Trees of the Smoky Mountains

Distinctive Features

• The trees of the Smoky Mountains cover more than 95 percent of the approximately half-million-acre national park. One of the largest stands of old-growth, deciduous temperate forest in North America accounts for 25 percent of this forest.

  At mid elevations, classic cove hardwood forest thrives, a type of forest unique to the Smokies' southern Appalachian location, according to Dan Williams, an environmental educator with the Warnells School of Forestry and Natural Resources. Unlike other cove forests, enough sunlight streams through the lower canopies to allow wildflowers, ferns and sedges to carpet the earth.

Diversity

• The diversity of these forests, which provide habitats to over 17,000 species, prompted the United Nations to designate the park as an International Biosphere Reserve. Leading factors in this diversity include climate, geography and the mountains.

  The Smoky Mountains have existed for over 200 millions years. The glaciers of the last Ice Age bypassed the Smokies while forcing the migration of animal and plants species, which due to the northeast-southeast orientation of the mountain range, migrated along the slopes. The mingling of trees from the north and south created ubique forest associations.

  The warm humid air creating the fog that gives the Smoky Mountains their name nourishes plant growth, as does the rainfall, greater than anywhere in the United States except for the also thickly forested Pacific Northwest, averaging 55 to 85 inches annually from valleys to peaks. The altitude range provides a climate similar to that of the latitudinal range from the southeastern to northeastern United States. Many of the trees native to the eastern U.S. reside in the Smoky Mountains.

Types of Trees

• Deciduous trees forest most of the low (850 to 2,500 feet) to mid (2,500 to 4,500 feet) elevations. Hickory, yellow poplar (tulip tree), magnolia, sycamore, witch hazel, alder, dogwood, black locust, chestnut oak, scarlet oak and more are frequently seen here. Conifers commonly seen at low to mid elevations include scrub pine (Virginia pine), pitch pine and white pine.

  Spruce-fir forest along with the mountain maple dominates the high elevations (4,500 to 6,600 feet). Hardwoods including sweet gum and red maple grow abundantly in the cove hardwood forests of the valleys.

  Black walnut and black cherry trees, valued as food and wood are commonly seen near homesites. Cherry trees are also a favorite of black bears and tourists who come hoping to glimpse a view of the park's iconic animal.

Fall Leaf Displays

• The Smokies' fall color display begins in mid-September at the higher elevations with the birch, beech and maple trees that accompany the vast evergreen forests. The largest and brightest displays of color are seen from mid-October to early November in the low to mid elevations where the hardwoods offer the most brilliant hues.