Smoky Mountain Synchronous Firefly Dates Announced

Smoky Mountain synchronous firefly dates announced.

Smoky Mountain synchronous firefly dates announced.

Smoky Mountain Synchronous Firefly Dates Announced. Every year in late May or early June, thousands of visitors gather near the popular Elkmont Campground to observe the naturally occurring phenomenon of Photinus carolinus, a firefly species that flashes synchronously. Since 2006, access to the Elkmont area has been limited to shuttle service beginning at Sugarlands Visitor Center during the eight days of predicted peak activity in order to reduce traffic congestion and provide a safe viewing experience for visitors that minimizes disturbance to these unique fireflies during the critical two-week mating period.

The lottery will be open for applications from Friday, April 26 at 8:00 a.m. until Monday, April 29 at 8:00 p.m. Results of the lottery will be available on Friday, May 10. A total of 1,800 vehicle passes will be available for the event which includes: 1768 regular-parking passes (221 per day) which admit one passenger vehicle up to 19’ in length with a maximum of seven occupants, and 32 large-vehicle parking passes (four per day) which admit one large vehicle (RV, mini-bus, etc.) from 19’ to 30’ in length, with a maximum of 24 occupants. Lottery applicants must apply for either a regular-parking pass or large-vehicle parking pass and then may choose two possible dates to attend the event over the eight-day viewing period.

The lottery system uses a randomized computer drawing to select applications. All lottery applicants will be charged a $1.00 application fee. Successful applicants will automatically be awarded parking passes and a $24.00 reservation fee will be charged to the same credit or debit card used for the application fee. The parking pass permits visitors to park at Sugarlands Visitor Center and allows occupants to access the shuttle service to Elkmont. The $24.00 reservation fee covers the cost of awarding the passes, event supplies, one red-light flashlight per pass, and nightly personnel costs for managing the viewing opportunity at Sugarlands Visitor Center and Elkmont.

Parking passes are non-refundable, non-transferable, and good only for the date issued. There is a limit of one lottery application per household per season. All lottery applicants will be notified by e-mail by May 10 that they were “successful” and awarded a parking pass or “unsuccessful” and not able to secure a parking pass.

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Updated Great Smoky Mountain Synchronous Firefly Lottery Dates

Smoky Mountain Synchronous Fireflies

The Smoky Mountain synchronous firefly lottery, you can’t win it if you            are not in it!

Updated Great Smoky Mountain Synchronous Firefly Lottery Dates. The dates for the 2019 Synchronous Firefly shuttle operations calendar will be announced April 22, 2019. Evening access to the Sugarlands Visitor Center and Elkmont campground will be restricted to those possessing parking pass confirmation. Elkmont access will be limited to those utilizing the firefly shuttles and campers.

The parking passes will be awarded via lottery. The lottery opens Friday, April 26, 2019 at 8:00 a.m. and closes on Monday, April 29, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. The parking confirmation passes lottery can be participated in at Firefly lottery. Parking passes are only valid for a specific date. You will be allowed to enter your preferred date and one alternate date on your lottery application.

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New Foothills Parkway Raises 2018 National Park Visitation

New foothills parkway raises Smoky Mountain attendance.

New Foothills Parkway Raises National Park Visitation In 2018.

New Foothills Parkway Raises 2018 National Park Visitation. Great Smoky Mountains National Park reported 11,421,203 visitors in 2018. The 0.7% increase over 2017 is attributed to the opening of the new section of the Foothills Parkway between Walland and Wears Valley in November. Nearly 200,000 visitors experienced this new park opportunity which resulted in record-setting visitation in both November and December.

“The new section of the Foothills Parkway is a spectacular scenic driving destination and we’re pleased that so many people have already enjoyed it,” said Superintendent Cassius Cash. “We hope that people take the time to explore it across the seasons.”

Great Smoky Mountains Foothills Parkway

Great Smoky Mountains Foothills Parkway

Park visitation across the park remained relatively stable compared to 2017. The highest visitation occured in July, followed by June and then October. Monthly visitation records were set during June, September, November, and December. Visitors spent approximately 400,000 nights camping in the park,  down 3% from 2017, but still within the 5-year average. The park offers 9 front country campgrounds and 100 backcountry campsites for visitors to enjoy. The most popular campgrounds include Cades Cove, Elkmont, Smokemont, and Cosby.

Smoky Mountain Paving Project Slows Traffic

Smoky Mountain travel advisory

Smoky Mountain Travel Advisory.

Smoky Mountain Paving Project Slows Traffic. Great Smoky Mountains National Park will begin paving on Little River Road between the Townsend Wye and Sugarlands Visitors Center Tuesday, February 19, 2019.  A thin pavement overlay will be applied to the entire length of the 16.5-mile roadway including pull-offs and parking areas. The 1.5 -mile Elkmont road leading to the campground will also be paved. The work is projected to be complete by September 20, 2019. Locals know the finish line for a project of this size always depends on many factors like weather.

Visitors may experience weekday, single-lane closures and traffic delays from February 19, 2019 through June 14, 2019 and again from August 19, 2019 through September 20, 2019. Single-lane closures are permitted from 7:00 a.m. on Mondays through 12:00 p.m. on Fridays. The lane closures will be flagged. Parking areas and pull-offs will be closed as necessary for paving. No lane closures will be allowed during the peak summer months, weekends, or holidays including the week before and after Easter from April 12, 2019 through April 26, 2019.

The Federal Highway Administration awarded $6.5 million to implement the project. The park is also overseeing tree removal work along various roadways in the park including Little River Road between Sugarlands Visitor Center and Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area, Elkmont Road, Cherokee Orchard Road, Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, and the Gatlinburg Bypass. Motorists will experience delays due to single-lane closures associated with this work through April, 2019.

For more information about temporary road closures visit www.nps.gov/grsmor or follow SmokiesRoadsNPS on Twitter.

Synchronous Fireflies Great Smoky Mountains June 2019

Synchronous Fireflies Great Smoky Mountains June 2019. It’s never to early to start making plans to see the Synchronous Fireflies (and the Blue Ghost Fireflies) that will light up the night sky in late May and early June 2019 in the Great Smoky Mountains. Firefly viewing in the Smokies has become such a popular event that there are now several venues available to enjoy the spectacular shows.

Smoky Mountain Synchronous FirefliesThe Synchronous Firefly (Photinus carolinus) and the Blue Ghost Firefly (Phausis reticulata) are two species that are found only in the Southern Appalachian Mountains which include the Great Smokies. And during the short mating season in late May and early June, both firefly species put on quite a show to behold! The male Synchronous Fireflies flash their little green-yellow bioluminescent lanterns in unison for about 6-8 blinks and then they go dark for a few seconds creating a sublime wave of light throughout the forest. The male Blue Ghost Fireflies don’t flash their blue-white lanterns, instead they glow continuously just a few inches above the ground. The ethereal experience of either nighttime show should be on everyone’s bucket list!  National Park scientists mostly use air and soil temperatures to predict the timing of each year’s mating season.

Synchronous Fireflies with Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN
One of the most popular places to view the Synchronous Fireflies is in Elkmont in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This event has become so popular that a free lottery system was instituted this year for the $1.50 parking passes for the eight-day shuttle period to Elkmont. During this time of peak viewing, Elkmont is closed at nighttime with the exception of shuttle users and campers in Elkmont Campground. Dates for the 2019 Lottery and Elkmont Shuttle will be announced sometime in April 2019. HeySmokies will keep you updated, so be sure to check back with us. We’ll provide you all the details of what you need to know to register for the lottery. For more information in the meantime, visit Recreation.gov.

Synchronous Fireflies with Discover Life in America in Gatlinburg, TNBlue ghost fireflies
For a few nights during peak firefly viewing time, Discover Life in America hosts a fundraising event featuring nightly presentations and field walks at the Norton Creek Sanctuary near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Tickets for the event are $100 each and the event is geared toward persons ages 10 and older. For reservations for this exclusive event, call Discover Life in America at 865-430-4757 or email todd@dlia.org.

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