The "smoke" in the Great Smoky Mountains comes from the mystical blue mist (from water vapour) shrouding its peaks. Most visitors will view the park from their cars, hence the park's status as the most visited in the nation, but a more intimate approach would be to hike any of the 800 miles of trails to discover log cabins, waterfalls and elk. Fishing, camping, bird-watching (more than 240 species of bird), biking, wildlife viewing (1600 bears live in the park) and camping are also popular pastimes.