|
Accessibility in The Great Smoky
Mountains
Much of the Smokies can be enjoyed
from your vehicle and from
accessible facilities and programs.
Activities range from viewing
scenery to exploring the intricacies
of the forest floor to learning
about the resourceful people who
made a living from this wilderness.
|
 |
|
|
|
Great Smoky
Mountains National Park is a wildlands
sanctuary preserving the world’s finest
examples of plant and animal diversity in a
temperate deciduous forest. This wild
landscape, rich with traces of its human
past, calls visitors back again and again.
|
|
|
ACCESSIBILITY |
|
 |
|
Sugarlands
Visitor Center
Designated accessible parking spaces
are available at Sugarlands Visitor
Center on both sides of the
building. Restrooms are accessible,
as is the outside water fountain
near the east parking lot. The
visitor center is open year-round,
except Christmas day, and is fully
accessible. A wheelchair is
available. The information desk,
book sales area, exhibits, and
audiovisual room are all on one
level. Ranger-led programs held in
the visitor center are accessible.
For hearing-impaired visitors, the
park movie is captioned.
|
|
|
Oconaluftee Visitor Center
Designated accessible parking spaces
with ramps are available near the
visitor center. Restrooms are at the
rear of the building. A sidewalk
provides wheelchair access, but
vehicles can be parked temporarily
in the rear of the building for
closer access. The visitor center is
open year-round, except Christmas
day, and is accessible through
ramped doorways. A wheelchair is
available. Walkways to the building
and the floor inside are of uneven
flagstones. Inside, the exhibits,
information desk, and book sales
area are all on one level.
|
|
 |
|
|
The paths
through the nearby Mountain Farm Museum
are hard-packed gravel and
wheelchair-accessible with assistance. A
guide booklet about the historic structures
is available for a small fee. Most of the
buildings can be viewed from the outside via
doorways, and a ramp provides access to the
house. Most talks and demonstrations are
accessible to visitors in wheelchairs.
|
|
 |
Mingus Mill, one-half mile north
of the visitor center, is open
seasonally. Accessible restrooms are
adjacent to the parking area. A
paved and packed-gravel trail of
about 100 yards makes the mill
accessible with assistance. A single
step allows access to the interior
ground floor of the mill. A guide
leaflet and loose leaf binder
containing photographs of the
interior of the mill are available.
Millers are available to explain the
milling process and answer
questions. |
|
|
 |
|
Cades Cove
Designated accessible parking spaces are
available in the campground/picnic area
parking lot across from the ranger station.
The Cades Cove Campground Store and adjacent
restrooms are accessible.
The Cades Cove Auto Tour booklet,
available for a small fee in the Cable Mill
area and at the start of the 11-mile loop
road, provides a description of this
historic area. The historic buildings along
the loop road are not accessible due to
steps, lack of hard-surfaced walkways, and
distance.
|
|
However, many
of the exteriors can be viewed from your
vehicle.
The visitor center is open daily except
Christmas. Cable Mill is open seasonally.
Designated accessible parking spaces are
available near the sidewalk to the
restrooms. There is ramp access to the
visitor center where information, exhibits,
and books are available. A wheelchair is
available for loan. Restrooms and water
fountains outside the visitor center are
accessible.
The trail through the complex of historic
buildings is level and surfaced with
hard-packed gravel. Most of the buildings
can be viewed from the outside doorways. The
Becky Cable House is accessible via a ramp.
The interior of the Cable mill is accessible
when open. Seasonal guided tours are
accessible with the exceptions noted above.
|
|
|
PARK WIDE
FACILITIES |
|
|
Temporary
Parking Permit - If you have a physical
disability (including a temporary
disability), or have in your company someone
who needs accessible parking, you may get a
temporary parking permit at Sugarlands or
Oconaluftee visitor centers. This allows you
to park in designated accessible parking
spaces. Permits are available only when the
person with the disability is present.
|
|
|
Amphitheaters - The most accessible
amphitheater is at Cades Cove. It is level,
and adjacent restrooms are accessible. The
amphitheaters at Elkmont and Smokemont have
paved trails, but they are steep and may
require assistance. |
|
|
Auto Tours
- The park’s back roads offer a chance to
escape traffic and explore remote areas. A
road guide and self-guided auto tour
booklets are available for several popular,
and a few quieter destinations in the park
including Cades Cove, Newfound Gap Road,
Roaring Fork, Tremont, and Cataloochee. A
60-minute audio cassette tape is available
to serve as your personal tour guide as you
drive the Newfound Gap Road that crosses the
Smokies’ crest. It includes explanations of
landmarks, interviews with former residents,
and more. All items may be purchased at
visitor centers. |
|
|
Camping
- Reservations for an “accessible unit”
(wheelchair accessible) can be made for
campsites in three campgrounds: Cades Cove,
Elkmont, and Smokemont, from May 15 to
October 31. For reservations, call
1-800-365-2267. Accessible sites are
generally level and located adjacent to
accessible restrooms. The campsites have
been modified with paving, specialized
tables, and fire grills.
|
|
|
Horse Camp
- Big Creek Horse Camp has an accessible
campsite and restroom that are open
seasonally. Reservations are required by
calling 1-800-365-2267.
|
|
|
Horseback
Riding Stables - The restrooms at
Smokemont and Sugarlands riding stables are
accessible. |
|
|
Telephones - A
wheelchair-accessible telephone (no audio
amplification) is located at Cades Cove
ranger station, and Oconaluftee and
Sugarlands visitor centers. |
|
|
Trails -
Most trails in Great Smoky Mountains
National Park are steep and rugged. However,
a new accessible trail made possible through
a public-private partnership is located on
Newfound Gap Road, just south of Sugarlands
Visitor Center. Accessible interpretive
exhibits located along the one-half mile
paved trail describe the unique historic and
natural features as the trail winds through
second growth forest along the West Prong of
the Little Pigeon River. Clay tactile
exhibits, a large print brochure, and
porcelain enamel wayside exhibits are
available on site. Look for the tracks of a
black bear that wandered across the freshly
poured concrete when the trail was built! An
audio tape tour is available from Sugarlands
Visitor Center. |
|
|
Golden
Access Passport - If you are a U.S.
citizen and have a permanent disability, you
may obtain a free Golden Access Passport at
Sugarlands or Oconaluftee visitor centers.
The passport allows free admission to
federal areas which charge entrance fees and
provides reductions for other types of user
fees |
|
|
HOME
|