Future POIs - Great Smoky Mountains [Tennessee, North Carolina]

One of the national parks that we will be visiting during our June USA roadtrip will be Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Believe it or not, GSM is America's most visited national park which gets about 9 million visits every year.  This is more than twice the second most visited national park, the Grand Canyon.

From http://www.nps.gov/

Founded in 1934, it is 522,419 acres and is currently the 19th largest national park in America.  GSM actually borders both Tennessee and North Carolina, with elevations changes from 800 feet all the way up to 6,643 feet!  This altitude change means that temperatures can easily change almost 10 degrees Celsius!

From http://www.nps.gov/

You can do horseback rides, hayrides, hikes, bicycling, fishing water tubing, and wildlife watching.  There are a number of waterfalls to see, some that are over 100 feet tall. Some main points of interest are the Laurel Falls and the Clingman's Dome, both of which are a short and easy walk from their respective parking lots.  Laurel Falls is a 80 foot waterfall and the Clingman's Dome is an observation deck.  If you are into hiking, make sure to visit Chimney Tops

Come back next Monday for another Future Point of Interest!

Future POIs - Biltmore Estate [Asheville, North Carolina]

Biltmore Estate is a site that is located in Asheville, North Carolina which I was told to visit by my manager to visit.

Courtesy of biltmore.com

This is is North America's largest privately owned estate with over 8,000 acres, with the house being 178,926 square feet (16,622.8 m²) of floor space.  Construction started in 1889 and was completed in 1895 and has always been owned by the Vanderbilts.

Courtesy of biltmore.com

It has some of the craziest things that I have heard of for a house.  There is a library with over 10,000 books, a banquet hall with a 70-foot ceiling, and 65 fireplaces among other things.  The grounds are designed by Frederick Law Olmsted who designed Prospect Park and Central Park in New York City, University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University as well at many other public parks and parkways (check Wikipedia for details, he holds an impressive list that would be too long to list).

Courtesy of biltmore.com

Besides the house, there is a winery and a farm.  It costs $60 USD to visit the estate at the door, if you book online ahead of time you can save up to $10 USD.  This price includes the visit to the estate, access to the house for the bottom 3 floors as well at the basement.  There are optional outdoor activities available at the estate including biking, carriage rides, fly-fishing, hiking, horseback riding, land rover (you rent a Land Rover and explore the estate, how crazy does this sound), river float trips, segway tours and sporting clays.

Courtesy of biltmore.com

A brief visit would last about 2-3 hours but it is entirely possible that you would spend your entire day here give how big the site is and how many things you can do.

Come back next Monday for another Future Point of Interest!

Future POIs - Blue Ridge Parkway [North Carolina and Virginia]

I don't normally travel to do drives (well, excluding the autobahn), but this is one that I have been told about so I'm optimistic that this one may change my views on scenic drives.

Courtesy of wikipedia

During our June roadtrip, we will be passing by the Blue Ridge Parkway which is a 469 mile long parkway that goes from Shenandoah National Park near Waynesboro, Virginia (Mile 0) to Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Mile 469).

Courtesy of wikipedia

Construction began in 1935 and took over 52 years to complete (in 1987).  It is the longest linear park and belongs to the National Park Service.  It is named after the Blue Ridge, a chain of mountains that is part of the Appalachian Mountains.

Courtesy of wikipedia

Come back next Monday for another Future Point of Interest!