WILDERNESS WILDLIFE WEEK, PIGEON FORGE-AN EVENT FOR ALL AGES

 The 24th Annual Wilderness Wildlife Week (WWW) begins Saturday, January 25th, and will be held at the new LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge, TN.

WWW started from an idea by Ken Jenkins, a Smokies Wildlife Photographer and has grown into 8 days of hikes, seminars, classes, exhibits and a Photo Contest, all designed to connect visitors with the great outdoors. Of course our great outdoors is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

You can attend and browse through the Exhibit Area and the Photo Gallery. Or you can be more involved and attend the classes and seminars. And you can sign-up and take to the trails with the guided hikes in the Smokies.

Classes range from lectures and video presentations about Wildflowers, Fly Fishing, Bears, Hummingbirds, Snakes and Salamanders and doing photography in the Smokies.

Hikes and field trips begin on Sunday the 26th and continue through the following Saturday. There are several hikes per day and there is a difficulty level and length for everyone – from Easy to Moderate to Strenuous. You sign-up in advance and you re bussed to and from the trailhead for each hike. Hikes include a Cades Cove Photo Trek, Hiking Tour of Wear Cove, Ramsey Cascades, Walker Sisters via Laurel Falls, and Owl Prowl and more.

There is also The Titanic Dive & Dine Excursion that will include an escorted tour of the Titanic Museum Attraction, a First Class Dinner and a personal introduction to Titanic historian John Joslyn. John was the co-leader of the group that took TV viewer “Live” to the wreck of the Titanic in 1987.

This is the ultimate Smoky Mountain Adventure and everything but the Titanic Dive & Dine Excursion is all FREE.

And for information on where to stay, eat and play in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Sevierville, please visit www.bestreadguidesmokymountains.com .