Smokies visitor numbers in Townsend tracking closer to 2024 than 2025 as overall park visits rise
TOWNSEND – Visitor traffic through Townsend has slipped thus far this year, but experts say the decline may say more about an unusually strong 2025 than a weakening local tourism market. Data collected by the National Park Service shows about 860,000 visits to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park through Townsend thus far in 2026, […]
GSMP Survives Proposed Funding Cuts
The National Park System remained open and funded thanks to federal appropriations approved Jan. 23, despite a partial government shutdown in early February. The Fiscal Year 2026 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act ensured $2.88 billion in funding for the country’s national parks through the end of FY2026 – a figure mostly steady with […]