The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is set to reopen this weekend, becoming one of the biggest federal attractions to return amid the national lockdown.
The national park, which is the most-visited in the nation, says some of its most popular trails will remain off limits for now. And new safety measures will be implemented, including giving personal protective equipment to all employees.
On Friday, Tennessee’s commissioner of tourism, Mark Ezell, will be meeting with area businesses to remind them of social distancing requirements and the “Tennessee Pledge” that businesses are supposed to abide by.
“We know that an area like Gatlinburg will have a lot of visitors from outside of Tennessee that may not have heard all of our messaging,” Gov. Bill Lee says. “That’s why we’re making a particular effort to work with those businesses to make sure Tennesseans are safe there.”
This is typically the busiest time of year for the region, with more than a million visitors a month in 2019.
Most national parks remain closed, although some others have announced phased re-openings.
WPLN’s Blake Farmer contributed to this story.
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