Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Update: Great Smoky Mountains audio tour

Another impressive audio driving tour!

I'm back from the mountains and pleased to report on another solid example of smart placecasting. The Great Smoky Mountains audio driving tour I wrote about last month was still relevant and informative, despite being several years old now.

I was disappointed that no one at the National Park Visitors Center seemed to know anything about it. I asked in the bookstore and at the desk and was told that no audio tours were available because it's too hard to know how long it will take someone to drive the park's mail road.

That's a good point, but there are a few good solutions if that's the biggest problem (most involve trusting your listeners to know how to use the "pause" button). Fortunately I had downloaded these audio tours from iTunes before I came. (By the way, don't try to download these using your iPhone unless you have wi-fi access...the files are too big to use the wireless 3G network.)

What's remarkable is that this audio tour, produced by the Great Smoky Mountains Association, actually does try to take you real-time along Newfound Gap Road (US Hwy 441) without needing to pause the tape. For this reason, it's in two parts, so if you haven't made it to the gap by the end of part one, you can stop it 'til you get there. Traffic can be very heavy on this windy road, but for us, the timing of the audio tracks were nearly perfect!
Auto touring has long been a favorite way to enjoy the park.

The audio driving tour assumes you're starting in the parking lot of the visitors center and starts with some rudimentary driving tips, but quickly dives into some more interesting history and interpretation of the park. It doesn't try to keep up with the sites of specific route you're on, but is rather an orientation lesson for the park as a whole. So you'll be disappointed if you want it to explain what the tallest peak is at a particular wayside or what that creek you just crossed over is called. If all you're going to do in the park is drive this road and do this your, you'll come away with a great overview of the layers of stories in the park. If you're going to stay awhile, it's a great way to start your visit.

The narrator is solid and personable, but the highlight of the podcast are the experts it uses to talk about the history and ecology of the park. They are talking off-the-cuff about specific topics, rather than reciting a script or basking in generalities. There are also some refreshing oral histories when the tour talks about what life was like for people who used to live in what is now the park. The production quality is high and mixed with Appalachian music throughout. In fact, it ends with several minutes of music to get you to the end of the road.

Oh, and if you notice there are 4 segments of the tour, don't be confused...the tour is the same on the return trip, just re-mixed for people starting their journey from the other side. So if you want something to listen to, consider buying a music CD in the visitors center and supporting the Association that created this audio tour back in 2002.

The park has several roads in it and is a good one for taking driving tours, but none of the rest have audio components. Instead, they have excellent pamphlets that you can but for $1 or 50 cents at any visitors center. On these roads, there are numbered signposts that indicate when to read a certain section of the pamphlet. Most of these are excellently written...it's a shame none have been translated into audio as a CD/podcast would be an easy way to present the research and writing that has already been done.