Locally owned and operated for 22 years! Touring the Smokies since 1998! https://www.awalkinthewoods.com/
A Walk in the Woods is dedicated to raising environmental awareness through direct, positive experiences with nature. Our mission is the bedrock for our guest’s experience, second only to our attention to safety. We believe in leaving the Park better than when we found it, never sacrificing our guest’s and the resident wildlife’s safety. We are serious about Leave No Trace ethics and in our 22 years have never had a negative wildlife encounter caused by our team. We have two REI Top Guide members on our staff, four former AT thru hikers, four former Park rangers, several guides with degrees in Environmental Education and our staff includes two of the most 100 influential people in Park history by the Great Smoky Mountains Association.
A Walk in the Woods is the oldest and most experienced Guide Service in the Smokies, locally owned and operated for over 2 decades. Our guides are the secret ingredient to your experience; they will entertain, educate and keep you wowed throughout every tour. Whether you take a one hour easy stroll to a multiple night backpacking trip, you can be sure that you are with guides who are top in the field. Each of them have passion for adventure, the incredible diversity of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Southern Appalachian region’s rich culture and history. From exploring hidden waterfalls to sharing wild foods, they will keep the tour comfortable, safe, and above all – fun! Always the top guides in the industry, they are renowned for their knowledge of their botany, geology, culture and history of our area. Their desire is to ensure you have a fun and safe adventure of the Smoky Mountains while experiencing the true beauty and culture of our unique Southern Appalachian region.
How do you know you have the best in the field? We handpick our guides following an extensive and detailed interview process. These passionate and highly educated folks live near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and after an intensive training, they continue learning about this amazing outdoor classroom daily. You can often find them exploring trails, volunteering with the various support organizations, interviewing locals or sitting in the library reading from the vast collection of Smoky Mountain Stories on their days off. They are dedicated to the natural world in general and the Smokies in particular, working to ensure that this beautiful jewel of the Park’s system is protected for future generations. They are former Park rangers and Park employees, certified naturalists and outdoor educators, and have majors in environmental education. Our award winning naturalist guides are certified in Wilderness Medicine, and CPR as well as trained in non lethal Bear Aversion techniques through the American Humane Society, and Leave No Trace Principals for the safety of our guests and for the wildlife who call the Great Smoky Mountains home. Every guest who experiences our tours think they had the best guide...because they did!
Whether you are looking for a heart pumping adventure or to reconnect with nature, A Walk In The Woods is a full range tour guide service geared to making your time in the Smokies wonderful. Emphasizing the teaching of natural and human history, we are in our 22nd season offering spectacular trips into the Smokies and beyond. Our experienced, Naturalist guides take you to incredible vistas, gentle cascades, waterfalls, majestic ancient forests, crystal clear mountain streams, old home sites, graveyards and quiet trails. As seen in “An Explorer’s Guide to The Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains”, Samantha Brown's Travel Channel Program “Weekend Adventures”, on National Geographic Lonely Planet with Ian Wright, NBC Nightly News, PBS, Backpacker Magazine, Endless Vacation, USA Today, AAA magazine Home and Away, National Geographic Adventurer, Outside Magazine, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Shape Magazine, Women's Health, Southern Living, the Chicago Tribune, Indianapolis Star, Ohio Dispatch, London's Sun Times and the Independent, Redbook and more.
Sharing Smoky Mountain memories for 27 years! Four time winner of the REI Top Guide Award!
