Smokies visitation sets records
January was a record-setting month for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with 351,670 visitors, achieving a lifetime visitation of 500 million — more than any other national park service unit aside from the Blue Ridge Parkway and Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California.
Since the National Park Service began maintaining visitation records in 1979, January visitation has never exceeded 351,000. The record comes on the heels of the park’s busiest year in 14 years in 2014. The new park superintendent, Cassius Cash, arrived just in time to celebrate the 500 million milestone.
“In my short time here, I’ve been able to see firsthand just how much people care about the park, and I look forward to continuing to work with our communities and partners to serve our visitors and protect these mountains for the next generation to enjoy as we have,” Cash said.
During January, visitation was up at all major entrances, especially at the Oconaluftee entrance near Cherokee. The 12,658 visitors entering there represented a 51 percent increase over January 2014.
The Cataloochee and Deep Creek entrances saw a 0 percent change from January 2014, but the Fontana Road entrance near Bryson City saw a 55.7 percent increase.
Complete statistics are available at https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/.
