In May of 2016 I traveled to North Carolina and Tennessee as part of my graduate Herpetology class. In case you missed Part I, go check it out.
Here are the six locations I traveled to:

• Cullowhee, NC
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• Highlands, NC and Dry Falls
• Nantahala National Forest, Sugarfork, NC
• Cashiers (near Highlands) NC
• Canasuaga River, TN

Part I covered Cullowhee, NC. This post will cover the salamanders I saw in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

First, to set the scene. Of course, this Park is astonishingly beautiful. Here is the path we went down after driving to the top:

The path leading down the mountainside.

A stream we searched for salamanders.

A small waterfall.

The view from Clingman's Dome. The Smokies are so beautiful! Note the herp (avian dinosaur) in the picture.

Another stream. We flipped the rocks to find salamanders.

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Alright, enough scenery! On to the salamanders!

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The first is the Red-Cheeked Salamander, Plethodon jordani. These salamanders are aptly named, as you can see.

Red-Cheeked Salamander

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Here are some larvae we found. Larvae are salamanders that have not metamorphosed yet. They breathe through gills like fish do, and so must stay submerged. Larvae are notoriously hard to identify. Our professor thinks the top larvae is a Eurycea sp. and the bottom a Desmognathus sp.

Salamander larvae. They must be kept in water to respire.

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Here is a big salamander, compared to the rest we saw (nothing like a Hellbender, though!) This is a Black-Bellied Salamander, Desmognathus quadrimaculatus.1

A Black-Bellied Salamnder. The larval form eats Eurycea sp. larvae, so they're somewhat at the top of the salamander food chain.
Here is a picture for scale. Not how dorky I look with my awesome nerd hat!

NB: This is not the natural habitat for the Black-Bellied Salamander. Neither is a log, like the previous picture.

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This next salamander is much smaller than the Black-Bellied Salamander. It is the Blue Ridge Two-Lined Salamander, Eurycea wilderae.

This gorgeous salamander has a very long tail that comprises about 55-60% of its total length. Photo Credit: James Erdmann

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The next salamander is quite small, and aptly named the Pygmy Salamander, Desmognathus wrighti. It only grows up to 2 inches but has a beautiful dorsal (back) herringbone pattern. If you look very closely in this picture, you can see the herringbone patter on its back. It is next to a Red-Cheeked Salamander, so you can see how small it is comparatively!

A Pygmy Salamander (top) and Red-Cheeked Salamander (bottom).

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This next salamander looks like it has glitter in its skin. It is the Santeetlah Dusky Salamander, Desmognathus santeetlah.

A Santeetlah Dusky Salamander

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That's it for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park! I hope you enjoyed looking at these pictures half as much as I enjoyed taking them! Stay tuned for Part III at Highlands, NC and Dry Falls.