Great Smoky Mountains National Park needs more volunteers at Clingmans Dome Information Center

If you would like to help park visitors at the Clingmans Dome Information Center which at 6,300 feet and is often in or above the clouds, here is your chance as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is in need of about a dozen volunteers to help out.

The volunteers will be needed from May through November 30th to help provide park information to visitors and assist in trip planning including giving directions in the Clingmans Dome Information Center which also has a bookstore area managed by the Great Smoky Mountains Association (GSMA).

The Volunteers needed would be working alongside GSMA employees and will need to be able to work at least one 4 hour shift per week, 11 am to 3 pm. Park Volunteers are most needed for shifts from Friday through Sunday, but help is needed during Monday - Thursday as well.

The information center is relatively new opening in 2010. The building itself was originally constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps and before it was turned into the Clingmans Dome Information Center and bookstore, it was a comfort station.

Water quality issues required that the national park switch to vault toilets so that rather than the waste be treated high atop the mountain, it could be pumped out and treated elsewhere where there would be less environmental impact.

While the vault toilets where installed in the parking, the original bathrooms were completely overhauled and turned into the useful building that you see now in its place.

"In the past, visitors to this popular destination did not have a chance to obtain information on their high elevation visit or have questions answered," said Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson. "Now with the help of volunteers staffing the center, visitors can inquire and learn about the spruce fir ecosystem and the impacts of invasive insects, such as the balsam woolly adelgid, and air quality."

While Clingmans Dome does not see the amount of visitation that the Sugarlands Visitor Center or Oconaluftee does, it is vitally important to park visitors and through hikers along the Appalachian Trail.

Training for Volunteers will be held from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm on Friday, May 17th. To sign up for training or for more information, contact Florie Takaki Monday - Fridays at (828)497-1906 or by email her at Florie_Takaki@nps.gov.

Tweet Share
 

Where and When to see Synchronous Fireflies in the Smokies in 2013

Why do more than a thousand people a night walk around in the dark without lights in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park every June? For a very good reason...to see the worlds famous Smokies Synchronous Fireflies.

To see such a miracle of nature is simply amazing with the blinking of tens of thousands of lightning bugs that start randomly, then start flashing all at once or in patterns together, and then as fast is it starts, blackness envelops the area and the sounds of the night forest seems to skip a beat, and then, it all starts again.

The flashing of the fireflies which are actually beetles, vary in color, seasonal timing, duration and pattern from species to species, but the main purpose for all of them to flash or glow is to attract a mate.

The majority of the display that we see from the Synchronous Firefly Photinus carolinus which can be found in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and other wooded areas and fields close by is the males answer to the female's initial signal of light, which draws him ever closer to her.

While finding the place where the Synchronous Fireflies will flash is not that hard if you can go back to the same spot over and over again from May until July, it's highly impractical.

Virtually every spot the biologists have looked for the Synchronous Firefly in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, they have found them, as long as the biologist timing was right.

Timing is everything when it comes to the fireflies as you only have about a 2 week window when they flash their best, before which they are underground and after which they have mated, laid their eggs and have died.

What you have to do to find the is Synchronous Lightning Bugs is understand when they are going to emerge from the soil as fully grown adults ready to mate. In lower elevations of the National Park at the 2,000 foot mark such as in Elkmont where some of the best firefly displays can be seen, that can be as early as the Early May to Mid June.

On average, low elevation peak synchronous firefly activity is the first into the second week of June; however, in 2012 it was the last week of May due to unseasonably warm weather. This year's seasonal emergence of plants and insects was about 3 weeks later than last year so we are right on target with the parks estimation at his point.

One of the best ways to see the fireflies is to take the shuttle buses running from June 6th through June 13th that takes you from the Sugarlands Visitor Center parking area to the Little River Hiking Trail parking area in Elkmont.

Sadly, far more people want to go see the fireflies in the Smokies than the national park can accommodate, so for years the first come first served system of the firefly shuttle buses have been scrapped for a reservation system that leaves just as many people missing out on the show, but not waiting in long lines for no reason. Advance parking passes to buy tickets sold out in hours with the remaining half going to sell out fast on the day before each departure.

Another choice area for see in the Synchronous Lightning Bugs is the Great Smoky Mountains National park is in Tremont for the 3rd and last week in May as the elevation is about 800 or so feet less than in Elkmont and they do emerge and mature sooner. This road also sees very little traffic so the lights won't disturb the fireflies as much.

If you feel like walking, another great spot to the see the fireflies is to hike into Cades Cove which is allowed even as the road is closed to motor vehicle traffic. Here in Cades Cove, which is at an elevation between Tremont and Elkmont, choice areas are Hyatt Lane, by the Abrams Falls Trailhead or by Sparks Lane.

Not planning or arriving to the Smokies until the 2nd weekend in June or later and still want to see the synchronized fireflies in the GSMNP? Higher up is when you need to go. Try the Newfound Gap Parking Area, around Clingmans Dome, along the Foothills Parkway East or Foothills Parkway West.

Related Smokies News Stories

Synchronized Fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains

• Synchronous Fireflies Emerge Too Early for Visitors In The Great Smoky Mountains national park
• Synchronous fireflies and their admirers are about to invade the Great Smoky Mountains national park
• Great Smoky Mountains National park synchronous firefly
• Great Smoky Mountains Fireflies has 900 visitors first night
• Synchronized Fireflies in Great Smoky Mountains national parks Elkmont a huge disappointment

Tweet Share
 

Is Newfound Gap Road Between Cherokee and Gatlinburg Open Again?

As anyone working in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Cherokee or in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park what question they are asked most often since the huge landslide in January of this year right by mile marker 22 and they will tell you is will be a pleasure to say yes, Newfound Gap Road is open all the way from the Sugarlands all the way to Cherokee, North Carolina.

Tweet Share
 

The Great Smoky Mountings National Park Is Looking For Volunteers in North Carolina

If you love the Great Smoky Mountains national park, you can give back to the park by becoming a volunteer which is a very rewarding experience.

Presently the GSMNP is looking for volunteers to rove in and around the Oconaluftee Mountain Farm Museum, the Oconaluftee River Trail and along a part of Newfound Gap Road/US441 from now until Nov 9th, 2013.

Volunteers should have knowledge about the park and will be providing information to park visitors such as approaching and disturbing wildlife, littering, historical information and places to go in the park. When necessary, a volunteer will need to assist park rangers with traffic management.

Volunteers will also need to provide visitors with information on viewing elk and other wildlife safely, about the elk reintroduction program in the GSMNP and the elk's role in Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

To participate or for more information, contact the Oconaluftee Visitor Center at (828)497-1904. Volunteers will be required to take an orientation and training session on Friday, April 26 from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm at Oconaluftee.

Tweet Share
 

Another Major Road Closes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Due to a Washout

As the Great Smoky Mountains national park is still dealing with the huge landslide which has shut off the main road connecting Tennessee with North Carolina, US441 Newfound Gap Road, another major road running through the park was discovered to have washout damage from Little River running alongside it.

Little River Road past Metcalf bottoms just east of the Sinks had lost part of its shoulder and cracks have developed in the area prompting park officials to close Little River Road (State Road 73) between Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area and the Townsend Wye.

Because of weight restrictions on the Metcalf Bottom Bridge, large RV's are unable to cross and thus to exit or enter the park through Wears Gap Road and would have to turn back.

Crews from Great Smoky Mountains national park are right now are on Little River Road and as of yet there are no estimates as to when it will reopen.

Current estimates have Newfound Gap Road reopening in May.

Update 03/26/13 9:50am
Cleanup and temporary repairs are complete. Road may be able to reopen shortly.

Update 03/26/13 10:35am
Road will reopen as soon as snowplows are finished.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Road Information

Tweet Share
 

Virtually Every Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is Closed

First it was flooding that closed many key roads in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, now a winter storm dumped enough snow to create another headache, virtually every road is closed due to snow and ice including the Foothills Parkway West and East and the Gatlinburg Bypass connecting the Sugarlands to the Spur.

Crews are working on plowing and sanding roads right now. They will also be cleaning up any of the additional trees, branches and roads that may have fallen into the roadways. When the melting starts, even more debris could fall into the roadway making driving treacherous.

With so much water, there have been landslides, one of which washed out a 200 foot section of roadway, and rock slides and trees that may still be in danger of falling so when the park access opens up, use extreme caution when hiking as some of these dangers may not be immediately apparent.

Links: Great Smoky Mountain national park road conditions

Tweet Share
 

Weather Conditions and a Serious Accident Closes Some Major Great Smoky Mountains National Park Roads.

The Great Smoky Mountains national park is under a flood warning until 7 am tomorrow morning and it is the high waters associated with past days rain that closed Forge Creek Road and Sparks Lane in Cades Cove first along with the upper portion of Tremont Road.

Now a serious accident has caused rangers to closed Newfound Gap Road US441 for as of yet an undetermined time.

Additional Great Smoky Mountains national park road closures now include all of Cades Cove Loop, Road, Old State Road 284 between Big Creek and Cataloochee, and the Cataloochee entrance road.

Links: GSMNP Roads  Smoky Mountains Weather

Tweet Share