A bluish haze surrounds the Appalachian Mountains of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Cherokee called the area, which straddles Tennessee and North Carolina, the “land of blue smoke.” Photo © Margaret619 | Dreamstime.com

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Elk roam the park’s historic areas, like this cabin at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in Cherokee, North Carolina, the southern gateway to the park. Photo © Ehrlif | Dreamstime.com

In Gatlinburg, Tennessee, one gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, visitors can shop, golf or get a good view of the park from a space needle and sky lift. Photo @ SGoodwin4813 | Dreamstime.com

Many people visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park hoping to spot mega-fauna — such as one of the park’s 1,500 black bears or an impressively-antlered elk.

Seeing such large animals can surely elevate one’s heart rate. But this national park offers much more than big animals.

Every June, thousands of flickering fireflies fill the night skies with a magical light show. One species, Photinus carolinus, is famous because the males flash in unison.

Or consider the recently discovered red-cheeked salamander, which lives exclusively in these mountains. The park, with 31 species of salamanders, is known as the “Salamander Capital of the World.”

Then there’s the rock gnome lichen, an endangered species that’s a symbiotic combination of fungus and cyanobacterium. It grows in colonies and clings to vertical rock faces at foggy high elevations or in deep gorges.

The 522,990-acre park — which straddles the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina — is also home to 135 tree species, more than 250 species of birds and 69 of mammals, making it one of Earth’s most biodiverse places in a temperate climate zone.

More than 19,000 species have been documented at Great Smoky Mountains National Park and another 80,000 to 100,000 may be there awaiting discovery, park scientists say.

The park is surrounded by three states and three national forests, totaling altogether more than three million acres of preserved land. This makes it the largest federally-protected landmass east of the Mississippi River.

A gauzy bluish haze shrouds the mountains, giving them their distinctive appearance.

With 14 million visitors a year, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the most visited parks in the country, perhaps because it’s less than a day’s drive from one-third of the U.S. population.

From moss to towering trees

What geysers are to Yellowstone, vegetation is to this park, as the National Park Service puts it. Here visitors can glimpse the same plant and wildlife diversity as they would if they hiked from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail.

Standing under a giant tulip tree over 200 years old — with its lowest branch 35 feet overhead and a five-foot-wide trunk — gives one perspective.

Not only does the park have 1,600 native flowering plants, trees and shrubs, but it also has 450 species of what are called “bryophytes” — ferns, mosses and liverworts, for example.

To experience the park, visitors can walk, hike, bike, paddle or just drive. The park has several self-guided vehicle routes along its 384 miles of roads.

An 11-mile, one-way loop road circles Cades Cove. Here, an open-air museum depicts homestead life from the late 1880s to the early 1930s with rustic log buildings, split rail fences, corn cribs and apple-eating Yorkshire hogs.

Truly absorbing the park means taking to the trails to discover spring wildflowers, giant rhododendrons, towering trees and sedimentary rocks that are 200 to 300 million years old.

It means going up to Clingman’s Dome — at 6,643 feet the park’s highest point — to be dazzled by millions of stars and maybe meteor showers. It means being mesmerized by a roaring waterfall, or fly fishing for brook trout in one of the park’s 800 streams.

Don’t be shy about approaching rangers with your questions. With a little help, you may get a peek at a southern flying squirrel or the endangered spruce moss spider, which lives under moss at 5,500 feet and up.

Special attractions

The flashing of synchronous fireflies in the Elkmont area of the park is a phenomenon that occurs in only a few places in the world.

The park holds a public lottery to manage limited viewing of the phenomenon. Last year, 140 vehicles per night were admitted during the two-week period in June.

In the fall, male elk, some weighing more than 1,000 pounds, compete for mates by bugling, prancing and occasionally locking antlers with rivals, a behavior called the rut.

The park has a herd of around 200, and the best places to see them are the Cataloochee Valley and Oconaluftee Visitor Center at dawn and dusk.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the park in 1940 “for the permanent enjoyment of the people.”

The park’s superintendent, Cassius Cash, likes to quote a local judge, Justice Gary Wade, who said, “I cannot think of a more spiritual place than Great Smoky Mountains National Park.”

Theme parks, kitsch and more

After exploring the park, if you crave some civilization and amusement, Dollywood offers a resort-spa-amusement-water park destination in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, with more than 60 rides and shows. The popular attraction is closely associated with and part-owned by Dolly Parton, who grew up in the area.

In Sevierville, stop into Buc-ee’s. This 75,000-square-foot location dubs itself the largest convenience store in the world. It’s bigger than a football field. Pick up a six-pack of fudge, sweet corn puffs, beef jerky or a smoked brisket sandwich. And check out the pickup truck loaded with plushies of the store’s mascot, Bucky Beaver.

Gatlinburg is honkytonk tackiness 10 times over, crowded with blocks of joints hawking souvenirs, T-shirts, shot glasses, tchotchkes and hemp, plus arcades and tattooers. Still, every now and then, the park’s black bears wander through town.

At Ripley’s Aquarium, sharks, sea turtles, giant stingrays, scorpionfish and other sea creatures “curate curiosity,” according to Ripley, a company that has entertained audiences since 1918.

At Anakeesta, a theme park accessible via a 600-foot gondola ride from the middle of Gatlinburg’s downtown, adventurous types can ride a roller coaster or walk a treetop skywalk.

Ole Smoky Moonshine is worth a meander for some real made-in-the-mountains spirits. It’s “Whisky and Shine Redefined,” owners brag.

Bartenders in bib overalls serve enticing (and intoxicating) moonshine with flavors like blackberry, sour watermelon, apple pie, orange sickle and banana pudding. One sign warns, “Y’all came on vacation. Don’t leave on probation.”

Just outside the moonshine bar, groups like the Cory Zink Band rip off lively bluegrass. “Holler out whatcha wanna hear,” shouts the band leader.

Onlookers might hear Gary Biscuit Davis, a five-time world banjo champion, admit, “If you learn to play the banjo, you can be assured of a divorce.”

If you go

The park has four major entrances: Gatlinburg and Townsend in Tennessee, and Cherokee and Oconaluftee in North Carolina.

By car from Washington, D. C., Gatlinburg is about 500 miles; Asheville, N.C., is a little less. Within the park itself, uneven internet service means you shouldn’t depend on your vehicle’s navigation systems or GPS. Instead, pick up a map of park roads at a visitor center.

The two closest airports are Knoxville’s McGhee-Tyson in Alcoa, Tennessee, 50 miles northwest of the Gatlinburg entrance, and Asheville Regional Airport, 60 miles east of the Cherokee entrance.

The park is open year-round. Visitation peaks from June to October, when the NPS offers ranger-led programs.

Synchronous firefly viewing is managed by a lottery, which typically opens in April on recreation.gov.

The park has one lodge, open mid-March through mid-November. Unfortunately, it’s accessible only by foot (see lecontelodge.com/reservations).

Towns near the park’s entrances have many lodging options. For more information, see nps.gov/grsm.