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Friday, 03 October 2025 18:11

Updated 10/22: Multiple entities again extend funding to Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The crest of the Great Smoky Mountains is seen from the Foothills Parkway looking east. Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press

Local and state partners will continue funding $61,703.18 daily until Nov. 2 during shutdown

Jim Matheny is Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park communications director.

GATLINBURG — The nonprofit Friends of the Smokies continues to provide funding to keep Great Smoky Mountains National Park fully open and operational through Nov. 2, 2025. This latest round of funding with a partnership of state and local entities follows two previous payments that reopened the park Oct. 4 and then extended the opening through Oct. 19.

This continued funding effort is supported by Sevier County, the cities of Gatlinburg, Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Pittman Center, Blount County, Cocke County, the State of Tennessee, the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and Friends of the Smokies.

It is the third extension to the previously announced agreement that reopened the park Oct. 4 through Oct. 10.

Friends of the Smokies is among several partners that have provided support to fully open the park during the shutdown, including the state of Tennessee, the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, Sevier County, Blount County, Cocke County, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the cities of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville.

Friends of the Smokies is a nonprofit partner of the national park funded by generous donations and specialty license plates. It funds projects, programs, equipment, and staffing the national park cannot afford with its normal annual budget.

As always, check the park's Current Conditions page for the latest closures.

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