Quote:
Originally Posted by kram79
Are the Great Smokies similar to the Adirondacks in NY? What are the must sees in the park for a one day trip?
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nah,
I was born and raised in Western/Central NY, just a little south of Old Forge, NY.
The Great Smokys are nothing like the Adirondack's enormous size, diversity of wildlife, quietness, good air quality, lack of mass amounts of people, great numbers of lakes/ rivers, lots of snow in the winter, fishing, canoeing, lake side camps, intense thunderstorms, even minor earthquakes, etc.
No comparison. I've been up and down the Smokys--TN/NC sides and so far nothing comes close to the Adirondacks, minus the Sierra Nevada MTNS of California and perhaps the Colorado Rockies which I have never visited.
But with that being said, the Smokys are a great getaway from the lower elevations to cool off, but you will have to contend with many more people. The Smoky Mtn Park does not have the abundant amount of interconnected lakes and rivers that the Adirondack's boasts ...but only a few rivers and man-made lakes within/near the smokys, with very strict fishing regulation, as the few rivers that do flow at the base of Smoky Mtns are heavily trodden by the masses of people and business growth(Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge). Lots of trails though, and unique ecosystems and flora that is typically found in Canada...so that makes the Smoky Mtns area very unique especially being so far south.
Smoky Mtn park is the most visited National Park, so the park gets packed.
I visited the Adirondacks last year and didn't want to come back to NC. The Adirondacks are vast and peaceful with water everywhere. You actually feel alone in the Andirondaks and sense a Native American "feel" up there. I also like the white barked trees(Aspens, white barked Birch) in the Adirondacks that contrast the darker pines, mosses that grow on house sized boulders, and wispy large ferns.
But all nature is cool in its own way, and there are some really nice areas here in Western NC/Eastern TN, but you won't see a moose around here, or a mtn lion like you might see up there.
Per Andirondak's park website: "The Adirondack Park boasts 3,000 lakes and ponds, and 30,000 miles of rivers and streams" and ...
6million acres!
http://visitadirondacks.com/adironda...dack-park.html
Smokys size is "
522,419 acres" and within a days drive of 2/3 of the US population....so more people...more air pollution.
Visit and play around in both like I have.
I like the Adirondacks better, but the Smokys is not a bad escape being so far south. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a nice drive through NC and up through VA.
To each their own.
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