A Walk in the Woods

Let our guests do the talking!

A Walk in the Woods Mission

A Walk In The Woods is dedicated to raising environmental awareness through direct, positive experiences with nature.

A Walk in the Woods Core Values

Our mission allows us to plant the seeds for future change by helping people fall in love with the Smokies so they will in turn work to protect it and all wild spaces.

1. A passion for curiosity and sharing knowledge.
2. Providing exemplary customer service.
3. Supporting our staff with a living wage so they can, in turn, work in a field that they are passionate about.
4. Creating an atmosphere of cooperation and appreciation for our team.
5. Leaving our wild spaces better than when we found them.
6. Leading by example, walking our talk.

A Walk in the Woods | Locally Owned and Operated Since 1998

A Walk in the Woods has been a family-owned, locally operating guide service in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park since 1998. We’ve guided hundreds of thousands of clients over every inch of the Smokies and beyond. Our services cover all potential aspects of your trip, so your mountain adventure is completely customizable, down to the pack on your back! We offer interpretive guided nature walks and hikes, guided backpacking trips, birding treks, hiker shuttle service in and around the Great Smoky Mountains, Mount LeConte adventures, Appalachian Trail support and camping and backpacking gear rentals.

Our Guide Service | The Best Part of Your Vacation

A Walk In The Woods is an award-winning tour guide service geared to making your time in the Smokies the best part of your vacation. Emphasizing the teaching of natural history, A Walk In The Woods offers spectacular trips into the incredible biodiversity of the Smokies. Every tour features our highly-trained guides, all experts in local biodiversity, history, and survival knowledge. This ensures that your adventure is safe, educational, and most importantly, fun! We offer a wide range of outdoor experiences, from gentle family walks through lush wildflowers and pure mountain streams, to rugged uphill backpacking trips with breathtaking vistas and crystal-clear starry skies. Giant old-growth forests, majestic waterfalls, intact and explorable homestead structures, ancient historical gravesites that illustrate the hardscrabble ways of early settler life. There are endless ways to experience the Smokies!

Preparing You for Your Own Adventures

In addition to our trekking adventures, we offer everything you need to learn to tackle the Great Smoky Mountains on your own. Trip planning, gear rentals, wild edibles classes, shuttle rides to and from the trailhead: whatever you need to have the best trip possible, we’ve got you covered. We also offer special group tours for schools and organizations, an Exploring Nature with Children tour for little ones, and great options for clients with disabilities. Every client deserves to enjoy our Park. Our exemplary staff and hand-picked guides are guaranteed to go above and beyond for any special needs or big dreams (proposal photos on a majestic mountaintop are hard to beat). We are thrilled to customize your experience! Just ask.

A Walk in the Woods | Committed to Community and Planet

In addition to serving our clients, A Walk in the Woods is deeply dedicated to environmental stewardship within our local community. We recognize that the Great Smoky Mountains are part of one global ecosystem in need of protection. In addition to weaving best environmental practices into our programming, our business and its individuals are constantly improving our carbon footprint through Leave No Trace ethics, working to limit single-use plastics and non-recyclable materials on trips, and supporting local businesses and charities whose missions safeguard our environmental future. Click here to learn more about Discover Life in America and other exciting initiatives in this field!