When Daron K. Roberts’ high school teacher pulled him aside to share her vision for his future as a writer, the four-time class president brushed the comment aside. He knew he’d be going into politics, and that’s all there was to it. But two decades later, her words came back to him as he sat at home during the 2020 pandemic lockdown, thumbing through the
At 3:30 p.m., traffic flows smoothly along US 441 past the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. The 80-some elk living in this area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park are still invisible beneath the forest canopy as the sun shines bright and warm. But the group of volunteers gathering in the basement of the Oconaluftee administration building knows the calm won’t last. Amid the hellos and catch-up
The Great Smokies Welcome Center is located on U.S. 321 in Townsend, TN, 2 miles from the west entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Visitors can get information about things to see and do in and around the national park and shop from a wide selection of books, gifts, and other Smokies merchandise. Daily, weekly, and annual parking tags for the national park are also available.
