Tag Archives: Great Smoky Mountains

A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 10,712,673 visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2015 spent $873,886,500 in communities near the park. That spending supported 13,709 jobs in the local area. National park tourism is a significant driver in the national economy, returning $10 for every $1 invested in the National Park Service. “In 2015, over ...

A search is underway for the body of a man who drowned at Abrams Falls in Great Smoky Mountains National Park this afternoon. According to park spokesperson Dana Soehn, personnel were notified just after 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 28, 2016 that 58-year-old Jitendra Patel, of Roswell, Ga., was hiking with a group of friends when he slipped into the ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials have announced the dates for the firefly viewing event in Elkmont. The ticketed event will take place from Tuesday, May 31 through Tuesday, June 7, 2016. Parking passes will be distributed this year via a lottery system administered through www.recreation.gov. Since 2006, access to the Elkmont area has been limited to shuttle service during ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced the temporary closure of the Abrams Creek entrance road due to damage caused by an uprooted tree. Approximately 20 linear feet of the Abrams Creek entrance road is partially washed out to a depth of over 3 feet. Park maintenance crews plan to repair the roadway by Wednesday, April 27, 2016. Trails remain ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park will celebrate Junior Ranger Day on Saturday, April 23, 2016 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with special activities at Sugarlands Visitor Center, Cades Cove Visitor Center and Oconaluftee Visitor Center. The park is also hosting two InstaMeet opportunities with photographers who will share tips on creating unique social media posts using camera phones at ...

In honor of the National Park Service Centennial, the baggage claim area at the McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville has been transformed into an immersive visit to nine National Park Service units including Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Obed Wild and Scenic River, Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Stones River National ...

Author Courtney Lix profiles the lives and accomplishments of Dolly Parton and other local women in her book “No Place for the Weary Kind: Women of the Smokies.” What does it mean to be a woman of the Smokies? While author Courtney Lix spent more than five years researching and writing her way to an answer, the Gatlinburg, Tenn. native ...

An 8,600 square foot structure associated with the former Wonderland Hotel in the Elkmont area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park burned to the ground on Tuesday, April 19, 2016. The fire was reported by a park visitor at approximately 7:15 a.m. The park fire management crew and Gatlinburg Fire Department responded to the area. The Wonderland Hotel Annex was ...

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts is exhibiting works by Nelson Ziegler – Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Artist of the Year. The Pilgrimage is a five-day event, April 19-23, 2016 hosted by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The event offers 144 professionally guided walks and presentations held in the Park and Mills Conference Center in Gatlinburg. The exhibit showcases Ziegler’s ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park fire management officials will be conducting a 600-acre prescribed burn in the Canadian Top project area adjacent to Cataloochee Valley in North Carolina. Weather permitting, burn operations will begin on Saturday, April 16, 2016. Crews should be able to complete the burn on Saturday. Smoke, however, may be present in the area through Sunday. The ...