Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The most visited national park in the United States, with over 11 million people in 2025, straddling the ridgeline of the Great Smokies where North Carolina meets Tennessee. It holds some of the highest mountains in eastern North America (Kuwohi, Mount Guyot, Mount Le Conte) and the Appalachian Trail runs through the middle of it on its way from Georgia to Maine. At 522,419 acres it is one of the largest protected areas in the eastern United States, and part of the Appalachian temperate rainforest.