Great Smoky Mountains,byname Great Smokies , or The the Smokies, western segment of the high Appalachian Mountains in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, U.S. , lying between Asheville, western North Carolina, and Knoxville, eastern Tennessee, and The Great Smokies lie between Knoxville, Tenn. (just to the west), and Asheville, N.C. (just to the east), blending into the Blue Ridge escarpment to the east in North Carolina. They are sometimes considered a division of the Unaka Mountains. The loftiest portion lies within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage site) and includes Clingmans Dome (6,643 feet [2,025 mmetres]; the highest point in Tennessee) and Mounts Guyot, Chapman, Collins, LeConteLe Conte, and Kephart—all more than at elevations above 6,000 feet (1,830 mmetres). The mountains form a popular resort area that includes the national park, a segment of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (for hikers), and the southern terminus of the Blue Ridge Parkway (a motor route), and the tourist city of Gatlinburg, Tenn. A transmountain highway crosses at Newfound Gap (5,046 feet [1,538 mmetres]).

Covered by forests, of which about 40 percent is virgin growth, the Great Smokies support an abundance of rhododendron, mountain laurel, wildflowers, plant and animal life. Large amounts of rain feed dozens of streams and waterfalls. Originally the domain of the Cherokee Indians, the mountains embrace the Cherokee Indian Reservation and parts of the Pisgah, Nantahala, and Cherokee national forests. They were explored in the mid-19th century by the geologists Thomas L. Clingman (a U.S. representative and senator from North Carolina) and the geographer Arnold Guyot and were named for the bluish haze characteristic of the region. Farmers began to settle the valleys in the late 18th century. The mountains were heavily logged during the first quarter of the 20th century.