Park Ranger Holly Frerichs has been a Ranger for TN State Parks since 2018. She got her start being a seasonal interpreter at Cumberland Mountain State Park in 2016 and 2017, then Fall Creek Falls in 2018 before getting hired on at Rock Island State Park. After spending a few years at Rock Island, she transferred back home to the mountains in 2021 to Norris Dam. Holly’s bachelor’s degree is from East Tennessee State University in Parks and Recreation Management, and she has her master’s in public safety from Tennessee Tech.

Holly grew up in Tellico Plains, Tennessee surrounded by the Cherokee National Forest and generations of family stories from the mountains. She found a passion in Appalachian Folklore over the last few years, and thankfully has a career where she can pursue studying the history and culture of the region while also sharing the stories and lore of the southern Appalachia’s.