Family Hiking in the Smokies

Family Hiking in the Smokies is specifically geared toward taking children on excursions into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park—the most visited national park in the United States. The park offers much to its nearly ten million annual visitors. For families who seek fun along with educational recreation, the park boasts splendid views and enormous biological diversity.

While the guide book concentrates on shorter day hikes, the book also presents longer trails for overnight or weekend camping. Organized by regions of the park, the forty-two concise trail descriptions include many of the most popular destinations, such as Ramsey Cascades, Grotto Falls, and Clingmans Dome Tower, as well as overlooked gems such as Midnight Hole, Lynn Camp Prong, and Juney Whank Falls. This fourth edition includes new trails not found in the book’s previous editions, and all are presented in a user-friendly format.

This delightful volume also includes specific advice regarding safety, trail difficulty, and keeping children’s attention. In addition, Family Hiking in the Smokies provides interesting educational sidebars about fauna, folklore, and material culture along the way. This book, based on the experiences of three expert hikers who have walked with their own children and grandchildren in the park, will provide parents and grandparents with a perfect guide for establishing an adult/child bond with the natural world.