16. Quilters and crafters from across the U.S. gather to enjoy a […]
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (February 2013) – Cowboy singers, cowboy poets and chuck wagon cooks are on the trail to Pigeon Forge for the 13th annual Saddle Up, Feb. 21-24, 2013. The four-day event, a tip of the hat to the American West, features concerts, a chuck wagon cookoff and other activities designed to entertain the […]
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (Jan. 18, 2013) – It’s likely that the fanciest ice sculptures you ever created were the fish-shaped ice cubes that came out of that plastic ice tray you bought at IKEA. To see what real ice artistry looks like, check out the third annual Titanic Pigeon Forge Professional Ice Carving Competition on […]
Visitation to Great Smoky Mountains National Park rose to 9,685,828 in 2012. That’s a 7.5 percent jump, making 2012 the biggest year since the 10.1 million visitors in 2000, which remains the record. Park management credited mild weather last winter and spring as a big factor. Every month in 2012 had more visitors than the […]
Half of the 10 destinations the Society of American Travel Writers recommends for holiday lights are in the Southeast. SATW members compiled a list of 10 destinations with light-up-the-night displays that might be lesser known than destinations such as Times Square in New York but still very much worth the trip. The five destinations in […]