If you’re planning a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and want to get even more excited about your visit, take a sneak peek of the Smokies with one of the Smoky Mountain webcams! These web-based cameras provide digital images that are updated approximately every 15 minutes and are the next best thing to being there in person! Here are 3 Smoky Mountain webcams that offer current views of the national park:
1. Look Rock Webcam
The Look Rock webcam faces east and is located on the highest point of the 18-mile Foothills Parkway, providing an excellent vantage point among the Smoky Mountains! Look Rock is a natural observation ledge that overlooks the national park and features an observation tower where visibility can be up to 40 miles on clear days. While the visibility is obviously less on hazy days, the view from Look Rock is still one of the best in the Smokies! You’ll also find a natural observation area on the opposite side of the parking lot, but it doesn’t offer the 360-degree panoramic view of the tower.
2. Purchase Knob Webcam
Another one of the Smoky Mountain webcams that offer current views of the national park is the Purchase Knob webcam, which faces northeast. Purchase Knob is a mountain located along the Cataloochee Divide, which serves as the border between Cataloochee Valley in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Maggie Valley and Waynesville areas of North Carolina. Purchase Knob features surprisingly gentle terrain for its 4,900-foot altitude and is home to the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center, an educational facility that supports scientific research and education in our national parks. The mountain is also home to the Ferguson Cabin, a historic cabin that dates back to 1875 and is the highest-elevation historic cabin in the Smokies!
3. Clingmans Dome Webcam
The Clingmans Dome webcam, which faces northeast, is situated at the highest point of Great Smoky Mountains National Park! At 6,643 feet, Clingmans Dome is also the highest point in Tennessee and the third-highest mountain east of the Mississippi. There is an observation on the summit that offers stunning 360-degree views of the Smokies, which can extend for more than 100 miles on clear days! You can access the tower from a half-mile trail that leads from the parking lot, which is paved but steep. Besides the trail to the summit, there are several trails that start from the Clingmans Dome Road and parking area. The Appalachian Trail crosses Clingmans Dome, marking the highest point of its journey from Georgia to Maine, and the Forney Ridge Trail leads to a high-elevation grassy bald known as Andrews Bald.
While you can get an idea of the national park’s beauty with these Smoky Mountain webcams, there is nothing like seeing the wonders of the Smokies in person! You’ll find everything from spectacular views and extensive hiking trails to a wide variety of interesting wildlife! Just check out these reasons to come visit Smoky Mountains National Park!
