{"id":563,"date":"2026-05-24T13:08:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T13:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=563"},"modified":"2026-05-24T13:08:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T13:08:00","slug":"great-smoky-mountains-national-park-is-expanding-by-hundreds-of-acres-nps-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=563","title":{"rendered":"Great Smoky Mountains National Park is expanding by hundreds of acres, NPS says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Great Smoky Mountains National Park is making a rare expansion, with more than 600 acres soon to be added to the nation\u2019s most visited National Park.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=561\">\u2018Your cars suck\u2019: NASCAR owner provides some levity amid grief over Kyle Busch<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Known as the \u201cOliver Tract,\u201d the block of wilderness includes \u201cintact forest,\u201d ridgelines, and headwaters for several streams that contribute to The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.littleriverwatershed.org\/the-river\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">Little River<\/a>, which is itself a key tourist attraction in the region.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s being transferred to the National Parks System by the <a href=\"https:\/\/foothillsland.org\/\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">Foothills Land Conservancy<\/a>, which set out to protect a site linked to the park\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/grsm\/learn\/historyculture\/cades-cove-history.htm\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">Cades Cove settlement,<\/a> dating to the 1820s.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe tract\u2019s name reflects its previous owner, John Oliver, one of the earliest permanent European settlers in Cades Cove and a foundational figure in the region\u2019s history,\u201d the conservancy reported in a May 14 news release.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOliver family legacy remains deeply connected to the cultural identity of the Smokies, making the preservation of the property significant not only environmentally but historically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The land near Townsend along the park\u2019s western border, which is becoming heavily developed due to booming tourism. Great Smoky Mountains National Park attracted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/orgs\/1207\/03-13-26-2025-visitation-statsitics.htm?pubDate=20260512\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">11,527,939 visitors<\/a> in 2025, which is more than double the 2025 visitation at Yellowstone National Park or the Grand Canyon, the NPS says.<\/p>\n<p>Protecting the 600 acres \u2013 about a 22-mile drive southwest from Gatlinburg \u2013 means park visitors won\u2019t be seeing motels, vacation homes and parking lots as they look into the horizon.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=559\">Chase Elliott wants to figure out a way for Kyle Busch to win \u2018Most Popular Driver\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Smokies are part of the identity of East Tennessee. Protecting land of this scale, in a location this important, is rare. Opportunities like this do not come around often,\u201d conservancy Executive Director Mark Stevans said in the news release.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne day, people will hike these ridges, experience these forests and never realize how close this land came to becoming something else. That\u2019s the goal. That\u2019s conservation at its best.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The property transfer closes on June 8, and the National Park Service has not announced specifics of what will happen once the land falls under federal protection.<\/p>\n<p>Great Smoky Mountains is currently<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/grsm\/learn\/management\/statistics.htm\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\"> 522,427 acres<\/a>, \u201cdivided almost evenly between\u201d Tennessee and North Carolina, the NPS says.<\/p>\n<p>The park\u2019s last major expansion was a purchase of 627 acres in Blount County from The Nature Conservancy in January 2009, officials said.<\/p>\n<p>Great Smoky Mountains National Park is bout a 150-mile drive northwest from uptown Charlotte.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=557\">Who will win Coca-Cola 600? Our predictions, best bets for NC\u2019s biggest NASCAR race<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"summary gray\">This story was originally published <span class=\"inline-block\">May 24, 2026 at 8:06 AM<span>.<\/span><\/span><!-- --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>600 acres of wilderness purchased by conservationists will soon become part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, National Park Service says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Great Smoky Mountains National Park is expanding by hundreds of acres, NPS says - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=563\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Great Smoky Mountains National Park is expanding by hundreds of acres, NPS says - 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