How long will Great Smoky Mountains stay open during the shutdown? At least another week

Even as the federal government shutdown shows no sign of ending, Great Smoky Mountains National Park will continue to be fully operational for another 10 days thanks to more money from state and local leaders.

A group headed by the State of Tennessee, local governments and Friends of the Smokies, a nonprofit partner of the park, will maintain the park's operation through Oct. 19, according to an Oct. 8 news release from Sevier County.

Sevier County made the announcement after signing an addendum with the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service to continue funding full operations.

"The local and state partners are committed to working together to keep Great Smoky Mountains National Park open through the end of October, while closely monitoring developments on the federal level regarding the status of the government shutdown," the statement said.

Park Ranger Meg Pelley speaks with visitors at the Sugarlands Visitor Center on the fourth day of the federal government shutdown in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Oct. 4, 2025. The National Park is now fully reopen and operational thanks to leadership and money from a group of state and local leaders.

This extension is to the previously announced agreement that has kept the park open from Oct. 4 until Oct. 10.

The federal government shut down Oct. 1, causing confusion over what would and wouldn’t be open at the nation’s most visited national park during a peak season. Most roads and trails remained open, but some services were not available. Cades Cove, one of the most popular sites in the park, was closed, along with its visitor center. There was uncertainty regarding whether park restrooms would be open and whether trash pickup would continue.

Beginning Oct. 4, funding was mobilized to keep the park open as if the federal government were operating. The group plans to look at keeping the park open on a week-by-week basis.

How Great Smoky Mountains National Park is being funded now

Talks between state and local governments with representatives from the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service began even before the shutdown began. The cost to keep everything open at the park is estimated to be roughly $85,000 a day, a figure offset by payments from the group of agencies and by revenues from the Park It Forward parking tag program, according to a news release from Sevier County.

Across the first full week of the shutdown, the groups paying to keep the park open included the state of Tennessee, Blount, Cocke and Sevier counties, Gatlinburg, Pittman Center, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Friends of the Smokies. Tennessee will pay $80,000, and the rest will pay approximately $45,000 each.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is vital for Sevier County tourism

Visitors returned in full force when the park reopened and not even rain could keep them away on Oct. 7. Trailhead parking lots − like the one used for the popular Mount LeConte hike − were totally full, and some visitors resorted to parking on the side of the road. Lookout points were packed with local and out-of-town visitors, too.

Warren Bielenberg, a tour guide for Cades Cove Heritage Tours in Townsend, said he worried about the “mixed message” of having the park open during the shutdown.

"If they're having a government shutdown, they should close the whole park," he said. "The last shutdown (in late 2018 and early 2019), there was a lot of resource damage and other things that occurred because there was very limited staff, but the park was open, and thousands of people come in every day."

October is one of the most critical months for businesses surrounding the park. Nearly two million people visit the Smokies in October, and Sevier County ranks third among all 95 Tennessee counties in visitor spending, according to Tourism Economics. Last year, the park generated $2.04 billion in visitor spending and $2.86 billion in total economic output.

Pigeon Forge tourism department director Leon Downey is “grateful” that local and state leaders implemented a plan to keep Great Smoky Mountains National Park fully open.

Downey added that he’s “cautiously optimistic” the federal government shutdown will end sooner rather than later - but if not, he welcomes any extension of the short-term fix that's in place now.

Byron Stanga, the owner of multiple businesses in tourism-driven Gatlinburg, said this October is still on track to be one of the busiest months of the year.

"Anybody can do this. This is all manmade Gatlinburg," Stanga said. "But we cannot do what the park has. That's what makes Gatlinburg so special. It's the gateway."

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How long will Great Smoky Mountains stay open during the shutdown? At least another week