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Cherokee

The 640,000-acre Cherokee National Forest is the largest tract of public land in Tennessee and lies in the heart of the Southern Appalachian mountain range, one of the world's most diverse areas.

Each year millions of people visit Tennessee's Cherokee National Forest. It is a place of scenic beauty that provides opportunities for anyone interested in nature, history and recreation. The Forest stretches from Chattanooga to Bristol and is divided into two sections by Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Cherokee National Forest, in the heart of the Southern Appalachian mountain range, is home to more than 20,000 species of plants and animals.

National forests are lands of many uses. The original purpose for their creation was to protect water quality and provide a continuous supply of timber. Today the national forest mission includes outdoor recreation, wildlife and fish habitat, wilderness, water quality, minerals, wood products, and much more.

Get outside
Take a hike on more than 600 miles of non-motorized trails, including the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and four other nationally designated trails. Motorized trail opportunities are limited to suitable areas on the Cherokee National Forest.

Places to camp in Cherokee National Forest vary from primitive sites with no facilities to developed campgrounds that offer electricity and bathhouses.

If you're interested in sight-seeing and scenic drives, the forest offers more than a dozen options. If it's wildlife you're after, the rugged mountains, sparse human population and diverse habitats of Tennessee's eastern border make it home to a variety of wildlife.

Whitewater and trout streams run through the mountains of Cherokee National Forest creating deep river gorges, world-class whitewater, premier trout fishing, scenic waterfalls and reservoirs with undeveloped shorelines.

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