A parking reservation system will be tested at Great Smoky Mountains National Park in a bid to reduce congestion at the popular Laurel Falls trailhead/NPS file
Another national park is turning to reservations in a move to better manage visitors. At Great Smoky Mountains National Park you'll need a reservation to park at the Laurel Falls trailhead beginning September 7.
The reservation program will be tested through October 3 as part of the park's efforts to reduce congestion at the popular trail. The project aims to improve visitor safety, relieve congestion, better protect park resources, and enhance the visitor experience on Laurel Falls Trail, park staff said in a release Tuesday.
The 1.3-mile trail is one of the most popular trails in the park, with more than 375,000 visits in 2020, an increase of more than 110,000 from 2019 visitation there.
During the pilot project, trailhead parking will be provided by reservation only, and no parking will be permitted in undesignated areas along Little River Road. Parking reservations, for two-hour time blocks, can be made online at www.recreation.gov for a fee of $14 beginning on August 24.
The parking lot holds 14 spots, which park staff intend to turn over four times through a day. The fees will help pay for staff time required to provide for a safe visitor experience. Staff will be onsite managing the parking to ensure that vehicles with parking reservations are the only vehicles parking at the trailhead. They will also be helping to enforce the roadside parking restrictions.
“I want to thank the public for providing great feedback throughout the process of developing this pilot project,” said Great Smoky Superintendent Cassius Cash in the release. “The concept was borne out of public workshops last fall and further refined after the latest public meeting as we strive to address safety and congestion challenges at this busy site.”
The park collected public comments on the congestion management pilot project from July 20 through August 7. The park received 150 submissions from 18 states, with 70 percent coming from Tennessee residents. The most prevalent comment, representing 42 percent of submissions, included concerns about the parking reservation fee amount. The second most prevalent comment, representing 22 percent of submissions, expressed general support of the pilot project effort, while 6 percent of submissions expressed opposition.
The high level of Laurel Falls Trail use has resulted in congestion along the trail, crowding at the falls, and unsafe conditions along Little River Road. Vehicles parked along the roadside obstruct the flow of traffic and create blind-spots for motorists, while visitors walking to or from their vehicles in the lanes of traffic are at risk of being struck by passing vehicles. Roadside parking also impacts adjacent habitats, damages road edges, and causes erosion.
Managing parking through a reservation system is expected to spread use more evenly throughout the day, creating a less crowded and more enjoyable experience on the trail and at the falls. The two-hour timeframe for parking reservations is based on monitoring data collected this summer. On average, most hikers complete the hike in 90 minutes. Park staff will be on hand to actively manage parking and monitor conditions during the pilot. The information learned during this pilot will help the park make more informed decisions about how to manage the area in the future.
During the pilot, hikers who plan to utilize the Laurel Falls Trail parking area to use Sugarland Mountain Trail must also obtain a parking reservation to park at the trailhead. If hikers plan to be on trail for longer than the allotted two-hour time block, they must use a different trailhead and are encouraged to contact the Backcountry Office for more information on other trail access points.
Additionally, Rocky Top Tours will provide shuttle access to the trailhead from nearby, Gatlinburg, Tennesse, for a fee of $5 per person.
For more information about congestion monitoring in the park, visit this page on the park website.
Comments
Here we go. Start of fees at only Natinal Park still free. Soon nothing will be free including entrances. Next be tolls for The Blue Ridge Parkway entrances. You been forwarn Weisills will get your money one way or another. Other national parks are not free. This one is or was. Jealosy of free parks and those who think free parks are bad ideas. Resist fees at all levels in our Great Smoky National Park. Bad idea. Plus expect conflicts and fights over parking from those who ovestay their two hours and get towed or ticketed. Slippery slope and tow company gouging. Not a good idea. Add parking or shuttles.
Giving the park credit for charging people to use public lands is ridiculous. The nickel and diming of fees is absolutely out of control with the Smokies. Shortened comment periods are devised in order not to capture any opposition to this double taxing scheme. Good ole Canadian Rec.gov is always there to rescue stupid park visiitors from themselves. Cassius is spending millions to repave Cades Cove Loop. As someone who rides my bike over there weekly, I can tell you there isn't a pothole on it because it gets paved so frequently. I only wish the interstate through Knoxville were so smooth. However, Blalock Construction in Sevier county needs the money, so unnecessary paving happens there and at Newfound gap all the time. This is our NPS. Crooked and beholden to the oligarghy. Those of you lauding fees for parking, fees for watching lightining bugs, fees for backcountry camping, fee increases for frontcountry camping, fees for photography and entrance fees seem to have forgotten that this is a TAXPAYER funded organization. It is just like paying money to get a book from the library or being billed every time your trash gets picked up or paying a toll every time you get on a road. The NPS has received a lot of money lately but no accountablity for how it is spent. I suppose those of you who are accustomed to living in a debt loaded situation can't understand the logic of balanced budgets. Neither can the NPS, apparently.
First of all how are you going to get the tow truck in to retrieve the cars.
'Not a viable idea IMO
i agree w the writer about the Alum Bluff trail. How wonderful to have a problem of too many peoe in the National park!! Finally folks are understanding that outside is where it's at!! I'm sure wise folks will figure this all out.
As one who is disabled, hiking is time consuming, I enjoy it and have hiked that trail several times, but 2 hours for me will not be nearly enough, I need frequent breaks. Going from other trailheads seems untenable as well. Not sure of the answer for those of us who need or want more time.
I understand the need, but $14 seems extreme. What I'm concerned about is its only the beginning of charges across the park. As a poor child, the only thing we could afford to do was drive to the mountain. This will deter and deny some people access to our par.
If you don't want fees, contact your Congressional representatives and demand that the NPS is fully funded. Fees are a source of income that goes straight back into the park (Staffing, visitor experience improvements, etc.). The NPS doesn't even receive enough money to fully operate all of its operational needs.
Don't blame the parks, blame Congress for not fully funding the operations of the National Park Service, and for failing to address the ever-growing list of needs of the public lands the American people love.
This is Congress's fault. The NPS is simply navigating these issues with the current tools they have at their disposal. Show your support for the NPS and the parks you love by writing your representatives. You all have time to, especially if you're commenting in an article's comment section.
Since it is illegal to charge admission is the park, I'd bet a Federal Judge will eventually say these parking charges are a subterfuge and therefore illegal.