Getting Oriented

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddles parts of two states, North Carolina and Tennessee. The park headquarters is in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and many people think of the Smokies as being a Tennessee national park. In fact, slightly more of the park is on the eastern, or North Carolina side, than on the Tennessee side—276,000 acres to 246,000 acres to be exact. The dividing line is at Newfound Gap.Once inside the park, you may not be aware of which state you're in except for practical considerations of geography and the time it takes to get from point to point.