by Holly Scott, Marketing Director

Camping in the Smokies Today (Oct. 16th) – Edited

This post was written on October 16th to help address visitors’ questions about front- and backcountry camping in Great Smoky Mountains National Park during the short period of time when the states of North Carolina and Tennessee partnered in funding the reopening of the national park. When Congress reached an agreement to “restart” the federal government, the website and reservation systems for Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s campgrounds and primitive campsites and shelters went back online for business.  All of the information that you need to know about camping in Great Smoky Mountains National Park can once again be found on the Park’s website including regulations, seasonal closures, and more.

Date- October 16, 2013

An agreement between the Department of the Interior and the States of Tennessee and North Carolina, with the help of Blount and Sevier Counties in Tennessee, has reopened Great Smoky Mountains National Park until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday.  As the prospect of a full-on restart of the government dangles like a carrot in front of everyone who loves our national parks throughout the country, we are overjoyed to have the next 5 days to hike, fish, and camp in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The online reservation system that folks must use to reserve campground sites in front country campgrounds in Great Smoky Mountains National Park remains shuttered by the federal government shutdown; there is no online tool available right now to check availability.  Right now campground spots are available on a fist-come-first-serve basis; you must show up and try your luck if you don’t already have a reservation. Anyone who KEPT an existing reservation made prior to the shutdown 15 days ago still has a reservation that will be verified and honored right now in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Park employees have the ability to view existing reservations, but they cannot help you make new ones online.  If you cancelled your reservation, it does remain cancelled, and you would be subject to the first-come-first-serve in-person policy from now until Sunday (unless the entire government gets restarted ASAP at which time the online reservation system would return to normal operations.)

During this temporary 5-day reopening period funded by Tennessee and North Carolina, new reservations can be made in-person, and existing reservations can be kept, through Saturday night.

Backpacking in the Smokies Today (Oct. 16th)

The online reservation system for backcountry campsites and shelters is not online right now during the shutdown.  To reserve a primitive backcountry campsite or shelter for backpacking, you must call the Backcountry Office at 865-436-1297 or plan your trip in-person at the Backcountry Office.

Smokies Firewood Quarantine

Park managers have identified firewood brought in from other areas of the country as a possible source of destructive, exotic invasive insects like the emerald ash borer.  Please be advised of the firewood quarantine in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Please visit the Park’s website which is back up and running for a complete description of campground regulations concerning food storage, pets, and more.

While you’re visiting the Smokies, whether you’re driving through, spending the night, or just the day, consider participating in a ranger-led program like Thursday’s Cades Cove Evening Hayride or Saturday’s presentation at Sugarlands Visitors Center on The Civil War in the Smokies.

Join Friends of the Smokies AmeriCorps Outreach Associate Brent McDaniel tomorrow for a hike along the Bradley Fork and Chasteen Creek Trails in North Carolina with Danny Bernstein, then shop at the Great Smoky Mountains Association bookstore at the Oconaluftee Visitors Center, and experience the Park’s cultural history in the visitor center museum there. Visit the Mountain Farm Museum, too!  Daytripping in the Smokies seemed like a dream last week!