Mammoth Cave and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks

Move your pointer over any of the "thumbnail" pictures on the right side below to display a larger size of the image. When you do point over an image, you will also see a brief description about that picture.

For each map image, be sure to spot our "friendly hiker" to see where Msgr. Mark has been.

Picture 1
Msgr. Mark visited Mammoth Cave National Park located in central Kentucky, which is the longest cave system known in the world.

• Picture 1
  Msgr. Mark visited Mammoth Cave National Park located in central Kentucky, which is the longest cave system known in the world.
• Picture 2
  Out of all the caves Msgr. Mark visited, Mammoth Cave and Cub Run Cavers were the best.
• Picture 3
  Msgr. Mark took an evening boat ride on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. The main portion of this lake is 101 miles long and over one mile across at its widest point.
• Picture 4
  Next, Msgr. Mark enjoyed his trip at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is America's most visited national park and is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North Carolina runs northeast to southwest through the centerline of the park.
• Picture 5
  The blue haze of this part of the Appalachian Mountain Range is the reason people call it "The Smokies."
• Picture 6
   
• Picture 7
  White paint (2 inches by 6 inches) on trees and rocks mark the Appalachian Trail.
• Picture 8
  An OLG family on the trail to Clingmans Dome.
• Picture 9
  Joyce Kilmer wrote the famous poem, "Trees." A virgin forest of Tulip Poplars, the state tree of Indiana, is located just south of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Some of these trees are 450 years old. This part of the forest was cut down by timber companies and that is why it is called a "virgin" forest.
• Picture 10
  To take this picture, I balanced my camera on a log and set the shutter to go off ten seconds after I pushed the button. Next, I ran from the back of the log and took a seat in front of the tree. It was the best way I could think of showing how big the tree really was.