The
Great Smoky Mountains are a mountain range rising along the
Tennessee–
North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the
Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the
Blue Ridge Physiographic Province. The range is sometimes called the
Smoky Mountains and the name is commonly shortened to the
Smokies. The Great Smokies are best known as the home of the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which protects most of the range. The park was established in 1934, and, with over 9 million visits per year, it is the most-visited national park in the United States.