Great Smoky Mountains Firefly Show Already in Full Swing in the National Park.

Who doesn’t love fireflies? Young and old alike love to see them flash in the night and the best place in the United States to see fireflies is in the Great Smoky Mountains. Even though the official synchronous firefly event in the Great Smoky Mountains national park does not take place unit next week, the lightning bugs are already putting on an exceptional show already that you won’t want to miss!

Just a few minutes before dusk you will start to see some of the synchronous fireflies start to flash. As it gets even darker the number of fireflies increase at which point they appear to synchronize as well.

Best synchronous firefly shows seem to be on an evening after a light rain in the afternoon and when it is not raining right before or at dusk.

The firefly show will be in places tonight such as in Elkmont, Tremont, Metcalf Bottoms and the Cherokee Orchard / Roaring Fork outside of Gatlinburg Tennessee. There are slightly less active fireflies in Cades Cove right now but that should pick up throughout the week.

Before you get any ideas, both the Elkmont and the Cades Cove campgrounds are booked solid.

Wherever you go to enjoy the fireflies in the Smokies, think safety first. Keep out of roadways, beware of areas with step drop offs, and keep kids under control at all times.

Since turning on any light source such as flashlights, or using a cell phone creates enough light to stop the light show and reduce your night vision be extra careful not to trip over roots and rocks that may be hard to see in the dark. Lights also annoy the heck out of others as well.

This is a fairly buggy year and since you will be fairly close to water where there are always more insects, bring along some bug spray.

The safest way to see the fireflies is during the official GSMNP firefly program, but with such a limited number of tickets, many won’t have the opportunity to enjoy it this way and in order to see our special Smokies firefly, may need to be more adventurous.

Synchronized Fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains

• 2015 Firefly Viewing Dates in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
• 2014 Firefly Viewing Dates in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
• Where and When to see Synchronous Fireflies in the Smokies in 2013
• Synchronous Fireflies Emerge Too Early for Visitors In The Great Smoky Mountains national park
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• Great Smoky Mountains Fireflies has 900 visitors first night
• Synchronized Fireflies in Great Smoky Mountains national parks Elkmont a huge disappointment

Perfect Location to See the Special Smokies Fireflies and Help a Great Cause at the Same Time!

Every spring the hottest ticket in the Great Smoky Mountains is to get the trolley passes to see the synchronous firefly event in the Elkmont area of the National Park. This tickets area hard to come by since they are limited and sellout quickly.

If you do take the trolley to the event, you get to wait on lines before you go, deal with about 1,000 people a night milling around on the Little River Hiking Trail, and then wait even longer on line to take the shuttle bus back to the Sugarlands Parking are where you left your car.

How would you like to enjoy this amazing natural display of synchronized bioluminescence in a place with ample parking, no crowds, and access to a true firefly expert after enjoying some heavy hors d'oeuvres and drinks in the exclusive Norton Creek Sanctuary which borders the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP)?

What we feel is the most important nonprofit doing research in our national park and beyond: Discover Life in America will be hosting this fundraising event and there are a few spots left for the nights of June 5th or 7th!

Your purchase of tickets being sold to the Discover Life in America Synchronous Firefly fundraising event at $100 each help support groundbreaking discoveries made in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park where this organization help find 8,095 new species that reside in the GSMNP and 951 new species to science!

You are not helping what we feel is the most important biological study to take place in the national park, you are sure to have the best Smoky Mountains synchronized firefly experience possible!

For reservations or more information, e-mail Todd Witcher at todd@dlia.org or call (865)430-4757.

Synchronized Fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains

• 2015 Firefly Viewing Dates in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
• 2014 Firefly Viewing Dates in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
• Where and When to see Synchronous Fireflies in the Smokies in 2013
• 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

31st Annual Tourism Week Event takes place today in the GSMNP

A "tourist family of the day" will be picked out this morning at the Sugarlands visitor center to help kick off Annual Tourism Week sponsored by the Smoky Mountain Tourism and Development Council. This family will be part of the celebration taking place at 11:30am on the front lawn of the Great Smoky Mountains national park (GSMNP) headquarters in Sugarlands Tennessee.

Jimbo Whaley, a singer and songwriter who traces his family roots to land which is now part of the Great Smoky Mountains national park and will be the emcee of the GSMNP event honoring Dana Soehn as the Park's 2014 "Employee of the Year".

The co-hosts of this event include: Smoky Mountains Tourism Development Council, Gatlinburg Department of Tourism, Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism, Sevierville Chamber of Commerce, Blount County Partnership, and the Cocke County Partnership.