Participants in the 50th Annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage will be following in the footsteps of some of history's most notable botanists and naturalists. William Bartram, North Carolina's own Elisha Mitchell, and John Fraser, for whom the Fraser Fir was named, were all pilgrims to this wildflower mecca. But it is the dramatic explosion of diversity and beauty created by these fleeting beauties that signals the re-awakening of the slumbering Smokies. In a few short weeks there will be no above-ground evidence of many of these ephemerals. They rush to blossom in early spring, before the foliage appears and maximum sunlight reaches the forest floor.
Experienced naturalists return year after year to lead devout pilgrims along their favorite trails.
No matter how many times you experience spring in the Smokies, it is brand new every year. Over the years, the Pilgrimage has evolved to include much more of the diversity of the Smokies. This year's Pilgrimage includes bird walks, bat walks, fern walks, moss walks, salamander walks, and bear walks. There will be ecology treks like Forest Recovery in the Smokies and Old Growth Forests of the Smokies. Medicinal plants will be explored.