11. The CCC built much of the infrastructure of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park
In the Great Smokey Mountains, 23 CCC camps were established for the purpose of building logging and forest maintenance roads, firebreaks, hiking trails, observation towers and fire control towers, bridges and traffic roads, and service buildings. They constructed retaining walls, installed fresh water distribution systems, campgrounds, picnic areas, and mapped trail routes. The Rockefeller Memorial in the park was built by the CCC. The CCC also landscaped many areas, planted trees and shrubs to control soil erosion, dammed or re-routed streams, and were responsible for renovating many of the historic buildings which can be found in the park.
After the Tennessee Valley Authority (another New Deal Agency) built Norris Dam/Norris Lake, the CCC was dispatched to the new lake to create recreational facilities to allow the taxpayer to take advantage of the lake which they had paid for. Cove Lake State Park was laid out and built by the CCC nearby. Norris Dam State Park was also designed and built by the CCC to take advantage of Norris Lake, which was also stocked with various game fish by the agency. Big Ridge State Park was likewise built by the CCC, and what had originated as a project to provide electrification for remote areas of the Tennessee Valley led to the creation of a major recreation area still resorted to with acclaim by tourists and locals.