Bear Facts

Seeing a black bear is a highlight of many Smoky Mountain trips. Here’s what to know about the park’s most famous residents, and how to keep them and your family safe.

Bears by the Numbers

• About 1,900 black bears live in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, at every elevation. That’s around two per square mile, the densest population in the country.
• Around 250 pounds is typical for an adult male in summer. Females usually weigh a little over 100 pounds, and both can nearly double their weight by fall.
• Up to 30 mph is how fast a bear can run, so never try to outrun one.
• 12 to 15 years is a typical life in the wild. Bears that get into human food tend to live about half as long.

Life of a Smoky Mountain Bear

Most bears here are black with a brown muzzle, and some have a white patch on the chest. They’re strong climbers and swimmers, and their sense of smell is far better than a bloodhound’s.

Plants make up most of their diet. Berries, nuts and acorns matter most, with insects and the occasional carcass adding protein. Bears rarely hunt.

Winter is a lighter sleep here than you might expect. Bears settle in between late October and mid-December, often high up in hollow trees, and may wake after only a month or two. Cubs are born in the den around late January, weighing less than a pound, and stay with their mother for about a year and a half.

Staying Safe Around Bears

• Keep your distance. In the national park it’s illegal to go within 50 yards of a bear, or any distance that disturbs it.
• Never feed a bear. It’s against park rules, with fines up to $5,000 and up to six months in jail. Bears that learn to look for human food lose their fear of people and often have to be put down.
• Stay in your car if you spot a bear from the road, and only park in designated pull-offs.
• Back away slowly if a bear changes what it’s doing because of you. Keep facing it and don’t run.
• If a bear follows you, change direction. If it keeps coming, stand your ground, stay together, look big and make noise.
• If a bear goes after your food, leave the food and slowly back away.
• If a bear attacks and isn’t after food, fight back. Don’t play dead.

Bears and Your Cabin

Bears can smell a trash bag from a long way off, and they know how to open car doors. Bag your trash, put it in the cabin’s outdoor bins, keep food out of your car and keep your car locked.

Facts from the National Park Service. In an emergency, call 911.