Great Smoky Mountain National Park remains the most visited national park in the nation. While a vast majority of its more than 9 million annual visitors arrive in the summer and fall color seasons, winter offers up a unique opportunity for outdoor enthusiasts.

That’s especially true for those who enjoy winter sports activities. Ski season opened at Gatlinburg’s popular Ober Mountain on Jan. 3.

Ober Gatlinburg features nine trails serviced by two quad lifts, one double lift and one surface lift. The Resort also offers terrain for all abilities, from beginners experiencing snow sports for the first time, to seasoned experts headed to the moguls and the terrain park.  

Snow tubing is another popular activity at Ober Gatlinburg in addition to skiing, snowboarding and ice skating.

For more information about Ober Gatlinburg, the aerial tramway, restaurants, shops and more, visit www.obergatlinburg.com/. Or if you would like to learn more about discount Gatlinburg resort accommodations and vacation packages, go to http://www.westgatereservations.com/.

Enjoy a taste of the American West in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Pigeon Forge, near Gatlinburg, TN, brings the great American West to life with its 12^th Annual Saddle Up festival, to be held Feb. 23-26, 2012. The celebration salutes the American West with cowboy musicians and poets, a hearty chuckwagon cookoff, and a cowboy dance.

The unique four-day festival is filled with entertainment the entire family can enjoy and plenty of cowboy-themed activities. “Stories and Strings” is a new concert featuring a variety of top country western performers who will discuss their influences, demonstrate their styles and play, performing together for the first time.

The list of 2012 Saddle Up entertainers includes: R.W. Hampton, Stephanie Davis, Saddle Cats, Cowboy Celtic, Kent Rollins, Ray Doyle, Andy Nelson and Chuck Pyle.

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While much of the nation focuses on the crystal ball drop in New York’s Times Square on New Year’s Eve, the city of Gatlinburg will be celebrating with its own special ball drop.

The Smoky Mountain village will welcome the arrival of 2012 with its 24^th annual New Year’s Eve Ball Drop and Fireworks Show at the base of the Space Needle.

The ball drop from the 342-foot-tall Space Needle at midnight on Jan. 1, 2012 will be followed by music and a dazzling fireworks display choreographed to the music. The event is a Gatlinburg tradition and many restaurants and attractions also offer special celebrations.

It’s all part of the nearly 4-month long Gatlinburg Winter Magic festival that also includes an extravagant display of holiday lights throughout Gatlinburg’s famous downtown Parkway. The custom designed displays feature millions of new LED lights that reduced the city’s energy costs for the 120-day program by 95%.

Displays include animals indigenous to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park such as deer, rabbits and squirrels as well as fanciful snowmen, dancing fountains, children and a rocking horse.

For information on Gatlinburg events, discount attraction tickets and discount family vacation packages, please visit http://www.westgatereservations.com/.

Don’t look now but with November just a week away, the annual holiday festivities can’t be far behind.Visitors to Gatlinburg won’t want to miss the three-time winner of America’s Best Christmas Event - Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas celebration scheduled to run from Nov. 5 through Dec. 30, 2011.

This year’s celebration offers an entirely new event with the premiere of Dollywood on Ice!, an ice dancing spectacular choreographed to the most popular sounds of the season.

At Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas, you’ll experience a winter wonderland the includes four million sparkling lights, more than 20 rides and attractions and an array of award-winning holiday shows such as Christmas in the Smokies and O’ Holy Night.

Visit Santa’s Workshop where you’ll be delighted by larger-than-life toy soldiers, wagons, a dollhouse, sailboats and other classic toys. The centerpiece of the workshop is an 18-foot Christmas tree. Additional holiday happenings include the Parade of Lights that winds its way throughout the park.

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The time is now to visit Gatlinburg. Wherever you are in Gatlinburg, you’ll be surrounded by gorgeous mountain views. And as the fall color season begins to explode throughout the Great Smoky Mountains, the view just gets better and better.

If you’ve never seen the awe-inspiring beauty of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in fall, prepare for one of Mother Nature’s most spectacular pleasures. But the incredible hues of oranges, reds and yellows bursting forth across the landscape are just part of the fun of Gatlinburg in the fall.

There’s no better way to take in the fall colors than with a serene hike along more than 800 miles of scenic trails. Or try an equally scenic horseback ride. For those who enjoy fishing, fall is a great time to catch delicious trout from a clear mountain stream.

Beyond the sheer beauty and fun that nature provides, Gatlinburg is filled with activities for the entire family. Take a ride up the Ober Mountain aerial tram. Or sail down the mountain on a thrilling alpine slide.

Enjoy a round of miniature golf. Or strap on some ice skates for an ice skating adventure. Experience the world’s longest underwater aquarium tunnel or check out one of many unique museums.

The village of Gatlinburg is also filled with shopping, quaint eateries, arts & crafts, and simple, old-fashioned hospitality. See for yourself by joining the many who head to Gatlinburg every fall to soak up the beauty and adventure.

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With children heading back to school, the cooler air of autumn will soon replace the hot temperatures of summer. And in places like Gatlinburg, the lush green hills of the Great Smoky Mountains will begin its annual transformation into a sea of brilliant hues of orange, red and yellow.

Thanks to trees at a wide range of elevations, Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers a fall color season that runs approximately from mid-September to mid-November. During this special time, the colors move down the mountainsides from the highest elevations to the lower foothills. You’ll also find a variety of equally colorful fall wildflowers in full bloom, such as

cardinal flower, black-eyed Susan, coreopsis, great blue lobelia, skunk goldenrod, southern harebell, ironweed, and a variety of asters.

It also means some of the busiest traffic within the nation’s most visited national park. But you can enjoy the best of both worlds with a stay at beautiful Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg.

Located adjacent to the main gateway to the park, Westgate Smoky Mountain offers luxurious cabin accommodations with spectacular mountain views or stream views from your own private balcony. You’ll also enjoy convenient entrance into the park for hiking, biking or simply driving through the Smoky Mountains.

The Smokies are home to approximately 100 species of mostly deciduous native trees. While many variables help determine peak color seasons, the stunning color displays typically begin above 4,000-foot elevations in mid-September. Beech, birch, maple, hobblebush and pin cherry trees at the higher elevations are visible from vantage points along Clingmans Dome Road. Other scenic drives for early fall colors include Parsons Branch Road and Newfound Gap Road.

Hikers inside the park during the early color season might consider Albright Grove and Sugarland Mountain Trail as well as high elevation hikes to Andrews Bald or Mt.

Middle and lower elevations typically reach peak color between mid-October and early November. These amazing displays include sugar maple, scarlet oak, sweetgum, red maple and hickory trees. By this time, the sunny days and cooler nights can kick off a brilliant color display. The roads within the park will also get correspondingly busier. As a result, you might want to hike one of the many easy to moderate trails such as Lower Mount Cammerer, Baskins Creek Falls, Little River, Old Settlers and Porters Creeks Trails.

Other popular places to see fall colors in the Smoky Mountains include Newfound Gap Road from Alum Cave Trailhead to Kephart Prong Trailhead, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Foothills Parkway East & West, and Heintooga Ridge Road to Balsam Mountain Campground. Suggested hikes include Rich Mountain Loop, Chestnut Top Trail, Smokemont Loop, Kanati Fork, and Sutton Ridge Overlook.

For details about fall color season in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, visit www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/fallcolor.htm. For information on Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort, visit http://www.westgatereservations.com/.

Fall is just around the corner and that means fun days ahead in the spectacular Great Smoky Mountains of Gatlinburg, Tennessee.Gatlinburg provides the ideal front row seat for viewing the amazing fall color season in the Smokies. And from September 15 to October 31, Gatlinburg also celebrates its annual Smoky Mountain Harvest Festival.

The beautiful mountain village celebrates the exceptional fall season with a variety of events as the warm days and cool, clear nights help transform 800 square miles of lush green mountain forest into brilliant shades of orange, yellow and red.

One of the highlight festivals is the Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair from Oct. 6-23, 2011. The festival, now in its 36^th year, features area artisans and craftspeople demonstrating their special talents and skills while answering questions and selling their unique artwork. Meanwhile, downtown Gatlinburg is decorated for the festivities with elaborate storefront decorations.

For more on Gatlinburg events and resort accommodations such as Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort, please visit http://www.westgatereservations.com/.

Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg offers a scenic getaway in the heart of Tennessee’s spectacular Appalachian Mountains. With an on-site indoor/outdoor water park and a wealth of amenities, the resort is filled with activities for the entire family.

Yet the real attraction in Gatlinburg remains the adjacent Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The nation’s most visited national park offers more than 800 miles of maintained hiking trails as well as activities like camping, fishing, auto touring and wildlife viewing.

One of the world’s most diverse ecosystems, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a natural sanctuary that features more than 1,600 kinds of flowering plants and extensive wildlife including black bear, deer and elk.

Approximately 1,500 black bears live in the park. While much of the park is covered by dense forest, there are a variety of popular open areas that offer good opportunities to see white-tailed deer, turkeys, woodchucks, black bears and other animals.

Two of the best viewing spots are Cataloochee and Cades Cove. Another popular alternative is the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail - a road that encourages motorists to travel at a leisurely pace in hopes of seeing bear and other wildlife.

Many animals are most active at night, so morning and evening hours are often best for wildlife viewing. Black bears inhabit all elevations of the park with a population density of about two bears per square mile.

The experimental release of elk into Great Smoky Mountains National Park started in 2001 with the importation of 25 elk from the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area along the Tennessee-Kentucky border.

In 2002, the park imported another 27 elk. The best times to view elk are early morning and late evening hours. Elk may also be active on cloudy summer days or just before and after storms. Most of the elk are located in the Cataloochee area in the southeastern corner of the park.

Wildlife viewing in the national park should always be enjoyed at a safe distance, using binoculars or a spotting scope for close-up views.

For information on Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort, please visit http://www.westgatereservations.com/.

What do you get when you mix majestic mountains, exquisite fine art, creativity, children’s programs and music? You get the 7th Annual Gatlinburg Fine Arts Festival.The special event, set at the base of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a two-day street fair to be held May 14-15 in scenic Gatlinburg, TN.

The event showcases artists at the top of their fields and participating exhibitors are chosen by jury in 16 categories ranging from ceramics and glass to watercolor and woodworking. In all, a total of $10,000 in prizes and purchase vouchers is at stake in this prestigious event.

Admission to the festival is free to visitors. However, the event also serves as a fundraiser for the internationally renowned Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts, the Sevier County Arts Council and the Gatlinburg Boys & Girls Club art program.

The Gatlinburg Fine Arts Festival also kicks off the first showing of the 2011 version of the popular Gatlinburg Tunes & Tales with performances on both days during festival hours.

Don’t miss this opportunity to experience some of the very best arts and crafts in an area well known for its craftsmanship.

For details on Gatlinburg and discount Gatlinburg vacation packages, visit www.westgatereservations.com.

One springtime tradition in Gatlinburg remains as colorful as ever - the annual Gatlinburg Wildflower Pilgrimage!As winter fades and the colors of spring begin to blossom throughout the surrounding Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg springs to life with all things botanical. The centerpiece of it all is the Great Smoky Mountain Association’s 61st annual Wildflower Pilgrimage, scheduled for April 26 to May 1, 2011.

Whether you are a serious botanist, hobbyist or simply a casual weekend gardener, you can experience unprecedented access to some of the nation’s leading botanical experts as well as a variety of Appalachian wildlife authorities.

Through seminars and intimate guided tours, participants in the Wildflower Pilgrimage can enjoy a rare and valuable opportunity to learn and experience the region’s flora and fauna while being shoulder to shoulder with leaders in the field as well as highly trained researchers. There’s simply no better way to expand your skills and knowledge of the spectacular Smoky Mountains.

The Wildflower Pilgrimage, which dates back to 1951, offers more than 150 programs including a variety of instructional walks and guided hiking tours. Each pilgrimage hike is tailored to meet individual walking skill abilities. There are also a number of demonstrations and guest lecturers.

These tours showcase the abundant varieties of wildflowers, plants, ferns, mosses, trees and shrubs, as well as birds, reptiles and amphibians, all native to the Great Smoky Mountains.

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