“Recently, an eastern hellbender, the largest salamander in North America, was found crushed beneath rocks that had been moved and stacked by people in the park,” officials said. Visitor-built rock stacks are a growing issue in many popular backcountry spaces. “Building dams, channels, or rock stacks might seem harmless, but for the wildlife hiding below, it can be deadly. The eastern hellbender can grow to be 12 to 29 inches long, yet despite its size, sightings of it are extremely rare. In response to the discovery of the crushed salamander in the Smokies, park officials are encouraging visitors to tread cautiously in hellbender territory.