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What you need to know about paying to park in the Great Smoky Mountains

The Park It Forward program requires visitors to have a parking tag to leave their car anywhere in the park for more than 15 minutes starting March 1, 2023.

Elizabeth Sims, William Winnett

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Published: 9:47 AM EST February 22, 2023
Updated: 12:24 PM EST March 1, 2023

In April 2022, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park released a proposal for a new program called Park It Forward. 

It would introduce a parking tag system to the Smokies, charging visitors for the first time to leave their cars and giving the park a new revenue source.

Now, a little less than a year after the idea was introduced, the Park It Forward program is starting in the Great Smoky Mountains.

"Parking it forward means we're protecting the Smokies for today but also for future generations so that this national treasure that's right here in our backyard is here for future generations to come," said Kendra Straub, the park's management and program analyst.

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