Fireflies, spring wildflowers, and other Great Smoky Mountains goings on for June.

The 2 major peak months for people to take vacations in the Great Smoky Mountains are July and October. However, June has become more and more popular every year as people have discovered that besides the great late spring early summer weather, there are less crowds, lots to do and nature shows us some spectacular events taking places in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains national park during June (pictured below) is filled with plenty of deer, wild turkey and black bear foraging around with a backdrop of mountains and a foreground of lush green fields with wildflowers still blooming. Drive, bike or hike this 11 mile outdoor cultural museum and nature preserve.

Spring wildflowers and flowering bushes can found throughout various elevations during June even though the season started in April and in many places peaked in May. Mountain laurel are still blooming throughout the park and the 2 native species of Rhododendron and now blooming as well.

To celebrate the great weather, find food and interesting culture found in the Smokies, there are plenty of events going on during spring such as the Cosby In Park Celebration, the Bloomin' BBQ and Bluegrass Festival in downtown Sevierville, the Smoky Mountain Pottery Festival in Townsend, Dollywood's KidsFest taking place at Dollywood, and 2 true miracles of nature: the synchronous fireflies and peak flowering of hybrid azalea bushes on Gregory Bald overlooking Cades Cove.

One of the most amazing sights the Smokies has to offer tales pace in the Elkmont section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park just outside of Gatlinburg.

During the 2nd and 3rd weeks of June, one of our fireflies performs a natural light show second to none in Elkmont. These fireflies flash on and off in a pattern which allows them to synchronize with thousands of other lightning bugs in sight. The flashing goes on and on and then all at once – darkness, then it starts all over again.

Since the discovery of this phenomenon only a few short years ago, the firefly show in Elkmont has become incredibly popular. So popular in fact, the Elkmont section of the GSMNP closes to motor vehicles. To get there you must take a trolley from the Sugarlands visitor center to Elkmont from June 4th to the 12th.

The Trolleys to the Elkmont firefly show cost $1 per person round trip and start departing at 7 pm. The parking lot and the trolleys fill up fast so it is wise to get there early. No pets allowed and everything you take on the trolley must fit on your lap.

While the synchronous fireflies, which are lightning bugs that all flash and go dark simultaneously can be enjoyable by anyone with little effort, the 11 mile road trip hike up to Gregory Bald to see the heath bald consisting of hundreds of flame azaleas naturally hybridized in a rainbow of colors with stunning 360 degree views of the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee and North Carolina requires considerably more effort and should only be tackled by those in good shape.

If an 11-mile hike is too much for you, but you still want to see great views and flame azalea bushes from a bald, Andrews Bald with its trail-head at the Clingmans Dome parking area is much more reasonable at less than 4 miles round trip.

Whether you choose to take a trolley into Elkmont to the spectacular fireflies of the Smokies, or sit in a mountain stream or river to cool off, or take an extreme hike the mountain peak where you will find the flaming azaleas blooming at Gregory Bald, you are sure to a have a great time in the Great Smoky Mountains during June.

Related Smokies Blog Stories:
Rare Synchronizing Fireflies Find Confirmed In Brothers Cove Resort in Wears Valley.

Fireflies synchronized light show season starts in Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Synchronous fireflies and admirers about to invade the Great Smoky Mountains national park

Cabins for rent where you can see the synchronized fireflies in the Smoky Mountains

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Synchronized Fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains

Rare Synchronizing Fireflies Find Confirmed In Brothers Cove Resort in Wears Valley.

The synchronizing firefly in the Southern Appalachian Smoky Mountains is a rare sight to see when it is flashing its mating signal - a yellowish green pulsing light that breaks the darkness of the night. Found and confirmed by scientists less than a dozen years ago, the lightning bugs special light show has amazed and delighted visitors and residents of the Smoky Mountains for years.

The most popular place people come to see a large gathering of the synchronized firefly flash its special light that sends waves of lights up and down mountains, trees and then will plunge into darkness, is the Elkmont section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Conditions have to be right to support the rare lightning bug that will emerge from beneath the ground when the temperature is just right and in search of a mate will flash its amazing light. For safety's sake and transportation convenience, the 2nd week in June at Elkmont was the best place to bring visitors to see the light show.

While well coordinated, safe and a great place to see the Smokies fireflies do their thing, standing in line for a long wait to take a shuttle into the park, dealing with 1,000 other visitors that night on a small area and waiting in line to take a shuttle back to your car is not an ideal way to view the fireflies - especially with small kids.

What could be more fun that to come to the Smokies and see the special fireflies from your cabin without any hassles? Well it sounds easier than it actually is.

While you can find the synchronizing fireflies in many areas of the Southern Appalachians, it is hard to see them in large numbers in the developed areas where most cabins are. The best place to observe the fireflies are not in wooded areas, but more open places where they can see each other to stimulate the flashing, and you can see in turn see them as well.

Most cabin rentals are often fairly close to one another so light from one cabin can be seen by the cabin next door. This makes it harder to see the fireflies flashes and the ambient light discourages fireflies to flash on their own.

Last year, after much searching the perfect conditions for lightning bugs were found in a small area between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg Tennessee near large fields and a small stream, at the right elevation and way down a back road with very limited ambient light.

After watching the area for the optimum time, lighting bugs did synchronize and they do in fact inhabit this area and put on quite a show! The only problem is that there are only 3 cabins for rent where you could see the fireflies in that small area.

Well obviously 3 cabins is not enough to cover the demand to see such a spectacle in the Smoky Mountains so the search was on to find another area where the lightning bus synchronize and they can be seen from a cabin as well as within the property of a development.

After 4 years of searching for a great new place outside the Great Smoky Mountains national park that you can rent a cabin and get to see the special firefly show from the property, the best place was just found to see the rare lightning bugs!

Brothers Cove a premium private log cabin resort community tucked off Walden Creek in the Wears Valley area outside Pigeon Forge turned out to have all the right conditions: the correct elevation range, water sources, ground cover, great topography, lack of excessive ambient light and of course plenty of the Photinus Carolinus - the synchronizing firefly!

The past three weeks they have been observed in large numbers in the Brothers Cove Resort - home to more than 40 log cabins for rent! They have been found around many of the cabins located in this private gated community as well as up toward the top of the community in the large field / play area next to the in-ground swimming pool, the outdoor gazebo and the huge lodge.

An even greater concentration of the fireflies have been discovered in the lower field by the Brothers Cove Rental office - also on private property that the guests staying at Brothers Cove can use! They have been observed in the huge field, as well as in and up the treeline on the Brothers Cove Mountain.

If you are in this field at Brothers Cove and you look up a clear night, you can see actually see the Milky Way! And guess what? No crowds making noise or people bumping into you! At night all what you can hear are the whippoorwills, the crickets and frogs chirping and owls - what a private way to experience the most interesting natural phenomena in the Smokies!

So, what are the best places, ways and times to observe the Smoky Mountains synchronized fireflies in the Brothers Cove resort? Well the best place with the highest concentration of mating fireflies that light up in June will depend on when they emerged from the soil. Since the lower field is at 1,130 feet the field near the swimming pool is at 1,650 feet looking out over the valley and the top ridge of Brothers Cove is 1,950 feet and all 40 plus cabins for rent are located between the lower field and the top ridgeline, there can be an almost full weeks difference between firefly activity at the bottom of Brothers Cove verses the top.

Wherever you decide to watch the fireflies, you should bring along a flashlight with a red led or get a red lens cover or red cellophane so you can move around safely and still not throw off the light show or reduce your night vision. If you are going down to the lower field, you may want to bring folding chairs so you can sit. There are chairs at all the cabins and plenty of seating around the pool area.

If you staying at the cabin to watch the fireflies, turn off all the lights so it is as dark as possible. Pick a spot to sit with the widest panorama and if you can away from other cabins that have lights on. Do not forget to look up at the beautiful stars!

There are some many weather and other natural conditions that will dictate when the light show will reach peak and how many fireflies will be out that year. The one thing you can count on is that they will be there during the month of June and the best time to see them is at least half hour after sunset and the show is over by around midnight. Best all round time is should be the 2nd and 3rd week of June from 10 pm - 11 pm.

Just spending time in the peace and quiet of Brothers Cove is an amazing experience, but to be able to enjoy one of the Smoky Mountains most impressive natural treasures in privacy and without crowds.

Brothers Cove is an amazing custom built private neighborhood of luxury cabins on more than 400 acres much of which is unspoiled forest. Each cabin is unique and every cabin has a spectacular view of the mountains or a secluded wooded view or both! More than half of the almost 80 cabins that have been built in this private resort are for rent through BrothersCove.com.

Only guests of cabins rented through Brothers Cove or American Mountain Rentals who owns BrothersCove.com are entitled to all of the amenities maintenance, housekeeping and services offered at the on site office in Brothers Cove.

Only registered owners, renters or their guests are allowed in Brothers Cove for firefly viewing as well as entering Brothers Cove property including the fields and natural areas, roads, swimming pool and gazebo.

So what are you waiting for? Start looking for the cabin you want so that you can see the fireflies in peace and privacy! Rent a Brothers Cove cabin now before the one you want is gone!

Related Smokies Blog Stories:
Rare Synchronizing Fireflies Find Confirmed In Brothers Cove Resort in Wears Valley.

Fireflies synchronized light show season starts in Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Synchronous fireflies and admirers about to invade the Great Smoky Mountains national park

Cabins for rent where you can see the synchronized fireflies in the Smoky Mountains

Smoky Mountains firefly show in Elkmont near Gatlinburg

Elkmont Section of national park yearly visit by synchronized fireflies

Synchronized Fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains

Fireflies synchronized light show season starts in Great Smoky Mountains national park.

If you have been in the Smokies the past few weeks, you would have seen that the lightning bugs have been flashing brighter and glowing more and more every night and in the Great Smoky Mountains national park synchronized firefly season has begun!

While all fireflies are a miracle of God's creation, one of the firefly beetles found in the south Appalachian Smoky Mountains are even more amazing compared to any other firefly and will delight everyone young or old. What has been a well-kept secret has grown to become one of the huge tourist attractions each spring in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Not only has firefly watching in the Smokies become a huge happening drawing in about 10,000 visitors to watch a light show that lasts about 3 weeks, other events have sprung up around the synchronous lightning bugs and the fantastic experience of watching them in the GSMNP.

The All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory project going on in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a project performed by scientists, researches and volunteers that are searching for every species living in the park for the world's largest research program called "Discover Life in America". This project has already identified more than 17,000 species in the park, 6,500 of which we did not know they were here and an astonishing 900 of which are brand new to science!

The great folks at "Discover Life in America" will be hosting a firefly event this year to coincide with the peak firefly season. The Smokies Firefly Events will take place in Gatlinburg Tennessee on June 12th at the Nantahala Outdoor Center Great Outpost just outside the GSMNP entrance. There will be firefly information, an insect zoo, kids activities, music with Captain Firefly, art, a secret "dark" room to "bioluminate" and food and drink vendors.

However, the big questions remain such as: What makes the fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains so special?

While all of God's creatures are special, 13 of the 14 species of fireflies that inhabit the Great Smoky Mountains national park and the surrounding southern Appalachian mountains and foothills are more run of the mill creatures that can through a miracle in nature produce their own light in various shades of yellow, green and even blue to attract a mate, 1 species is even more unique.

The most unusual firefly named Photinus Carolinus is able to synchronize its light with other lightning bugs around it. The light it the firefly gives off called bioluminescence is a chemical reaction occurring in its abdomen with a self-produced enzyme and oxygen.

The Photinus Carolinus synchronized light starts as random pulses and builds up to where large groups of beetles all flash together and then suddenly, everything goes black. Just as quickly as it stopped, the whole process starts all over again.

Where can you find the synchronized fireflies in the Smokies? The firefly beetles that synchronize can be found over much of Smokies as long as the conditions are correct, but to be really impressive, you need to have large population densities of fireflies which means that you need the right conditions. The best conditions where the fireflies thrive is along slow moving water with lush plant growth.

The perfect conditions where fireflies thrive is along one of the most popular hiking trails located in the Elkmont section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park. This hiking trail is also large enough to accommodate the 1,000 people a night that show up to see the event and smooth enough for people to be safe walking the trail in the dark.

When is the best time to see the fireflies in the GSMNP? Obviously, the best time to see the fireflies is at night, but the peak of the firefly season in the Smoky Mountains is around the second week in June. Since soil temperature dictates when they will emerge from the ground and thus when they will be ready to mate, each year the exact best date to see the lightning bugs in the Smoky Mountains changes.

Since so many people come to the firefly show in the GSMNP, the park service closes Elkmont for a year and takes visitors in by trolley from the Sugarlands Visitors Center near Gatlinburg starting 7 pm for a $1 per person round trip. Once the parking lot fills, or it is 9 pm, the trolleys stop running to Elkmont.

This year the trolleys will run June 5th 2010 until June 13th 2010. If you miss the trolleys because you came to the Smokies a week or so late, do not despair, you still will get a great free light show along the Little River Hiking Trail!

Related Smokies Blog Stories:
Rare Synchronizing Fireflies Find Confirmed In Brothers Cove Resort in Wears Valley.

Fireflies synchronized light show season starts in Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Synchronous fireflies and admirers about to invade the Great Smoky Mountains national park

Cabins for rent where you can see the synchronized fireflies in the Smoky Mountains

Smoky Mountains firefly show in Elkmont near Gatlinburg

Elkmont Section of national park yearly visit by synchronized fireflies

Synchronized Fireflies: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Smoky Mountains firefly show in Elkmont near Gatlinburg

You can't come to the Smokies in spring and not see the synchronized firefly show in the Elkmont area of the Great Smoky Mountains national park near Gatlinburg Tennessee.

No one is really sure why the lightning bugs are only synchronized here in the Smoky Mountains, in small areas in Kentucky and Asia. There are more than a dozen species of lightning bugs but only one of these fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains national park, the Photinus Carolinus, gives us the light show that attracts thousands of visitors a year.

The peak of the lightning bugs synchronized light show is happening right now so shuttles are running from the Sugarland's Visitor Center off Newfound Gap Road to firefly viewing area in Elkmont in order to accommodate the almost 1,000 people a day who may come to see lightning bugs along the Little River flash in unison for hours.

The green light called bioluminescence the synchronized firefly uses to attract its mate is caused when an enzyme produced by the beetle is mixed with oxygen. As long as you stay away from bright lights you can see the fireflies light up from quite a distance and in various shades of from light green to blue.

While the lights from the lightning bugs will seem sparse and random at first, slowly the lights start to flash and roll up and down the mountainsides and fields in waves and at times in patterns, then huge sustained flashes and then total darkness. Random light flashes from the fireflies start again and then the whole light show begins all over.

You can't bring a cooler on board the shuttle tram which is the only way to get into Elkmont until Monday the 15th of June but you can bring a picnic in a carry on bag or backpack. Many people who come to the firefly show in Elkmont take along a blanket and enjoy a picnic dinner near the Little River, or along the hiking trail.

Since the beginning of the firefly viewing area is a hiking trail on an old road bed which is paved, it is accessible for people of all ages and levels of mobility. The trail is miles long and though most people who come to the lightning bug show stay close to the trail head near the parking lot, there is plenty of room for everyone to stretch out.

If you walk further down the trail there are plenty of boulders to sit on along the Little River and enjoy the fireflies, and a few log benches as well. To enjoy the light show look to the right side of the trail away from the river.

You can bring along a flashlight but you need to use one with a red lens cover or if it has a red led. Dark red cellophane works well too. If the light is not covered it can disrupt the fireflies from flashing and will make it harder for you and those around you to see well in the darkness.

The shuttle trams start running at 6 pm from the Sugarland's Visitor Center parking area for a $1 a person round trip to the Elkmont Firefly light show viewing area. The trams return back with the last tram arriving back to the Sugarlands around midnight.

Want to avoid the crowds? Check out the light show on your own next week starting next Monday. Until then the only way to get into Elkmont during the evening will be with the shuttle. The firefly light show will still be fun for all of next week too.

If you are staying in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg or Sevierville the firefly light show in the Great Smoky Mountains national park should not be missed!

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Close to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg the Elkmont Section of the national park has yearly visit by synchronized fireflies

People come from all around the view the fantastic phenomena of the synchronized fireflies that are only found in a small section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

There are 14 species of firefly beetles that can be found in the Great Smoky Mountains national park but only one the Photinus Carolinus males and females flash their lights used to attract mates in a synchronous pattern. The light made by the fireflies is actually made by combining a chemical inside their abdomen with and enzyme and air!

This event which runs from June 7th to the 14th in the Elkmont section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park draws so many visitors that the city of Gatlinburg has arranged to have everyone park only at the Sugarlands Visitor Center and take a trolley for $1 round trip to Elkmont.

If you are in the Smokies during this time you should not miss this opportunity to see a natural light show. It would be best to avoid the crowds and come during a week night, but even if you come during the weekend to see the fireflies it will be an experience you won't want to miss!

Of course the best place to stay in the Smoky Mountains is in an America Mountains Rentals Cabin in Pigeon or Gatlinburg and if you don't already have a reservation all last minute bookings are 10% off!

Related Stories:
Fireflies synchronized light show season starts in Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Synchronous fireflies and admirers about to invade the Great Smoky Mountains national park

Smoky Mountains firefly show in Elkmont near Gatlinburg

Elkmont Section of national park yearly visit by synchronized fireflies

Synchronized Fireflies: Great Smoky Mountains National Park