Knoxville is an unpretentious, pretty city of almost 200,000 nestled in the Appalachian mountains of East Tennessee. It is 40 miles from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the nation’s most visited park. East Tennessee is full of mountain people, Germans, English and Scots-Irish who live in the hills around Knoxville. Its fame comes from its unique mountain culture. Knoxville is one of the central metropolitan areas of Southern Appalachia.