Great Smoky Mountains Backcountry Permits

Backcountry permits for Great Smoky Mountains National Park, administered by the National Park Service. One photograph follows a dirt footpath through mature hardwood forest, its surface crossed by exposed roots, with a bank of low purple wildflowers running alongside under an open green canopy. The others are taken from high ground and look out over ranks of forested ridges fading into haze — one at dusk beneath a pale gold sky, another under blue sky and scattered cloud, the ridge tops turning orange and yellow above a broad valley with buildings scattered across it.