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New Reservation System In Place For Firefly Viewing At Great Smokies June 2nd—10th

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The spectacular flickering firefly display in the moist cool forests of the Great Smokies near Elkmont Campground has soared to such popularity that the park this year will create a new on-line ticketing system, operated through Recreation.gov. And it’s all because of the naturally occurring phenomenon of the Photinus carolinus; a firefly species that flashes synchronously.

This year’s event runs from Saturday, June 2 through Sunday, June 10. Visitors will be required to have a parking pass to be guaranteed that they will be able to park at Sugarlands Visitor Center and take shuttle buses to the viewing area. The system will eliminate the inconvenience of having to arrive hours in advance, dramatically improving visitor service.

A parking pass will be required for all vehicles. A reservation fee to receive the pass will cost $1.50 and will cover a maximum of 6 persons in a single passenger vehicle (less than 19 feet in length). Four passes for oversize vehicles, like a mini bus (19 to 30 feet in length and up to 24 persons), will also be available. Parking passes will be non-refundable, non-transferable, and good only for the date issued. There is a limit of one parking pass per household per season. Each reservation through www.Recreation.gov will receive an e-mailed confirmation and specific information about the event.

The number of passes issued for each day will be based on the Sugarlands Visitor Center parking lot capacity. Passes will be issued with staggered arrival times in order to relieve congestion in the parking lot and for boarding the shuttles.

The shuttle buses, which are provided in partnership with the City of Gatlinburg, will begin picking up visitors from the Sugarlands Visitor Center RV/bus parking area at 7:00 p.m. The cost will be $1 round trip per person, as in previous years, and collected when boarding the shuttle.

The majority of parking passes for this year’s event will be on sale on-line beginning after 10 a.m. April 30. The Park will hold back 25 passes for each day to accommodate individuals who did not learn of the need to pre purchase tickets. Those last 25 passes will go on sale on-line at 10:00 a.m. the day before the event and will be available until 3:30 p.m. on the day of the event or until the passes are all reserved. Passes can be purchased at www.Recreation.gov.

Parking passes may also be obtained by calling 1-877-444-6777, but Park officials strongly encourage the use of the on-line process, because it provides far more information to visitors about what to expect when they arrive at the Park. The $1.50 reservation fee covers the cost of processing the requests for the passes. The Park will not receive any revenue either from the reservations or the shuttle tickets.

The shuttle service will be the sole transportation mode for visitor access during this period, except for registered campers staying at the Elkmont Campground. Visitors will not be allowed to walk the Elkmont entrance road due to safety concerns.

The new system resulted from congestion and confusion over the last few years. In 2011, over 7,000 people rode the mandatory shuttle system from the Sugarlands Visitor Center parking area to Elkmont to view the fireflies. As the popularity has increased each year firefly watchers have begun to arrive earlier and earlier. Last year visitors started arriving in the parking lot as early as 2:00 p.m. in order to ensure they would be able to ride the shuttle that transports visitors to the viewing area beginning at 7:00 p.m. Visitors who have traveled from long distances have had to be turned away simply because the parking lot was full and general park visitors have not been able to access the Visitor Center due to the lack of parking.

Comments

Good ole Rec.gov, solving all the smokies problems with a little donation to Canada. The way this park superintendent finds things to allow them to "manage", one might think he is very interested in their corporate development.


Be it known that the Elkmont site is NOT the only place these sync f-flies can be seen. Old timers who lived in what is now the Nat'l Park recall them in their neighborhoods, too. One known site is Big Creek 'way over at the other end of the park, but it couldn't handle much traffic.
One note: You've gotta wait until it's really dark before they do their thing (10 PM or later). Moonlight or nearby lightning will mess up the show. and bring a chair if you can, because you're gonna be waiting a long time in high weeds (think other bugs).


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