Interpretation of Parks

Water wheel, water gate, and forebay after restoration, Great Smoky Mountains, 1936.

The singular relationship that people have to the parks varies from person to person; for some it is being able to experience an untamed wilderness that they have never seen before, others come for the chance to see the unique history or culture. Every visitor that comes is an opportunity for park personnel to enhance their visit by explaining and promoting the preservation and conservation of the parks and why this is necessary so that future generations can enjoy what we see now. Through interpretation, parks show us how our relationship to nature is inextricable from our lives and how important that it is that we respect this bond. Interpretation shows us the history of our country, the battles that we have fought, the positions that we defended in the face of adversity, and what we have done together as a country to get us where we are today.