Alt Text Map of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee. Park terrain is shown in green; surrounding areas in white, beige, or orange; cities and towns in yellow; and roads in red or black. Extended Description Four visitor centers are spaced across the oval-shaped park, with Cades Cove Visitor Center to the west and Sugarlands Visitor Center at the top center of the park. A third, Oconaluftee Visitor Center, is along the southern border of the park about two-thirds of the way across, and Kuwohi Visitor Center is in the middle between Sugarlands and Oconaluftee. Using these visitor centers as touchpoints, this description will work from west to east across the park before moving to the surrounding areas and a full transcription of the legend. Cades Cove Visitor Center US Route 129 winds along a short section of the narrow western border of the park and passes Chilhowee, the westernmost point of the park. Abrams Creek is on the park boundary northeast of Chilhowee and has a ranger station and developed campground. Meanwhile, Twentymile is on the border to the southeast of Chilhowee and has a ranger station. Halfway between Chilhowee and Twentymile, Parson Branch Road, which is closed to motor vehicles, branches northeast from US Route 129 to reach Cades Cove Visitor Center. The historic site of Cable Mill is near the visitor center. Rich Mountain Road, which is closed in winter, leads north from Cades Cove to the top border, and Laurel Creek Road travels east from Cades Cove as a counterclockwise loop road, which closes at a point just past a site with a ranger station, developed campground, picnic area, and horseback riding (rental). Sugarland Visitor Center From here, Laurel Creek Road parallels the northern border of the park with a highly sinuous course to pass the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, located off a side spur road; a picnic area, around which this road now becomes Little River Road; the historic site of Little Greenbrier School; Elkmont, which has a ranger station, developed campground, and self-guiding trail; and two more sites with self-guiding trails, before reaching Sugarland Visitor Center and Park Headquarters at the top center of the park. Continuing northeast through Gatlinburg, the road now merges with US Route 321, also labeled State Route 73. This highway continues eastward along the northern edge of the park to pass a site with horseback riding; a spur road heading back south into the park to Greenbrier, which has a ranger station and picnic area. Sites along spurs of SR 32 include Cosby with a ranger station, developed campground, picnic area, and self-guiding trail; and Big Creek, which has a ranger station and picnic area with a developed campground nearby. An unpaved road begins at the Tennessee-North Carolina border and travels down the eastern edge of the park to end at Cataloochee, which has a ranger station, and a developed campground. Oconaluftee and Clingmans Dome Visitor Centers Back at the Sugarlands Visitor Center, Newfound Gap Road travels southeast to Oconaluftee Visitor Center. Along the way, the road passes three self-guiding trails, two picnic areas, and Smokemont, which has a ranger station, developed campground, and horseback riding. About halfway along Newfound Gap Road’s length, another road branches southwest to pass a self-guiding trail before arriving at Kuwohi Visitor Center, where the peak is at an elevation of 6,643 feet (2,024 meters) and has an observation tower. Now back at Oconaluftee Visitor Center, roads branch out to reach sites to the west and east along the southern edge of the park. US Routes 19 and 74 separately branch off US Route 441 and together head west to Bryson City, where a park road travels back north to access Deep Creek, which has a ranger station, developed campground, and picnic area. Big Cove Road travels northeast from Oconaluftee Visitor Center to cross a portion of the Cherokee Indian Reservation (Qualla Boundary). Once back in the park, it becomes the unpaved Straight Fork Road as it winds northeast, then turning into Heintooga Ridge Road as it passes a picnic area and Balsam Mountain, which has a developed campground and self-guiding trail. Around the Park Moving clockwise around the park in quadrants, the towns of Alcoa and Maryville and the McGhee Tyson Airport are in the top left corner. A red roadway lined with green and labeled Foothills Parkway begins in Chilhowee and runs parallel to the northwest curve of the park, passing Look Rock, which has an observation tower, ranger station, developed campground, and picnic area. The parkway continues northeast to where it intersects US Route 321 near Walland, then continues further east before ending at another stretch of US Route 321 north of the Little Greenbrier School. US Route 321 forms a southward arc as it connects Maryville with Pigeon Forge, which is north of the Sugarlands Visitor Center. A text box in this quadrant reads, “Facility Closures: Roads, campgrounds, trails, backcountry campsites and shelters, and other park facilities may be closed as environmental conditions or operational capabilities change. For current information, check the park website: www.nps.gov/grsm.” Cherokee National Forest fills in the top right corner of the map around the park. Another shorter section of the Foothills Parkway cuts through this area and connects US Route 321/State Route 32 with Interstate 40, which winds down the right edge of the map and into Pisgah National Forest. Nantahala National Forest stretches the entire width of the bottom edge of the map. The Blue Ridge Parkway, which is shown as a black-encased yellow line, ripples from the bottom right corner of the map, across the northeast border of Nantahala National Forest, and through the Cherokee Indian Reservation (Qualla Boundary), which is tucked into the southeast corner of the park, before finally terminating at US Route 441 just south of Oconaluftee Visitor Center. The Appalachian National Scenic Trail travels through Nantahala National Forest and into the park from the southwest edge. The trail travels north and then east along the ridge that separates Tennessee in the northern half of the park from North Carolina in the southern half. A purple route in the lower left corner represents Cherohala Skyway. Legend A scale near the lower right corner of the map measures distances of 1 and 5 kilometers and 1 and 5 miles. A note reads “Roads in the park are closed to commercial vehicles” in bold text. The legend continues as follows: Black line for Unpaved road, Black arrow pointing left for One-way road, and Blue square for Historic structure(s). A column of symbols represents a Ranger station, Developed campground, Picnic area, Self-guiding trail, Horseback riding (rental), and Observation tower.