Hold a live bird in your hands before it takes off to the treetops. Swim with the fishes identifying the myriad species that thrive here. Snorkel in the river in search of the Eastern Hellbender, North America’s largest salamander. Sit under a starry sky and identify the frogs you hear calling to each other. Experience the national park from a field scientist’s perspective.



Field Ecology Adventure is an opportunity for you to learn more about the natural world and the methods scientists use to study it by participating in science projects in the park. Hands-on studies of everything from bugs to bears and hellbenders to land snails will be interspersed with swimming, hiking, and games. A camping trip and team projects make this an exciting experience. We include plenty of fun along with science – swimming, hiking, stories around the campfire – but, of course science is fun, too, when it happens in the Great Smoky Mountains!