In a the coming months, people will get a chance to witness one of the most beautiful natural light shows in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: The return of the synchronous fireflies at Elkmont.
Mark your calendars for late April -- because you will not want to miss out on your chance to view what may be a once-in-a-lifetime event for most.
Elkmont is one of the few places in the world where you can see the Photinus carolinus, the special kind of firefly that flashes in unison. The event has become so popular over the years that the park has had to take steps to limit the number of people that could view the fireflies each night.
Because of the massive popularity, the National Park Service now holds a lottery to assign a limited number of parking passes at the Sugarlands Visitor Center in the Smokies to take the shuttle to see the light show. This year, there are 1,800 passes available for the eight-day event.
That lottery for vehicle passes opens promptly on Friday, April 24 at 8 a.m. and will go live on the NPS Firefly Event Page at this link. You will have until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28 to enter into the lottery before it closes. The park is charging a $1 application fee to enter into it.
Once it closes, the lucky recipients will be notified on Thursday, May 7 and will be charged $24 for the parking pass, and will need to bring $2 per person to board the Sugarlands Visitor Center shuttle. Those who are not awarded a parking pass will also be notified on the same day.
Parking passes are not transferable. The lottery winner must be in the vehicle and present a photo ID for the vehicle to be admitted. Each parking pass is valid for the day it's assigned and arrival times will be between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
The dates for the event are still TBA. The park said it expects to announce when the firefly viewings will occur on April 22. The peak viewing days vary from year to year depending on weather conditions in the months leading up to their appearance.