Another great reason to visit the Smokies during the autumn is to witness the elk mating season, better known as “the rut”. The rut season is the absolute best time to view elk in the park.

 

This amazing ritual is characterized by the loud bugling noise made by adult males. The typical bugle call of a bull elk is a distinctive sound that begins deep and resonant, and becomes a high pitched squeal before ending in a succession of grunts. Elk males use a combination of bugling and aggressive

behavior in an attempt to establish dominance over other males in order to attract females.

 

The rut season typically lasts from about mid-September through early-October. The best places to see elk in the Smokies are in the Cataloochee Valley and near the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. And, the best times for viewing are early in the morning and just before sunset.

Autumn in the Smokies is just around the corner. As a result of an amazing diversity of trees, the Great Smoky Mountains is perhaps one of the best places in America to see fall colors. Leaves can begin changing to yellow,

orange and red as early as mid- September at the highest elevations in the park, and can last until early November at the lowest.

 

If you’re considering, or already planning a trip to the 

Smokies, please click here for a list of recommended hikes as the fall season progresses, as well as links for monitoring fall colors in the park.

Autumn Hikes in the Smokies

The Elk Rut

Hiking in the

    Smokys.com

Smoky MoJo

Fall 2010 Issue

The Smoky Mountain Journal

Inside This issue:

· Autumn Hiking in the Smokies

· The Rut

· Visiting the Smokies

· Hawk Migration

· Road construction in the park

· New Trail Maps for the Smokies

“With the passing front also comes thousands of Broad-winged Hawks as they make their annual migration down the Appalachian Mountain range”

Broad-winged Hawk Migration

Most Road Projects now Complete

Visiting the Smokies this Fall?

and the Smokemont Campground repaving projects are now all complete.

 

One notable exception is the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. After a lengthy delay, road construction has restarted and won’t be complete until October 1st. The work involves resurfacing the 5.6 mile road with asphalt

You may have noticed that there have been a lot of temporary road closures due to road construction projects over the last year. Fortunately, just in time for autumn, most of those projects are now complete.

 

Clingmans Dome Road, the Cades Cove Loop Road, Cherokee Orchard Road, Heintooga Ridge Road, the Sinks, Cosby Campground,

concrete pavement and will include resurfacing all existing parking areas, trailheads, and roadside pullouts.

 

Also, you can still expect some delays on US-441 (Newfound Gap Road) through September. The road is being repaved from the Collins Creek Picnic Area south to the boundary with Cherokee, NC.

to the next.

 

The Broad-wings are one of the first species to begin their migration south. Flocks or “kettles” can be quite large. You may even see a few Cooper’s, Northern Harriers and Sharp-shinned hawks joining in as well.

 

Some of the best vantage points in the Great Smoky Mountains to watch the migrations are in the higher elevations such as Newfound Gap, Clingmans

Dome, Look Rock, or Indian Gap.

The first cold front of the year usually passes through the Great Smoky Mountains during the early-to-mid September time period. With the passing front also comes thousands of Broad-winged Hawks as they make their annual migration down the Appalachian Mountain range to winter in the neo-tropics - from Mexico to as far south as Southern Brazil. This is an excellent opportunity to watch the buteos as they kettle-up over the ridges and glide from one thermal

Smoky MoJo

If you plan on visiting the Smokies this fall, it’s best to make reservations as early as possible. October is one of the busiest months of the year, especially on weekends. If you’re planning to stay in a cabin or

chalet, please take a moment to visit the advertisers on our site that help keep HikingintheSmokys.com running by clicking here.

New Trail Maps

covered the entire Park, had a scale 1:70,000. The two new maps now have a scale of 1:40,000 (1” = .6 miles) and provide much greater detail such as backcountry campsites, footbridges, fords and stream crossings, nature/interpretive trails, as well as detailed trail mileages. The maps also include scenic overlooks and roadside pull-outs.

Over the summer National Geographic published two brand new Trails Illustrated Maps that you might be interested in. In addition to the old map, there are now two separate maps for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Nat Geo has divided the Park in two, thus allowing each map to show much greater detail. The original map, which

The map for the western section of the Park includes the Cades Cove and Elkmont areas. Click here for more information.

 

The map for the eastern section includes Clingmans Dome, Mt. LeConte and the Cataloochee areas. Click here for more information.