Five shots over three days were needed to kill a young Great Smoky Mountains National Park black bear linked to a ginseng poacher who turned up dead in the park last month.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials plan to open the long-awaited section of the Foothills Parkway between Walland and Wears Valley, Tennessee, on Saturday, November 10. The public will be able to experience the entire 16-mile roadway for the first time since construction began in 1966, including the 1.65-mile section known as the ‘Missing Link’ which is now connected by a series of nine bridges.

There have been quite a few comments this past week or so in light of an incident at Great Smoky Mountains National Park about bear behavior and what to do with a bear that either mauls a human or feeds on a dead body. There are some good books out there about bear behavior, and what you can do to protect yourself from bears, both blacks and grizzlies.

More than 500 miles of trails have been searched in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in an effort to find an Ohio woman who went missing early last week while out for a hike with her daughter.