Great Smoky Mountains National Park announces phased opening. Beginning May 9, 2020 many roads and trails the Smokies will reopen. This follows the April reopening of most Tennessee State Parks. Health and safety of employees, partners, volunteers, visitors, and local residents remains the highest priority when making park reopening decisions. Park managers work to ensure park operations comply with current public health guidance, and will be regularly monitored. Park managers will also continue to work closely with the NPS Office of Public Health using CDC guidance to ensure public and workspaces are safe and clean for all users.
“We recognize this closure has been extremely difficult for our local residents, as well as park visitors from across the country, who seek the park as a special place for healing, exercise, recreation, and inspiration,” said Superintendent Cassius Cash. “We are approaching this phased reopening with that in mind, as we balance our responsibility to protect park resources and the health and safety of everyone.”
Black Bears and elk, wandering where tourist used to tread, and can possibly lead to a beary scary situation. Black Bears are reclaiming territories due to the recent Coronavirus shutdowns which banned humans from state and National parks. Visitors to these areas are encouraged to use common sense, and more than a little social distancing, when encountering bears. According to biologists, there are some 2,000 black bears in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park alone. Male black bears can weigh in at about 250 pounds. A record weight for black bears is up to 600 pounds. Although the bears are omnivores, about 85 percent of their diet consists of berries, plants and nuts; black bears also eat insects and animal carrion. They are generally wary of people, but can be dangerous if provoked, and it is illegal to approach black bears within 150 feet.
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