The Swag's driveway climbs 1,100 ft. Approximately 75 tons of new gravel are applied each spring to The Swag's road surface. Two abandoned moonshine stills were discovered while building the road. One active still was discovered after the road's completion. The temperature drops approximately five degrees for each thousand feet of elevation.
More people visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park than any other national park.
The southern Appalachian Mountains are thought to be some of the oldest in the world. Because of their age, there are no natural lakes left in the southern Appalachian Mountains. All lakes in these mountains are artificially created. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, established in 1930, contains 500,000 acres and is 40 times larger than Manhattan. The Park manages a lodge on the top of Mt. LeConte that is situated at 6,593 feet in elevation and can only be reached by foot.