Programs offered at Tremont provide interested individuals with the opportunity for in-depth experiences of the natural wonders of this great national park. Few other parks can boast such appropriate facilities and varied offerings of programs, says Ken Voorhis, who has been director since 1984. In a park where so many visitors experience the mountains through the windshield of their car, programs at the institute immerse participants in the beauty of the Smokies providing for the need for a more involved experience of the Smoky Mountain wilderness. Program participants continue to leave the institute with a feeling of renewal and dedication to preserving natural areas for the enjoyment of future generations.
Experiences are varied.
A child may be at camp for the first time, developing a sense of wonder about nature as she plays in the mountain streams, or a teacher getting away from it all for a week or a weekend while learning how to teach about nature from nationally known naturalists. All of these people share a common experience. Each of them has been involved in an experience at Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont in which they learned about the natural and or cultural resources of the Smoky Mountains first hand. A former Job Corps camp, through the efforts of Blount County leaders, was established as an environmental center operated initially by Maryville College. For more than a decade, Tremont has been used for an environmental center.