New Permit Fees in Smokies

imported
#1

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) has received information about the new permit and fee system from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GRSM) that they are putting in place next month. The Conservancy is opposed to the fees and formally expressed our position during the public comment period. However, the park has decided to move ahead with the new system. The Conservancy would like the hiking community to have the information they will need concerning the new fees and permit system before they reach the park. Therefore, we are distributing the information in multiple locations on-line and along the Trail.

The ATC advises northbound thru-hikers to acquire their permits just before embarking on their trip to avoid the difficulty of finding internet access and a printer once they have started their hike.

Details are below.

Great Smoky Mountains NP Permit Fee Update
re: A.T. Thru-Hikers
22 January 2013

  • Beginning 13 February 2013, people staying overnight in the Great Smoky Mountains NP (GRSM) backcountry will be subject to a $4/person/night permit fee.
  • A.T. thru-hikers will be charged $20, with the permit good for 38 days. A GRSM backcountry permit can be obtained up to 30 days in advance. Thru-hikers will have 8 days to pass through the GRSM. Thru-hiker permits will be available year-round.
  • The current GRSM definition of an A.T. thru-hiker will remain “a backpacker starting & ending their hike at least 50 miles outside GRSM”.
  • Thru-hikers will be able to obtain permits on-line, by fax (once payment is made by phone) and in person at the GRSM Backcountry Office (BO) at the Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg, TN. Credit cards will be accepted on-line, by phone and in person at the BO. Checks, money orders and cash will be accepted in person at the BO.
  • There will be no refunds.
  • Each thru-hiker will have to carry their own paper permit.
  • ½ of the permit must be left in the trailhead permit receptacle at either Fontana Dam or Davenport Gap. Thru hikers will need to write their date of entry into the GRSM on both halves of their permit.
  • Four bunks will be reserved in each GRSM A.T. shelter for thru-hikers March through May. Thru-hikers must always give up space in shelters to non-thru-hikers holding reservations.
  • Ranger presence will be increased on the A.T. during thru-hiker season.
  • For more information, please call 865-436-1297 .

Note: The website for acquiring permits www.smokiespermits.nps.gov is not yet live, but should be operational by February 13.

Additional information about the permits (although currently not thru-hiker information) is available
at www.nps.gov/grsm/parkmgmt/index.htm.

Laurie Potteiger
Appalachian Trail Conservancy

Laurie Potteiger

#2

So there you have it, still another Government Tax. As much as I am against any government interference, it is public property and I guess they could charge what they want. As hiking three times through the GRSM as a thru hiker, I could say that it really has not been a big issue when you compare it to the crap an AT hiker goes through in the Whites with the ATC, Appalachian Money Club. I was stopped twice in the Smokies by a GRSM ranger requesting to see my permit. I had mine, they inspected it, acted professionally, and sent me on my way. It was no big deal. There were two other groups “sitting on a rock” waiting for the ranger to get back to them, who did not have their permits. So there is a good chance you will be stopped … so pull the permit. Also, if you want to tent, just hit the shelters later and chances are the shelters will be full and you will be allowed to set up a tent. Again, my experience with the ridge runners were all pretty good. With regards to reserving the 4 spaces, I think that’s doubled since I thought it used to be 2 for AT hikers. So except having the new fee, just pull the permit and enjoy the Smokies. They really are great to hike. Again, thanks to the ATC for their continued efforts in helping the AT hikers. Your group is great.

DayPak

#3

I thought the AT was its own national park. Why is GSMNP allowed to charge a permit fee for AT only hikers? I do not have a problem with charging a fee to enter and stay in a national park. All these regulations are the only (yet unfortunate) way to preserve these heavily used areas. I hiked the JMT a couple of years ago and was very angry with all the rules and regulatory hassle it took to get hiking until I saw the result of how well preserved the backcountry was.

Big B

#4

If I am going to tent camp, will I still need a permit?

punkin pie

#5

Tenting in the GSMNP is only allowed if the shelter is full or you hike to a campground.

Peakhunter

#6

And remember that a GSMNP shelter isn’t full until the very last city slicker with a reservation hath shoved the very last poor, tired thru-hiker (with a reservation) out into the cold, wet night. Then and only then can you legally set up your tent.

Hoch

#7

GSMNP is a beautiful place, but too many rules and regulations. During my thru-hike in 2009, me and some fellow hikers got through the park in under 72 hours. I remember a cold, windy & rainy night at Cosby Knob Shelter, it was FULL of thru-hikers and then well after dark some overweight & clean shaven weekend warriors came up and demanded that we get out and set up our tents in the rain. Without so much as even getting out of my sleeping bag, I told them that if they think we are getting out of the shelter to set up in the rain, they are barking up the wrong tree. Moral of the story: This is your hike, your dream, your adventure. Don’t let some pudgy park ranger affect your hike.

------ Papa Gringo

Papa Gringo

#8

the attitude you displayed to the weekenders is what gives thru hikers a bad name. for shame!!!

the truth!!!

#9

Does anyone know if the “Golden Age” pass is good for the smokies? I’m assuming one would still have to pay for shelters, but how about access? Thanks… :frowning:

Lady Di

#10

Only $20 and I get to play in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for eight days. That is one smoking hot deal! Worth every penny.

whatnot

#11

Yep, only 20 bucks required to keep hiking the Appalachian Trail or otherwise abort your thru-hike, pay a fine, or yellow blaze around the park.

Only 20 bucks required to use the shelter system in the park, unless Joe Sixpack has first dibs, in which case you must tent, but only near the shelter and only once they’re full.

Only 20 bucks required to spend at most 8 days in the park, and never to camp in the same place twice. The privilege of being a thru-hiker is that you also get to pay for policies that are actually quite silly and pointless.

Only 20 bucks require to pay the salaries of the permit-enforcers lined up along the AT waiting to accost you rather than greet you. Remember when rangers were friendly, knowledgeable, and there to help? Remember when we got that level of service for free? Now you will never see one in the backcountry unless he or she is there in the capacity of law enforcement.

Maintaining the GSMNP backcountry is expensive though, and we all need to pay our fair share. How about we start with the horses parties, though, and charge them by the pound and hoof.

tron

#12

I don’t believe the “Golden Age” pass will be good in the Smokies. The new fee is only for backcountry camping (shelters & campsites), not an entrance fee.

Hillbilly hiker

#13

The ATC website states:

“The Appalachian Trail is free for all to enjoy. No fees, memberships, or paid permits are required for walking on the Trail.”

It then goes on to explain the new pay-for permit policy at GSMNP. Technically the “free for all to enjoy” is still true, but only for day hikers accessing the AT from non-fee points of vehicle access. For thru-hikers, the AT is certainly no longer free for them to enjoy. By requiring permits for thru-hikers at GSMNP, and by now charging for those permits, a new precedent has been set which differs substantially from the AMC and GMC pay-for camping locations, which only make fee-free thru-hiking inconvenient but not impossible in those areas. Now, for the first time, the Appalachian Trail cannot be traveled from one end to the other without spending money to do so. And that, I would argue, is a very slippery slope indeed.

tron

#14

Hillbilly / Lady Di - This is what should now be properly called a Thru-Hiker Entrance Fee. As such, I would harangue the park about making a Golden Age / Eagle / Access exemption for thru-hikers, which should really be allowed in this case.

tron

#15

I am a disabled Vet and have an Access Pass. I posed the question to GSMNP and was told that this fee is not an entrance fee. The Golden Age, Access Pass, and Volunteer Pass are for Free entrance to NParks and they may be good for 50% off on other amenities at the Parks discretion. It is not Good in GSMNP. I also believe that this fee is not only for Thru Hikers, but thru hikers are allowed 8 days to pass thru on one permit and it is a max of $20.00…

Daniel

#16

Meh. A fee that a thru-hiker must incur before legally entering the park is, by any other name, still an entrance fee. We’re paying for the right to hike the AT within the park. You can call it an overnight fee or whatever you like, but the bottom line is there are no practical alternatives for a thru-hiker intending to white blaze the whole trail than to now pay $20 to do it.

tron

#17

tron, there’s one alternative… but it’s next to impossible: day hiking the entire park (72 miles)!

My friend Matt Hazley aka ‘Squeeky’ did it on one of his thru-hikes. He told me that he started @ Mountain Mama’s (closed now) @ Davenport Gap @ midnight and made it to the Fontanna Hilton @ 10pm the same day!!!

Obviously, most thru-hikers are not capable of doing this :slight_smile:

freebird

#18

One other thought - isn’t there somewhere in the middle of the park section that folks often used to resupply?

If so, you could possibly break it into two (still very long, but not longer than many have done at some point in their hikes) hiking days of 35-40 miles and stop at that point, exit the park and stay there overnight (not that that would necessarily be cheaper, but you could avoid the parks fee), thus making the trail itself free (since calling it free obviously excludes fees to stay anywhere off the trail already)?

BG

#19

Nice ideas guys, but I think it misses the point. No one is gonna hike 75 or even 35 miles just to avoid the $20 surcharge. That would be diminishing returns for most hikers. And two, it seems unlikely that a ranger or ridgerunner would simply take you at your word that you were “hiking the park” but not “camping in the park.” So again, this is an entrance fee on its face. If you are there, with a pack bigger than a daypack, and especially with a scruffy beard or leg hair for the ladies, then that ranger will expect you to have your permit with you. If you don’t, then you’ll be fined and the park will make even more money off of you than otherwise.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that the ATC went to bat for AT hikers, even if they weren’t able to leverage their considerable muscle from within the same federal agency as the GSMNP management. To me, this is an indictment of short-sighted bureaucracy, plain and simple. Somebody made a very tone-deaf decision in a back room somewhere, and now some of the finest folks that the park will ever have the pleasure of visiting their backcountry are being punished for it.

tron

#20

Tron you are 100% correct. For AT thru hikers it is an entrance fee!! For all others who use the backcountry in the GSMNP it is a backcountry camping fee (at least that’s what they are calling it) There is a group called Southern Forest Watch that is gathering up info in order to take this whole “fee” thing to court. As a future (I hope)thru hiker and a GSMNP backcountry camper, I am totally AGAINST this so called “fee”!!

hillbilly hiker