National park changes
Looks like the Feds are making arrangements to allow some of the National Parks to stay open even if Congress doesn't fund them. Parks article
Forum Discussion
DM6156 wrote:
https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/visitation-numbers.htm
Great Smoky Mountains National park has no entrace fee, it's the most visited "National Park". Over 11 million visitors in 2018, next most visited was Grand Canyon with just over 6 million.
Then again, it's located within a short drive from many highly populated areas.
Wonder how their budget looks.
Also keep in mind that visitation numbers include every vehicle on the roads. Urban area parks like near me have high numbers simply because a lot of commuters pass thru twice per day. In more remote parks the visitation numbers indicate true park visitors.
A busy road passes thru GSMNP and carries a lot of traffic and all may not be park visitors. Also due to the proximity to Gatlinburg many tourists may briefly drive into the park and leave again although they didn't really come for the purpose of visiting the park.
