A Walk In The Woods is a full range tour guide service geared to making your time in the Smokies as wonderful as possible. Emphasizing the teaching of natural history, this is A Walk In The Woods‘ seventeenth year offering spectacular trips into the Smokies.

Check out our interview with AWITW below….

1) Can you give everyone a brief background about yourselves and your business?

A Walk in the Woods is a full range guide service. We have been in business full time since 1998 and part time since 1996. All of our guides are experts in all aspects of the Smokies. Our team consists of Naturlists, historians, educators, former Park rangers, a former AT ridge runner and the retired information officer of the GSMNP. Our goal is to make the natural world come alive for the average person so customer service, and ability to work with groups of all ages and abilities, and the ability to teach while entertaining is a must with all of our guides. We currently have 6 full time/year round guides who make this their career. We have an additional 4 guides who are part time and two part time office staff members. We also have yearly interns.
 
2) Can you give a brief overview of the different services that you guys offer to clients?

As a full range guide service we cater to every level of experience so our tours range from driving tours which feature short walks, one hour nature walks, history tours, birding and salamander tours, night hikes, off trail excursions, half day, full day walks and hikes, one night backpacking 101 trips, women in wilderness backpacking and front country programs, AT adventures and upscale glamping trips. We also offer shuttle service, trip planning and gear rentals.
 
3) What are some your personal favorite hikes to do in the Smokies and what is your most popular guided hike?

Since the GSMNP is the most biodiverse place in the world, it is truly difficult to pick just one personal favorite. My husband and myself are 2/3 finished hiking all the trails in the Smokies (we have hiked thousands of miles but many trails over and over again as guides), and one of our guides MIke is within 60 miles of finishing that goal. As such, we have been on so many amazing trails we find that it is impossible to pick just one. Some of my personal top favorites are the Brushy Mountain trail with the amazing serenity of the Old Growth forest and the Goshen Prong trail with the giant trees, pristine streams and beautiful crystal clear cascades and swimming holes.
 
4) Any favorite stories you’d like to share from some of your numerous hikes? (Bear or wildlife stories, famous guests, etc., etc.)

We have taken a few famous guests hiking. Samantha Brown from the Travel channel and Ian Wright from the Lonely Planet show. Both were fun but our personal favorite was hiking with Ian Wright’s crew. His British crew was fun, unpretentious, and hilarious the entire time. We felt we were on a Monty Python set from word go.
 
5) If you had to pick one favorite location or trail that’s not very well known and that everyone should see where would that be?

Many people hike to Mt. Leconte every year, almost none hike down the Brushy Mountain Trail. It vears off at Trillium Gap into the Greenbrier section of the Park and offers a lush display of old
growth forest.
 
6) Why should visitors to the Smokies contact “A Walk in the Woods” for a guided hike instead of hiking solo?

Taking a guided tour with one of our guides instead of hiking solo is like taking an art class to understand the nuances of a painting instead of simply rushing through a museum glancing at the various art hanging on the walls. Our goal is to reconnect people to the natural world and have a greater understanding that we are all a part of this beautiful planet.