This collection houses approximately 500 photographs that Herbert Webster took while hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains prior to the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Among the subjects most frequently depicted are House Mountain, Grandfather Mountain, Three Forks, Greenbrier Pinnacle, Rainbow Falls, Ramsey Cascades, Clingman's Dome, Siler Bald, Mt. Guyot, Mt. Cammerer, Mt. LeConte, Cades Cove, Bald Falls, and the Chimneys. Some of the pictures show Webster's fellow hikers, including Charlie Gibson, Tom Brightwell, Harvey Broome, A. G. Dutch Roth, June Thomas, Walter Cotton Clark, and Mildred Webster. The vast majority of these images are photographic negatives, but a few have accompanying prints.

Researchers should note that notes written on the original envelopes often refer to a print file and to a scrapbook that are not housed in this collection. Webster's image titles (including spelling) have been used whenever possible. Although many of the images are undated, most seem to have been made in the 1930s based on such factors as the names used for various geographical features.