News and information about tourist communities bordering the Great Smokies such as Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Cherokee and Maggie Valley.
A mandatory evacuation order was issued for downtown Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge residents and guests located in the areas between traffic light 8 and the Spur are under mandatory evacuation after TEMA issued a Level 3 State of Emergency with 30 structures on fire in Gatlinburg. The National Guard was mobilized to Sevier County. Dollywood,
Two women are dead after a single vehicle car crash in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Sandra Gail Freeman, 63, and Brenda Joyce Payne, 69, of Gainsville Georgia were both killed in the accident. Park rangers said Freeman died at the scene of the accident. Payne was taken to University of Tennessee Medical Center
The Gatlinburg Police Department says they received a call after 5:30 p.m. Monday reporting that someone had fallen from the Space Needle. The street below the Space Needle was closed for hours. Officers say a man in his late fifties jumped from the observation deck around 5:40 Monday night. Hundreds of people were nearby but
It’s a feeling that Chris Bates can’t shake. “Being outside, in the winter, on the mountain — there’s nothing like it,” he said. “There’s a sense of exhilaration when you’re on a pair of skis. It’s a rush I’ve never gotten enough of.” Bates, who has been the general manager at Cataloochee Ski Area for 17
TWRA officers said they had no options left but to shoot and kill a family of black bears that had been destroying property near a Gatlinburg vacation destination. TWRA officer Matt Cameron said that the mother black bear and her four yearling cubs have been rooting through garbage, getting into cars and cabins, even chasing
Reports of bear sightings are happening all over East Tennessee recently. A bear and her three cubs were spotted this week roaming all through downtown Sevierville. WATE 6 On Your Side viewers sent pictures of the bear family making their way through town, and police even blocked traffic to make sure the bears got through
It’s not your everyday crime. Bears broke into a Gatlinburg woman’s car. Kathy Gafford sent the WATE 6 On Your Side newsroom pictures of two bears climbing inside her car while she was working at a cabin along Ski Line Drive. “The baby was sitting in the passenger seat. The mama was sitting in that
Below is a short interview with the Smoky Mountain Angler, a fly fishing service based in Gatlinburg, TN. If you’re looking to give fly fishing a try during your next trip to the Smokies be sure and give them a call… 1) Can you give everyone a brief background on your business and
The Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage is an annual five-day event in Great Smoky Mountains National Park consisting of a variety of wildflower, fauna, and natural history walks, motorcades, photographic tours, art classes, and indoor seminars. Most programs are outdoors in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, while indoor offerings are held in various venues throughout Gatlinburg, TN.
Making it through winters here in the Smokies region isn’t that big a deal. The lower elevations where most live don’t normally get a lot of snow and the temperatures only occasionally dip below zero. However, once you get as far north as Boone or Blacksburg, Va., that scenario starts to change drastically. The early
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