Displaying items by tag: great smokies visitation
Parking fees set for Smokies; camping costs will increase
You might have to pay to park at some of these trailheads in Great Smoky Mountains National Park starting next year. These old trail badges are displayed in Fontana Village on the south side of the Smokies. Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press
Smokies parking fees will generate $7 million in revenue for park infrastructure
GATLINBURG — Getting outside just got more expensive.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced Monday the park would proceed with plans for a $5/per day parking pass required of all cars staying in one spot for more than 15 minutes.
Weekly passes will be $15, and annual passes will be available for $40, according to a release from the park service. Fees will also increase $3 for backcountry and campground permits, meaning campers and backpackers will have to fork over $8 a night.
Has the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians lost its ‘right way’ at Exit 407?
Cherokee tribal council member, historian and ethnographer Will West Long holds a traditional Cherokee mask, which he often recreated. He was an active chronicler of Cherokee custom, heritage and tradition and died in 1947 on the Qualla Reservation in Swain County, North Carolina. WikiCommons
As plans gel for massive new developments, has the Eastern Band lost its ancient way?
SEVIERVILLE — The Tennessee Department of Transportation is eyeing a second interchange for exit 407 at Highway 66 along Interstate I-40 in Sevier County.
Exit 407, already one of the most congested interchanges in Southern Appalachia, accesses the main highway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited national park in the nation. The park reported a record 14 million visitors in 2021.
The exit also serves crowds flocking to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.
But the new interchange would primarily serve a 200-acre development to be called Exit 407: The Gateway to Adventure.
Scheduled to open spring 2023, and fully operational in 2024, it’s expected to attract 6.7 million people annually. The first phase includes a theme park and a 74,000-square-foot convenience store with 120 gas pumps, making it the world’s largest such store.
- exit 407
- eastern band of cherokee indians
- cherokee
- buc'ees
- world's largest convenience store
- cherokee, nc
- qualla boundary
- theme park at exit 407
- cherokee 'the right way'
- great smoky mountains national park
- great smokies visitation
- sevier county
- swain county
- cherokee casino
- when will buc'ees open in sevier county
- buc'ees beef jerky
- trail of tears
- pigeon forge
- gatlinburg, tn
- traffic in smokies
- traffic in sevier county
- will west long
- cherokee tradition
- cherokee heritage
- what was cherokee's connection to the environment
- rick vaughan
- hellbender press cherokee
- i40 exit for smoky mountain
- did cherokee hunt mastodon?