Displaying items by tag: whiteoak sink
Please don’t trample the Dutchman’s breeches
Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) is among the wildflowers you may encounter each spring at Whiteoak Sink and other areas of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The sink is such a draw for wildflower lovers the park service limits the number of people who can enter the sink at any one time in a bid to protect the flowers. Wikipedia Commons
Park rangers warn stupefied visitors to tread carefully during Smokies wildflower season
GATLINBURG — In what has become an annual plea, rangers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park again reminds visitors to limit group sizes at Whiteoak Sink, a wildflower mecca in the most-visited park in the U.S.
Here’s the release from the National Park Service:
“As spring approaches, Great Smoky Mountains National Park reminds visitors of group size limits during the popular wildflower season at Whiteoak Sink. Individuals and small groups of eight or fewer people may access the Whiteoak Sink area throughout the wildflower season from April 1 through May 3.
“Whiteoak Sink is a sensitive area that hosts many rare plants. Park managers limit group size to protect sensitive wildflower species from trampling. Overuse of the area causes impacts like damage to plants and soil compaction when large groups crowd around plants off trail to take photos or closely view flowers. Parking is limited, so visitors should plan ahead and come prepared with alternative destinations in case they do not find parking available at Whiteoak Sink. Parking is not permitted on road shoulders.”
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Park service introduces permit system to protect Whiteoak Sink wildflowers
A visitor to Whiteoak Sink in Great Smoky Mountains National Park photographs a wildflower. Courtesy National Park Service
Park managers hope new rule will limit trampling of the flowers people flock to photograph. Meanwhile, there’s sad news about the sink’s resident bats.
Large groups of spring visitors to the geologically and ecologically unique Whiteoak Sink area near Cades Cove will have to obtain permits in an ongoing effort to prevent damage to the sink’s plant and animal habitats.
The sink is home to vivid wildflower displays in the spring, and the 5,000 people who come to see the annual spectacle stray off trails and destroy or damage some plant species.
“The intent of the trial reservation system is to better protect sensitive wildflower species that can be damaged when large groups crowd around plants off-trail to take photos or closely view blooms,” according to a release from Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Whiteoak Sink is off the Schoolhouse Gap Trail between Townsend and Cades Cove.
“This trial project will allow managers to determine if better coordinating group access can reduce trampling and soil compaction around sensitive plant populations.”