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Great Smoky Mountains Natl Park

Near: KnoxvilleTN (Weather)
Number of
Trails:
20 Total
Mileage
550 Difficulty: Rigorous Trail
Rating
Camp
Rating
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Trail Description Over 500 miles of very scenic trails through out the Smoky Mountains. Suprisingly the riding, while strenuous for the horses, is not especially technical. That is, there are not steep ascents or descents. At least for the parts of the park in which we rode (western). That said, your horse must be well conditioned as you may climb two or three thousand feet in a six to eight mile ride. Also, there are numerous creek crossings and some foot bridges that must be crossed, some with water rushing under them.
Best Time to Visit
Times to Avoid
Campground There are numerous campgrounds in the park as well as several private grounds adjacent or nearby. Our group stayed at a private camp (Gilbertson's Lazy Horse Retreat). There are both drive-in and back-country campgrounds in the Park. The drive-in camps are small and don't appear to be easy to access with large rigs. Most important, while camping at the drive-in areas, horses must be secured in small tie stalls on concrete pads. Our group was not comfortable tieing our horses where they couldn't move around. We didn't go to the back-country camps.
Human Facilities: Horse Facilities: Operated by: Contact: Additional Information
Each camp is different - Park sites mostly primitive National Park Service

grsm_smokies_information@nps.gov
Great Smoky Mts Natl Park
107 Park Headquarters
Gatlinburg, TN 37738
Info about horse trails
Directions The main entrance to the park is located near Townsend, TN. There are several trail-heads that provide access from many different directions. For information about the park, please see their website or call the park office. They may be able to refer you to private sites as well. See also the listing on this website about Gilbertson's.
This information was provided by jtrider on 6/16/2008 9:18:56 AM

Notes on Difficulty Rating:  
 Easy
(Gently sloping or level terrain; trails are groomed or wide open; shallow or no creek crossings. ) 
 More Difficult (Moderate hills over consistent surface; possibly some narrow trails and short steeper slopes) 
 Rigorous (Easy to More Difficult for rider but physically challenging for horse such as on a level surface through deep sand) 
 Challenging (Possible rocky, uneven surface, steep slopes, uncleared trails, faster flowing streams and other obstacles that lead to more difficult riding for rider and horse)

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