Great Smoky Mountains Natl. Park — The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been free to enter since it was founded in 1934. It is the only national park of its size where visitors don’t have to pay an admission fee.
There are roughly a dozen national parks in the U.S. with no entrance fee, but they are all small compared to the Smokies, including Channel Islands National Park, Hot Springs National Park and Mammoth Cave National Park.
The story of the Smokie's free-entry dates back to its roots. Historian and author Daniel S. Pierce detailed the transition from natural habitat to the national park in his book, The Great Smokies.
"It's an unusual history in terms of the national parks because most of the national parks were already part of the federal domain," Pierce said.
Around 85% of the land in the park came from 18 logging companies. the other 15% came from landowners who transferred their farmland.
A historian with the Knoxville History Project, Paul James, said it's not something many people know about.
"It's not apparent to a lot of the 14 million people that go to the Smokies and enjoy it today," James said. "They probably don't know the history of how that came to be."
However, the main reason the park could not have an admission fee is due to the roads that run through the park.
State and federal actions prohibit a fee from being established. In 1951, the state of Tennessee transferred Little River Road and Newfound Gap Road to the park with a deed restriction, preventing tolls on either road. Then in 1994 a federal law, Title 16, further prevented entrance fees along some roads in the Smokies — specifically Newfound Gap Road and Little River Road.
"It wasn't exactly something that the park wanted. It was something that they had to do because of this law," Pierce said," And, the roads are so heavily used. That's a huge challenge."
To establish an entrance fee, the Tennessee legislature would need to pass a bill.
In the past year, more than 14 million people visited the GSMNP, a new record number of people. However, as the park's popularity continues to grow the budget remains flat.
According to the GSMNP officials, they need more money to maintain infrastructure, fund updates and pay for more rangers in the park.
Since they cannot legally establish an admission fee, the park proposed a parking fee.
Early numbers suggest the Smokies Parking Tag program would operate as a 3-tier system. A full-day parking tag would be $5, a 7-day tag would be $15 and an annual tag would be $40.
"We've just been very fortunate that you don't have to pay. There are boxes when you come out of Cades Cove to put a donation in, but it's passive isn't it?" James said. "People are not always going to be reaching into their wallet to put it in a box unless they have to."
James said paying for parking tags is a way for the park to continue to effectively preserve its history and beauty.
"It was people like Carlos Campbell who was an avid photographer and hiker," James said. "He took photos in the 1930s, where a lot of the Smokies were overgrown and people couldn't see necessarily the wonder that we take for granted today."
James said that's why funding maintenance is so important.
"There are different layers to the Great Smoky Mountains, it's easy just to drive through and take it for granted, but there's so much history there," James said.
Pierce agreed. He's been studying the history of the mountains for years.
"If we're going to maintain the park, if it's going to be the kind of place that our children and our grandchildren and others are going to enjoy, then we have to come up with the resources to do this," Pierce said. "It's historic, it is a big deal. But hopefully, it's going to help to ensure the future of the park. And that's really important."
The GSMNP is asking the public for feedback on the 'Park it Forward' proposal. From April 6 to May 7, the park said it would gather public input and entertain changes to the proposal. It is accepting online and written comments.
Online comments can be submitted here. Select “Open for Comment” on the left menu bar, open the 'Proposed Smokies Fee Program Changes for 2023' folder, and click on the green “Comment Now” button to access the online commenting form.