The most visited national park is staying open during the government shutdown

Great Smoky Mountains National Park will stay open through the government shutdown.

George Rose/Getty Images

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is open during the government shutdown.
Two of its four visitor centers are open.
The park has 275 full-time employees and 140 seasonal employees.

The most visited national park is at least partially open during the government shutdown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Most roads, trails, campgrounds, and restrooms at the park remained open as of 5:50 p.m. Thursday, according to Visit North Carolina. Trash collection continues despite the shutdown.

The park is situated in the Appalachian Mountains, spanning the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. Two of its four visitor centers, Oconaluftee Visitor Center and Kuwohi Visitor Center, are open for at least the short term.

The National Park Service listed three sections and roads in the park as closed on Friday morning.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park has 1,000 camp sites, 1,050 picnic sites, and nearly 850 miles of trails, according to the NPS. It saw more than 12 million recreational visits in 2024 and is consistently the most-visited national park in the US.

Representatives for the park did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Several local governments and a nonprofit came to an agreement to keep the park funded and operational during the shutdown, Sevier County in Tennessee said in a statement last week. The agreement was extended this week to keep the park funded through October 19.

The partners in the funding agreement include: the cities of Gatlinburg, Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Pittman Center; the counties of Sevier, Blount, and Cocke; the state of Tennessee; the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development; the nonprofit Friends of the Smokies; and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

The funding agreement is providing pay for most of the park’s 275 full-time employees to keep the park operating during the shutdown, NPR reported, adding that local governments have raised nearly $2 million to keep the park running.

The funding allowed the park to reopen some facilities that were closed for several days following the shutdown, including the Cades Cove Loop Road, the Sugarlands and Cades Cove visitor centers, and picnic areas at Chimneys and Cades Cove, according to Friends of the Smokies.

“The park is a vital part of our regional economy, and closing it during peak fall season is simply not an option,” Sevier County’s mayor, Larry Waters, said in a statement.

Sevier County is located in the foothills of the mountain range.

According to the NPS, the park generated over $2.2 billion in 2023 and supports more than 30,000 jobs in surrounding communities. In addition to its 275 full-time employees, it has 140 seasonal staff members.

The US government shut down on October 1 after Republican and Democratic lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on the government budget.

The shutdown has affected everything from the postal service to flights and airports.

Per a nine-page National Park Service Contingency Plan from September 2025, the NPS planned to furlough 9,296 of its employees, or about two-thirds of its workforce, if the government shut down.

The plan said that park roads, lookouts, trails, and open-air memorials would generally remain accessible to visitors.

However, it added that if a park facility was regularly locked during non-business hours, it should remain closed for the duration of the shutdown.

National parks’ social media accounts and websites would also not be maintained during the shutdown, the service said, except in emergencies.

October 10, 2025: This story has been updated with information from the National Park Service, Sevier County, and Friends of the Smokies.

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