The Great Smoky Mountains consists of 200,000 acres of virgin forest in the Eastern United States. It is a land of heart-swelling panoramas, vistas of peaks and ridges, meadows strewn with wildflowers and an animal population of some 50 mammal species. Nature's richest moments are played out before a backdrop of cascading waters in sunlit pools. This wealth of natural history is also a living vestige of pioneer life. Cades Cove, a 4,000 acre valley within the park confines, is so secluded, pioneer lifestyles persisted well into the 20th century, and visitors are given a glimpse into the past at the settlement "where time stands still." The park also incorporates a section of the Wilderness Trail that was used by Daniel Boone to cross the Cumberland Gap. The Great Smokies are the highest mountains east of the Rockies. When the park was created by an act of congress in 1930, Gatlinburg had already become a major tourist attraction. The park now attracts more than nine million visitors; 25,000 guests can be accommodated nightly, with 200 hotels and motels, 85 restaurants and hundreds of craft and gift shops. Convention facilities are available and golfing, skiing, hiking, and the "get away from it all" atmosphere make Gatlinburg the ideal four season resort and convention center of the East.

Included in the festival package is a professionally guided tour of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park including Newfound Gap and a one-half mile hike to Clingmans Dome, the highest point east of the Rockies.

The tour is approximately 3 hours and approximately 40 miles, round trip. The tour can be shortened if desired. Be sure to make arrangements with your motor coach company to take advantage of this exciting tour.

Tour guides (one per bus) will meet the group at its motel AT A TIME SPECIFIED BY THE GROUP DIRECTOR. When additional materials are mailed after February 15, a form will be included for scheduling the tour.