Visitor Experience Stewardship

Emma Oxford, Great Smoky Mountains Association

The park is a busy place. Park safely during your visit.

Remember these tips when parking in the Smokies:

1. Park only in official paved or graveled lots or pull-outs.
2. Avoid marked 'no parking' zones.
3. Make sure all four wheels are off the roadway.

Visitors should plan ahead and come prepared with alternative destinations in case they do not find parking available at desired sites. By carefully choosing the time of day, time of year, and day of the week, visitors can help improve their chances of obtaining a safe parking space within designated, durable parking areas even at iconic destinations. If safe parking is not available at the destination of choice, visitors still have many options for exploration. The park offers more than 800 miles of trails and more than 380 miles of scenic roadways. Staff are available to assist in trip planning, seven days a week, at Sugarlands Visitor Center, Oconaluftee Visitor Center, and the Backcountry Office.

 

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is consistently the most visited national park in the country. It is situated within a day’s drive of one-half the population of the United States and was visited more than 14.1 million times in 2021.

Providing a high-quality visitor experience has grown more challenging due to increasing visitation. Since 2011 annual visitation to the Smokies has increased by 57%, resulting in congested roadways, overflowing parking lots, roadside soil erosion, vegetation trampling, and long lines at restroom and visitor center facilities.

 

Our goals:

Provide better access, improve safety, and protect resources

 

Visitor Experience Stewardship Outreach
In October 2020, the Park initiated a visitor experience stewardship engagement process. Park staff held eight virtual workshops with the public, employees, volunteers, and partners to collect their input on congestion and crowding in the park. As a part of the workshop, park staff presented information about the current state of the park and a visitor use expert presented congestion management solutions that have been implemented on public lands across the country and globe. Over 200 people attended the workshops and provided input on their ideal park experiences as well as their opinions on how sites could be better managed. Additionally, park staff collected feedback via the Planning, Environment & Public Comment (PEPC) system.

 

Visitor Experience Stewardship Outreach Facts

• Eight virtual workshops were held
• People from 28 states provided feedback via PEPC
• There were 391 submissions via PEPC
• Participants had the opportunity to comment about any area in the park. The park received 220 submissions related to Laurel Falls trail. 
• Nearly 600 people participated in the Visitor Experience Stewardship civic engagement overall.

 

Laurel Falls Trail 2021 Congestion Management Pilot

The Laurel Falls Trail Congestion Management Pilot ran from Sept. 7 through Oct 3, 2021. Through the Visitor Experience Stewardship engagement detailed above, park managers were able to learn about what a desirable visitor experience for Laurel Falls would be and also some potential management strategies. .

 

So, what did we hear from the public when we asked about a desirable visitor experience for Laurel Falls?

• Visitors have the opportunity to access safety information before beginning their hike.
• Visitors experience a well-ordered flow of foot traffic to the falls.
• Visitors have adequate physical space and time to enjoy and perhaps take photographs of the falls.
• Parking is available in designated spots.

• Visitors can safely travel from their vehicle to the trailhead.

 

And what did the public recommend the park do to better manage the Laurel Falls site?

• Reduce or eliminate roadside parking.
• Charge a parking lot fee.
• Make repairs to the trail and falls viewing area.
• Increase the presence of rangers and volunteers in the parking area and on the trail.
• Provide information about congestion conditions to the public.
• Provide alternative transportation to the trailhead from the surrounding gateway communities.

 

Pilot Strategies:

• Prohibition of roadside parking
  • Park managers prohibited roadside parking through use of physical barriers and staff presence. This improved the safety conditions at the trailhead parking area and along the road corridor.
• Timed-entry parking reservations
  • To allow for better trip planning during the pilot project, Park managers implemented a timed-entry parking reservation ticket system administered through https://www.recreation.gov. Parking reservations were available for official parking areas at the trailhead only. The fee was $14 per vehicle.
• Additional opportunity for trail access
  • Rocky Top Tours provided shuttle service during the pilot period. Shuttles ran approximately every half hour from a parking lot just outside Park boundaries in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Pilot Results:The Laurel Falls pilot received a 4.6 out of 5 average rating on recreation.gov and overwhelmingly positive feedback through comment cards and emails, with 91% expressing support for the pilot. Visitor use management strategies for Laurel Falls will continue to be reviewed as a part of the Laurel Falls Trail Management Plan Environmental Assessment (EA). Until this process is complete, no reservation or shuttle systems are planned for Laurel Falls. Park managers plan to hold a public scoping period for the EA during the first half of 2022 and plan to release the EA for public comment during the second half of 2022.

 

Images of the parking lot and the falls viewing area both before and during the Laurel Falls congestion management pilot.

NPS photo

 

• During pilot period:
  • 97% of parking reservation tickets were sold and confirmed
  • Only 16% of reservation holders did not show up for their reservation
  • No out of bounds parking for Laurel Falls Trail was observed
  • Crowding at Laurel Falls was substantially reduced
  • Litter was reduced from the pre-pilot average of 2.2 grocery bags of litter per 6-hour shift to only 0.5 grocery bags per shift during the pilot
  • Shuttles were 30% full on average with an average daily ridership of 83 people
  • Visitors stayed for an average of 104 minutes, well within the 2-hour reservation time block
  • Although there were no formal measurements, anecdotal accounts suggest crowding at other locations such as Elkmont day-use area may have increased.

 

The bar chart shows annual visitation to Great Smoky Mountains National Park from 2011-2021. There has been a 57% over that time period.

NPS graph

Visitation Statistics
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the country with over 14.1 million visitors in 2021. For extensive visitation statistics, check out the Public Use Statistics Office.

 

The black bars shows average visitation to Great Smoky Mountains National Park per month from 2010-2020. The red, dashed line shows 2021 monthly visitation.  Raw numbers are included in the table below.

NPS Graph

 

Average monthly visitation from 2010 - 2020 as well as 2021 are displayed in the table for comparison. Additionally, monthly contribution to the annual visitation is displayed, both for the 2010 – 2020 average and for 2021 visitation.

NPS Table

 

Visitor Experience Stewardship Newsletters

 

January 2020 Newsletter Edition

DataStore - Newsletter Issue - (Code: 2284113) (nps.gov)

 

March 2021 Newsletter Edition

DataStore - Newsletter Issue - (Code: 2285017) (nps.gov)

 

January 2022 Newsletter Edition

DataStore - Newsletter Issue - (Code: 2291358) (nps.gov)

 

Recent annual visitation is presented below. For complete records of National Park Service visitation and other statistics, check out the Public Use Statistics Office.