Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials are pleased to announce that several of our dedicated Volunteers in Park (VIP) received regional and national recognition for their outstanding service. The Cades Cove Bike Patrol team and Robert E. (Bob) Lochbaum were selected for their exemplary service from over 240,000 volunteers across the nation that donate their time, skills, and talents to ...

A Partners in Preservation Grant will fund much needed restoration on the Clingmans Dome Observation Tower in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Friends of the Smokies today announced it will receive a $250,000 grant provided by American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Great Smoky Mountains National Park qualified for the grant as one of the top nine most ...

Grand Ole Opry member and Grammy Award winner Joe Diffie will rock the 2016 Patriot Festival, Pigeon Forge’s annual blowout to celebrate July 4, immediately before a spectacular fireworks show brightens the sky over this Great Smoky Mountains resort city. Activity begins at noon, and onstage entertainment begins at 1:30 p.m. for guests at Patriot Park. Admission is free. In ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park will continue accepting comments through July 12, 2016 on a proposal to increase fees at frontcountry campgrounds and picnic pavilions along with proposed changes to the management of three campgrounds by adding them to the national reservation system through Recreation.gov. The proposal, titled “Recreational Fee Proposal Information Document,” has been available for public review since ...

Pointing to the immense popularity of East Tennessee’s favorite entertainment icon, tickets for Dolly Parton’s Nov. 15 Pure & Simple concert at the LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge have sold out. Tickets went on sale to Dollywood season passholders on June 15. Remaining tickets were made available to the general public the morning of July 1 and sold out that day. ...

(WASHINGTON) – The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released the 2016 National Heroin Threat Assessment Summary – Updated (NHTA) on Monday. The report outlines the expanding public health crisis afflicting America due to the use and abuse of heroin and other opioid drugs. Some key facts: The number of people reporting current heroin use nearly tripled between 2007 (161,000) and 2014 ...

Stages West, located in the heart of Pigeon Forge, Tenn., “returned home” with the grand reopening of its beloved store on Thursday, June 30, 2016. In August of 2015, fire heavily damaged the store’s infrastructure, causing it to close its doors for nearly a year. After months of rebuilding and preparation, Stages West officially reopened today, and it’s bigger, better, ...

The first three months of youth baseball tournaments at the Ripken Experience Pigeon Forge have been everything the city expected – and perhaps more. “Baseball lives on statistics, and the numbers coming out of the Ripken Experience are awesome. Visitor spending of $6.7 million in Pigeon Forge is simply wonderful,” said Eric Brackins, Pigeon Forge assistant city manager, who worked ...

Youth baseball and softball teams that participate in the National Sunglasses Day Essay Contest could win free sunglasses from Under Armour Eyewear for every player on their team. Under Armour Eyewear, the leader in performance sunglasses, is proud to announce an exclusive partnership in honor of National Sunglasses Day on June 27th with Ripken Baseball. This collaboration highlights Under Armour’s ...

The English Mountain Community in Sevier County, Tenn. has earned Firewise Communities/USA® recognition from the National Firewise Communities Program based on its efforts to reduce the vulnerability of homes and landscapes to wildfire. English Mountain is only the 15th community in Tennessee to earn this designation since the program was started in 2002. A ceremony was held June 25, 2016 ...