Great Smoky Mountains 'Parking Fee' is a Farce to Federal Law

Beginning yesterday, The Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) enacted a 'Parking Fee' on all cars visiting the park, which park for more than 15 minutes at any one location.  To steal a concept from Shakespeare, 'A Toll by any other name would still Stink.'  

A federal law (1994 {1964} U.S. Code Title 16) prevented the NPS from charging entrance fees where tolls are prohibited on primary park roads. Because Newfound Gap Road and Little River Road are the primary roads in GSMNP, we are, to this day, unable to charge an entrance fee. [Source: Why No Entrance Fee? - Great Smoky Mountains National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) ]

The GSMNP is the highest visited park in the country (12,937,633 visitors in 2022); more than doubling the visitors to the Grand Canyon (4,732,101), and tripling visitors to either Yosemite (3,667,550), or Yellowstone (3,290,242). (STATS - Welcome to Visitor Use Statistics (nps.gov).  GSMNP receives less than $20 million dollars annually from tax-payer support and about $4 million from park partners such as the Great Smoky Mountains Association, Friends of the Smokies, the Tremont Institute, and Discover Life in America.  That is less than $1.90 per person that visits the park each year.  

The NPS has never seemed to be able to find enough money to offer the services and upkeep that is necessary to a park that entertains that many people annually.  In the 1980's, the NPS turned down an offer from the residents of Elkmont to extend their individual leases (on less than 50 acres of land).  The impact on the environment of these residences to the Park would be considered negligible, but the National Park Service bowed to pressure from the Sierra Club and other environmental groups and refused the economic support.  [ The Curious Case of Elkmont, Tennessee: The Ghost Town of the Smoky Mountains (tnmuseum.org) ]

The GSMNP at one point took out all of the trash cans around the Cades Cove loop, because, according to a ranger I spoke to, it was deemed too expensive to service them.  

The problem for locals is that we represent a high percentage of 'visits' to the park each year and if we buy an annual tag for $40 it only covers one car.  That means that to cover each car in our family it could cost more than $120 annually.  While visitors from other states who come for the day, or a week, are only going to pay $5-15 depending on their stay.

This is yet another example of a federal entity bending the rules to subjecate the law in their favor.  Our Tennessee representatives need to step up and protect the rights of Tennesseans access to the park; access that is not fettered in fees that would pay for services our tax dollars should be accomplishing.

A fee for parking, in lieu of an admission fee, is government over-reach in triplicate.

Here are some tips directly from the NPS website (Seniors Take Note):

Parking Tag Basics

·      -Three tag durations are available for purchase for all vehicle sizes and types:

o   Daily - $5

o   Weekly - $15

o   Annual - $40

·  -Parking tags are not replaceable, refundable, transferable, or upgradable.

· -Each tag is valid for a single vehicle and must include a license plate number matching the vehicle in which it is displayed.

· -Parking tags are available for purchase both online and onsite.

· -Display of physical parking tags in each vehicle is required.  Digital representations are not accepted.

· -Parking tags are not location specific.  A parking tag is required to park anywhere within the boundaries of the Smokies.

· - Parking tags are not required for motorists who pass through the area or who park for less than 15 minutes.

· -Interagency passes (senior, access, etc.) are not accepted in lieu of a parking tag.

National Park Eliminates Trash Cans, Why?

Today was a great Father’s day. My child woke me up at 8:00. Later in the day, we drove to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) and drove around Cades Cove loop.

We stopped at the Cable Mill and I picked up a piece of trash in the parking lot; because that’s just what I do. When I looked for a trash can, there was not one to be found. So I carried the trash into the small store and asked if they could throw it away. I was told that they removed all of the trash cans. I said, “Excuse me?” That's what my brain defaults to when I hear something so absurd that I can't formulate a response.

The gentleman behind the counter said that they removed all of the trash cans on the site (except I did notice one in the bathroom for “diapers only”). Now, the GSMNP is perhaps one of the cleanest, most pristine, areas that I know. The water is clean, the trails stay relatively trash free, and you don’t notice litter along the roadways. So, what genius decided to make a policy to take the trash cans out of a major destination? How many people carry a trash bag in their car?

If you have a car full of kids and they are eating snacks, drinks, and using plates and napkins, wouldn’t it be a good idea for them to have a place to clean out the car? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to take out the trash everyday than to clean trash up along the roadway?

I’m sure that they have a theory, about how eliminating trash cans is a good idea, to keep the park beautiful; no I’m sorry, really? I can’t even type that line without my brain looking back over the sentence. I’m sure that somewhere in a file is a memo that outlines the rational and I would love to read that and know who signed on the dotted line.

This policy should seriously be reconsidered and I am asking everyone to call the Ranger at (865) 436-7777.

Oh, by the way, while walking back to my car I picked up another piece of trash, yeah, just because that’s the way my father raised me.