Bat protection prompts Smokies caving restrictions
After closing the area in September to protect wintering bats, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will reopen Whiteoak Sink — but with limited access through May 15.
The popular caving area is between Townsend, Tennessee, and Cades Cove, primarily accessed from the Schoolhouse Gap Trail. Hikers can still descend into Whiteoak Sink, but access to the waterfall and other areas is closed and marked by signs and fencing.
The park is home to 12 species of bats and is one of 13 places nationwide that the Fish and Wildlife Service has named as critical habitat for the endangered Indiana bat. In some bat species, park biologists have reported white-nose-related declines of up to 98 percent.
This is not the first time caves in the Smokies have closed due to white-nose syndrome. In 2009, the park closed all 18 of its caves and mines to public entry.
