National Park units in the NC mountains are relying on outside funding during shutdown
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Blue Ridge Parkway and Smokies stay open during 2025 shutdown with private funding.
- Nonprofits, local governments and tribes cover staff costs and operations weekly.
- Volunteer trail crews keep the Appalachian Trail open but major projects remain paused.
Popular National Park units in the North Carolina mountains are staying largely open during the federal government shutdown, but it’s taking private and local government donations along with volunteer labor to make sure visitors have a nearly normal experience.
Fall is typically the busiest time of year for the Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs through North Carolina and Virginia, and for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, on the North Carolina-Tennessee border. Those are the two busiest units of the entire National Park system, with the parkway drawing more than 17 million visitors per year and the Smokies park pulling in more than 12 million each year.
A section of the Appalachian Trail, another NPS unit, also runs through Western North Carolina, and while it’s busiest in the spring, some hikers venture onto the footpath in the fall to enjoy the changing colors and the longer views afforded by falling leaves.
Much of the mountain region of North Carolina was closed down through fall 2024 after the remnants of Hurricane Helene blew through, and the local economy that relies on tourists who come for the natural resources could scarcely withstand another lost season.
How are National Parks in western N.C. affected by the shutdown?
Blue Ridge Parkway
A few days after the shutdown started on Oct. 1, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, the nonprofit fundraising partner to the parkway, announced it would fund operations at three facilities along the route to keep them open temporarily.
Those were the Parkway Visitors Center in Asheville, the Museum of North Carolina Minerals in Spruce Pine and the Blue Ridge Music Center in Galax, Virginia.
Most facilities along the Blue Ridge Parkway close for the season in late October or early November, ahead of snow and ice that can turn the scenic highway into a slick serpentine stretch of asphalt. Eventually, much of the road itself closes due to weather conditions though it was mostly open as of Nov. 5.
The Blue Ridge Parkway Visitors Center in Asheville, normally open year-round, will stay open at least through Sunday, Nov. 9, paid for by Foundation funds. All parkway campgrounds are now closed for the season. All trails that were open and accessible — not blocked by damage from the remnants of Hurricane Helene — are still open.
The Craft Center at Flat Top Manor, in Moses Cone Memorial Park near Blowing Rock, is open, along with the Folk Art Center in Asheville.
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation has an updated list of what’s open and closed along the parkway on its website.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
After the government shutdown sent workers home from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the park’s nonprofit partner, Friends of the Smokies, stepped in to help pay enough staff to keep the vast park open.
The group recently announced that, with additional help of the Tennessee cities of Gatlinburg, Sevierville and Pigeon Forge, along with Blount and Sevier counties in Tennessee, the Tennessee Department of Tourism and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, the park will stay open through Jan. 4, 2026, even if the government doesn’t reopen.
That includes the enormously popular Cades Cove loop, where visitors drive slowly through a former settlement in a valley ringed this time of year by hillsides covered in shades of red and gold.
Some park workers still will be furloughed while the shutdown continues, the Friends group said. The cost of the reduced staffing is about $80,000 per week, with the State of Tennessee contributing about $25,000 of that each week and the other donors providing about $7,000 each per week. Recreation and parking fees collected by the park will also go toward essential operations.
The Friends group says the Great Smokies park averages 1.6 million visitors in October alone.
Like the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Smokies close some areas for the winter, but all areas that would normally be open this time of year are open now as a result of the outside funding.
“This is a tough time for our partners in the national park,” Dana Soehn, president and CEO of Friends of the Smokies, said in the release announcing the most recent arrangement. “Friends of the Smokies is proud to help fund staffing through the holidays so emergency services, restrooms, and visitor centers can remain open when visitation is high. Still, we’re deeply saddened that critical work — treating hemlocks, repairing trails, and preserving historic cabins — will pause due to furloughed staff. Caring for this park is year-round work, and the best news will be a fully funded park with an end to the shutdown.”
Seasonal and other closings in the park are listed on its website.
Appalachian Trail
The busiest hiking season on the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina is in March and April, when the ambitious trekkers who started at the trailhead in Georgia are passing through here on their way to Maine.
But the woods are full of volunteers this time of year from 30 trail clubs in 14 states whose members come out with boots and tools to make repairs and small re-routes that keep the AT in good shape.
Some of the work they do requires coordination with or funding from the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service, along with the nonprofit Appalachian Trail Conservancy, which leads the management and conservation of the 2,198-mile footpath.
Volunteers with the trail groups have been working through the shutdown.
But with the government out of the picture for now, the Conservancy said this week in a Facebook post, “Crucial projects like invasive plant removal, bridge construction, and major tread restoration efforts are on hold, while volunteer stewardship is paused in several areas still recovering from Hurricane Helene. These delays threaten both the Trail experience and the partnerships that sustain it.
“The AT and the people who care for it deserve better.”
The trail is open, though in North Carolina some detours remain around areas where damage from Helene in September 2024 has not been cleared.
On its website, the Conservancy said this week that on sections of the trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway volunteers have been unable to coordinate with furloughed federal workers to get access, meaning maintenance is falling behind and visitor experience or safety could be compromised.
This story was produced with financial support from the Hartfield Foundation and Green South Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. If you would like to help support local journalism, please consider signing up for a digital subscription, which you can do here.
