By Ian Wilker

The Smokies are such a rich biological stew that they are pretty much aflame with different blooms from early spring to the first killing frost of fall. In fact, among botanists, this park is known as "Wildflower National Park." The stretch from mid-June to mid-July is as good as it gets. Much of the park becomes overgrown with lush greenery, and immense rhododendron thickets—with brilliantly purple Catawbas and delicately light-pink rosebays—overwhelm all else in the higher elevations. Spiky, bright-red bee balm blooms along the banks of creeks; coneflowers, tall meadow rue, and joe-pye weed light the meadows; and in the steamy dells, ghostly-white Indian pipe and oddly coiled fiddlehead ferns hide in the shadows.

More Southeast Hot Spots

Other choice parks for southern Appalachian blooms are Shenandoah NP, George Washington NF, Pisgah and Nantahala NFs in North Carolina, and Cherokee NF in Tennessee.

More GORP Smoky Mountains

Top 10 Parks for High-Summer Wildflowers | East & Central: Alpine Islands in the Sky (Adirondack Park, New York) | East & Central: "Wildflower National Park" (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina/Tennessee) | East & Central: When the Monsoon Comes (Big Bend National Park, Texas) | East & Central: Endless Prairie (Badlands National Park, South Dakota) | The West: High and Wild (Glacier National Park, Montana) | The West: Where the Wild Columbine Grows (Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado) | The West: Canyon Country Secrets (Zion National Park, Utah) | The West: John Muir Country (Yosemite National Park, California) | The West: Blooms on Tahoma (Mount Rainier National Park, Washington) | The West: The Last Frontier (Denali National Park, Alaska)

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