The ecosystems within Great Smoky Mountain National Park--from old growth forests to balds--support a wide variety of birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, mammals, and plants. This new addition to the Visitor's Companion series describes and illustrates in full color dozens of these plant and animal species. It also explores the park's geology, climate, and history--at once a traveler's guide, field guide, and natural history of one of America's most popular national parks.
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About the Author
George Wuerthner has written more than 20 books, including other National Parks Visitor's Companions. He lives in Eugene, Oregon.
Natural science illustrator Douglas W. Moore lives in Tucson, Arizona.
Natural science illustrator Douglas W. Moore lives in Tucson, Arizona.
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More About the Author
George Wuerthner is a professional photographer, writer and ecologist. He has written more than two dozen books on natural history and other environmental topics. He is currently the ecological projects director for the Foundation for Deep Ecology. Wuerthner has visited hundreds of mountain ranges around the West, more than 380 wilderness areas, more than 180 national park units, and every national forest west of the Mississippi.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Weak illustrations cast doubt on book,
By "cirlama" (Waynesboro, GA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Great Smoky Mountains: A Visitor's Companion (National Park Visitor's Companions) (Paperback)
I'm a biologist who has spent a fair amount of time in western NC. I know something of wildlife and the Smokies, and I buy books like this to learn more. I also judge the usefulness of guidebooks by how closely they fit with what already know. I only recently bought the Visitor's Companion, and it looked quite worthwhile. However, as I was doing an initial skimming of the volume, I noticed the illustrations were not at fine as I first thought. Many of the animals looked a little chunky, and the trees were a bit squat and artificial. The Box Turtle's plastron just didn't look right. But when I reached the deer. . . I know deer, and no whitetail has a rack like the one pictured on p. 198. It looked like a touch of mule deer, elk and possibly some Asian species all fused together. What it reminds me of is an illustration from a 16th century beastiary or on a heraldic emblem -- drawn with heavy artistic license. I guess I expected the photo-realistic quality of a Peterson guide rather than a drawn-from-memory sketch. Had I noticed this earlier, the book would have hit the shelf instead of the counter. As it is, I am looking over the drawings of salamanders and songbirds with a more critical eye, and will be more likely to doublecheck the facts in the text.
4.0 out of 5 stars
great book for Smokies visitor,
This review is from: Great Smoky Mountains: A Visitor's Companion (National Park Visitor's Companions) (Paperback)
I actually got this after I went to the Smokies. It is very informative and will take it on the next visit.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quite helpful.,
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This review is from: Great Smoky Mountains: A Visitor's Companion (National Park Visitor's Companions) (Paperback)
Very good background information as well as being a guidebook to the trees, animals, and wildflowers of the area. The illustrations are very well done and quite useful for identification purposes.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
If you look at a road map of the southern United States, most of the region is crisscrossed by a spaghetti-like tangle of interstate highways and roads. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
common summer resident, cove hardwood forests, grassy balds, common resident, black bib, moist woods, northern hardwood forests Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Cades Cove, North Carolina, Great Smoky Mountains, United States, Clingmans Dome, Little River, Newfound Gap, Appalachian Trail, Deep Creek, Blue Ridge, Abrams Creek, North America, Park Service, Appalachian Mountains, Big Creek, Gregory Bald, New England, Hazel Creek, Forney Creek, Little Pigeon River, Raven Fork, Blooms April, Oconaluftee River, Pacific Northwest, Tennessee River New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
If you look at a road map of the southern United States, most of the region is crisscrossed by a spaghetti-like tangle of interstate highways and roads. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
common summer resident, cove hardwood forests, grassy balds, common resident, black bib, moist woods, northern hardwood forests Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Cades Cove, North Carolina, Great Smoky Mountains, United States, Clingmans Dome, Little River, Newfound Gap, Appalachian Trail, Deep Creek, Blue Ridge, Abrams Creek, North America, Park Service, Appalachian Mountains, Big Creek, Gregory Bald, New England, Hazel Creek, Forney Creek, Little Pigeon River, Raven Fork, Blooms April, Oconaluftee River, Pacific Northwest, Tennessee River New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 4
books:
1
book
cites this book:
- John Muir (Pb) (Gateway Greens) by C. Naden/R. Blue on page 215
- The Adirondacks: Forever Wild (New York Geographic Series, No 1) by George Wuerthner in Front Matter
- Canada Goose (Life Cycles) by Jason Cooper in Back Matter
- Amphibians and Reptiles (Science Nature Guides) by Christiane Gunzi on page 120
- National Parks USA East (Insight Guides-USA) by Insight Guides in Front Matter
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