GATLINBURG, Tenn. — There may not be anywhere in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) as popular as Cades Cove.
The scenic loop alone routinely attracts more than 2.1 million visitors per year, more than most national parks.
The most popular times in Cades Cove are Saturday and Wednesday mornings during the summer. From May through September, the park closes the loop to motor vehicles on those days until 10 a.m. to allow pedestrians and cyclists to enjoy the route without cars.
"It has grown more and more popular for people to want to be able to have that biking and pedestrian experience without vehicles on the road," said Dana Soehn, GSMNP spokesperson. "The problem is so many people try to use Cades Cove during that short three-hour window on Saturdays and Wednesdays, it creates gridlock, backups, and lots of problems."
In recent years, park staff and volunteers have been forced to squeeze more than 300 cars in an area where there are only 100 parking spaces. Overflow parking in unpaved fields tears up the grass. Bikers and pedestrians take all the spaces in picnic areas, blocking access to visitors who actually want to use the picnic tables. The gridlock spills into the campground where campers paid for a spot to enjoy the outdoors.
In addition to all the traffic from pedestrians and cyclists, the morning closure to cars does not prevent drivers from showing up to be the first car through the gates.
"Cars start to line up as early as 8:30 in the morning, just waiting for the gate to open. So that line of cars can stretch back for three to four miles and impedes access for everyone. We know we need to do something different," said Soehn.
The quickest solution would be for the GSMNP to eliminate the car-free hours. But that would eliminate a popular time to use the park and a tradition that began in the Smokies around 40 years ago.
Instead, the park is proposing a pilot program to shuffle the car-free schedule this summer. It wants public input on an idea to get rid of the car-free hours on Saturday mornings and instead designate Wednesdays as a full day without motor vehicles on the loop.
"We feel like this could spread out that use for the entire day and there would be a natural turnover of the parking lots. You wouldn't have so many people showing up at one time because they would have all day to use the loop for pedestrian and biking activities. Right now, they all rush here at the same time because they need to finish using the loop before the gates open at 10 a.m.," said Soehn.
The plan would change when hikers can drive to trailheads, including the popular trail to Gregory Bald. It would also put an end to a variety of Saturday morning meetups for track clubs and other groups that gather on weekends.
Soehn said the park wants opinions from everyone because there may be a better way to experiment with the summer schedule than the current proposal.
The park is accepting input on its website through March 27, 2020. It will then spend a week examining the comments before announcing the summer schedule on April 6.
"This is a pilot program. It's an experiment. We want to see how the changes impact the park and we can adjust. We want to see if it helps traffic, or does it shift congestion to other areas of the park. Something needs to be done because we want to preserve the ability of people to have a car-free experience in Cades Cove. But we also want people to be able to camp, picnic, view wildlife, and view historic structures. We're trying to give opportunities to everyone," said Soehn.
