Overview

The Great Smoky Mountains are named for the distinctive smoke-like haze that shrouds the mountains. This 800 square mile park is packed with dense nests of brush and trees that exude water and oxygen creating the mysterious blue haze that’s especially prevalent in the early morning hours.

The precise dates of the workshop were selected by Mother Nature. It is during this time that she puts on the greatest show of her 1,600 unique flowering plants. You’ll find fields of blooming Yellow Trillium and throughout the park the Flowering Dogwood’s will be in grand display. Be sure to bring your macro equipment for the Trout Lilies, Dutchman’s breeches, Jack-in-the-pulpits, Rhododendron, Pink Lady’s-slippers and Silverbells.

The park is a wonderful blend of natural scenes and historical settings that show a little bit of the world as it once was. You can photographs such sights as Cable Mill, an operating water-powered gristmill, and the cantilevered Tipton barn at Cades Cove. And before you go home you’ll capture one of the most sought after grand scenic images, sunrise over The Great Smoky Mountains.