Overview
- With roughly two-thirds of National Park Service staff furloughed, the Smokies are operating under reduced staffing that keeps most roads accessible.
- Sugarlands Visitor Center and the Cades Cove Loop Road are closed, and other staffed facilities have limited access.
- Newfound Gap Road remains open for through travel, and LeConte Lodge continues operating.
- Sevier County, nearby cities, Blount and Cocke counties, Tennessee, North Carolina and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are finalizing a funding agreement to fully reopen operations.
- Tourism leaders say early October disruptions threaten peak foliage visitation later in the month for a region that logged 12 million visitors and $2 billion in spending last year.