Mt. LeConte Lookout in The Great Smoky Mountains

08/15/2022

📣GSMNP Announces 2023 fee program changes 📣

"Great Smoky Mountains National Park leadership announced the decision to adopt the Park it Forward parking tag program and to increase camping fees beginning next year. Parking tags will be required to be displayed on any motor vehicle parked within the park boundary beginning March 1, 2023. Approved parking rates are $5 for a daily parking tag, $15 for a parking tag for up to seven days, and $40 for an annual parking tag."

"Use of all park roads will remain toll free. Parking tags will not be required for motorists who pass through the area or who park vehicles for less than fifteen minutes. The tags will not guarantee a parking spot at a specific location. Parking will continue to be available on a first-come, first-serve basis throughout the park."

Link to operation details, where to purchase parking tags, and camping rates:
https://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/2023-fees.htm.

07/26/2022

https://fb.watch/evWkpgKFW3/

07/16/2022

https://www.facebook.com/210978929380631/posts/1430462847432227/

You think filling your car is expensive. I just filled my fryers with clean oil $40.00 .Just something to think about several restaurants have announced closing dates in our county this week .Two are locally owned and operated by families.Please support small business we need you and we try to provide good service at a reasonable price.

07/05/2022

Fireworks in Townsend!

https://fb.watch/e3l4ukrqZo/

07/04/2022

Happy 4th of July!! Please be safe while celebrating our nation's

06/23/2022

https://www.facebook.com/100064694106361/posts/403440201822447/

06/14/2022

https://www.facebook.com/397749307032618/posts/2389084267899102/

Who's coming to the 10th Anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion®?
August 25-27, 2022 at LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge.

More vendors than ever before. Everybody's welcome. Over two hundred vendors including experts who can answer every question you have about everything Jeep related. For all the info online go to gsmji.com

06/07/2022

https://www.facebook.com/100064694106361/posts/392839262882541/?sfnsn=mo

Did you know Tennessee is home to 2 species of snapping turtles? Do you know the difference between the alligator snapping turtle and the common snapping turtle?

TWRA is currently conducting alligator snapping turtle research and is especially interested in alligator snapping turtle observations. A photograph is preferable, but please contact Rob Colvin at 731-423-5725 with any observations in Tennessee. Here is a quick guide to identifying your snapping turtle.

To learn more about turtles in Tennessee, visit https://www.tn.gov/twra/wildlife/reptiles/turtle.html

06/07/2022

A fed bear is a dead bear:

https://www.facebook.com/100064694106361/posts/391577779675356/

A FED BEAR IS A DEAD BEAR!
Never feed roadside, park, or neighborhood bears! You may think it will encourage them to appreciate you or other humans...but bears don’t see it that way.

A fed bear learns to overcome its instinctive fear of humans. In essence, feeding bears “rewards” bears for approaching people in the same way a treat rewards a dog for coming on command.

Feeding bears includes “unintentional” feeding such as allowing bears to get into bird feeders, barbecue grills, and pet food.

Feeding bears is a sure way to get them killed. Recent studies show that bears that have to be relocated due to nuisance behavior are dead within one year. So please, please, please...DON'T FEED THE BEARS!

06/04/2022

It's National Black Bear Day! ❤🐻❤

https://www.facebook.com/100064694106361/posts/390805509752583/?sfnsn=mo

It's National Black Bear Day!
Tennessee is home to an estimated 5,000 black bears and the population is expanding. Every year, sightings are reported in new areas across the state as they reclaim their former range. Here are a few interesting facts about one of our most beloved natural treasures:

-They're fast! Black bears can sprint up to 35 miles per hour and climb 100 feet up a tree within 30 seconds.

-They get around! Males have home ranges up to 300 square miles while females have ranges up to 50 square miles.

-They have SENSATIONAL noses! A bear can smell seven times better than a bloodhound, which is known for tracking lost people. Its big nose has an area inside called the nasal mucosa, that is 100 times larger than ours.

-They eat A LOT! During spring and summer, bears eat around 5,000 calories a day, but in the fall, they try to eat up to 20,000 calories every day to prepare for winter denning.

-They live long lives! The oldest wild black bear lived 39 years, but it is more common to find female bears living into their 20s. Bears that eat a lot of non-natural human foods tend to die earlier.

Learn more about living responsibly with black bears at bearwise.org

06/03/2022

We LOVE Save Our Smokies!!!

https://www.facebook.com/100066581695541/posts/364566952439358/

05/30/2022

05/27/2022

Maps of the Smokies? He's got you.
https://twitter.com/GSMAssoc/status/1520915977562730499?t=z_kaxWhfV2G4W968hhkZUA&s=19

“Geographic information systems enable specialists such as Tom Colson to create in-depth maps of the Smokies. Learn more about the technology and how it impacts the work of many different kinds of researchers and park service staff. https://t.co/f41Ol9nFkm”

05/20/2022

In Townsend!!

https://fb.watch/d6Dq83Xvhf/

05/16/2022

❤❤❤
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=421836279945172&id=100063564101066

Tennessee Guardsmen receive award for Smoky Mountain rescue mission -- https://www.tn.gov/military/news/2022/5/10/tennessee-guardsmen-receive-award-for-smoky-mountain-rescue-mission.html

05/05/2022

Such a tiny one...glad he was rescued ❤

https://www.facebook.com/100064761994078/posts/377482324420498/?sfnsn=mo

ABR Newsflash!-May 5, 2022-Rescued Bear #349 Arrives🐻

Early yesterday evening, a family contacted ABR and the TWRA about a cub on their property. It had been crying for several hours and there was no sign of its mother. TWRA Officer Musser, who took the assignment, wanted to arrive on the scene before dark. However, returning to the office for capture equipment would have wasted precious time, so she asked our curators to bring traps and meet her on-site. Officer Musser baited the traps with fruit, then withdrew with the curators to wait. And wait. And wait. The cub stopped crying and apparently went to sleep. Shortly after midnight, the rescue team called it quits and decided to return in the morning to try again. 💤

Early this morning, another family, a few houses away from the original scene, called ABR about a cub crying in THEIR yard. Our little bear had moved during the night! After calling the TWRA for permission, our curators raced to the address to pick him up before he could pull another disappearing act.

The cub is a male, about three months old, and weighs 3.63 pounds (1.64 kg). We don’t know what happened to his mother. A cub this young can’t survive on his own and waiting for his
mother to come back was no longer an option.

The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine was slammed with emergencies today, so the cub is resting in Hartley House and will go to UT for examination tomorrow. He’s lapping Pedyalite and diluted bear milk replacement formula from bowls. Since he can feed himself (bonus!), he can skip bottle-feeding and confinement to a pen in The Cub Nursery. He has two rooms in Hartley House and several members of the ABR Volunteer Toy Brigade are keeping him company. In honor of Cinco de Mayo, we’ve named him Taco Bear.🐻🌮

Our deepest gratitude to the families who reported Taco and our thanks to Officer Janelle Musser who just started with TWRA last week. She comes from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and we welcome her to Tennessee. 👏

04/28/2022

Keep your distance, folks...they are cute but still dangerous!

https://fb.watch/cFGogCmG2i/

04/22/2022

Best pool in the area!!

https://www.facebook.com/645020262248111/posts/5036515316431895/

📢We are OPEN!!!📢
Come get one of Troy’s famous cheese burgers or a fresh pork sandwich! 🍔🌭🍟
🍦We have vanilla and chocolate soft serve ice cream!