Download 2023 Parking Pass
Celena Sessler
Daily, weekly and annual parking tags are available for purchase at the stores listed below. Hours may vary seasonally. Daily and weekly parking tags purchased in person must be used starting on the date of purchase. Daily parking tags expire at 11:59pm ET on the date of purchase. Weekly parking tags expire at 11:59pm ET 7 days from the date of purchase.
Daily and weekly parking tags are available for purchase by credit card from Automated Fee Machines, available year-round, 24 hours a day. Daily and weekly parking tags purchased at Automated Fee Machines must be used starting on the date of purchase. Daily parking tags expire at 11:59pm ET on the date of purchase. Weekly parking tags expire at 11:59pm ET 7 days from the date of purchase.
Enjoy the convenience of purchasing your parking tag before you arrive and have it shipped straight to your door. Annual Parking Tags are available for purchase online through Great Smoky Mountains Assocation.
Daily and weekly parking tags are available for purchase online through recreation.gov. Visitors MUST print and display their parking tag. Park staff will not print the tag for you.
No, parking tags do not guarantee a specific parking spot in a specific location or for a specific time frame. Parking at the busiest areas require visitors to plan ahead to choose off-peak hours, days, and seasons to better the chances of parking availability.
Failure to comply with the parking tag requirements may result in a warning, a citation, or your vehicle being towed at your expense. A variety of staff positions will assist in raising awareness of the program through presence across the park.
Daily and weekly parking tags expire at 11:59pm ET on the date printed on the tag. Annual tags are valid for 12 months from the month of purchase. For example, an annual parking tag purchased in March 2023 will be valid until March 31, 2024.
No. The same parking tag options and prices apply to all motor vehicles, including motorcycles, UTVs, RVs, etc., regardless of size. Please keep in mind that parking is extremely limited for oversized vehicles.
Yes. You can specify the date(s) you plan to visit if you purchase your daily or weekly parking tag online through recreation.gov. However, if you purchase your daily or weekly parking tag in-person, it will be validated on the date of purchase.
Interagency passes (aka America the Beautiful passes) are not accepted in lieu of the parking tag and do not provide a discount for the purchase of the parking tag. The park continues to apply a 50% discount on camping fees for two America the Beautiful pass types, Access and Senior. You can learn more about the America the Beautiful pass types at the NPS Entrance Passes webpage.
The park uses the Special Use Permit system to issue permits at no cost for Decoration Days, family reunions for descendants across the park, and cemetery visits. Decoration Day permit holders are exempt from the parking tag fee for the duration of their permit. Each cemetery visit is unique and park staff work directly with descendants to coordinate special access including annual boat shuttles, vehicle shuttles, and use of administrative roads.
Three special use permit types are exempt from the parking tag fee: burials, cemetery visits including Decoration Days and first amendment activities. No other special use permit types, including weddings, are exempt from the parking tag fee.
Frontcountry campers parked at their designated campsite are not required to have a parking tag. If they park elsewhere in the park, a parking tag is required. Please note that parking tags are required for vehicles in excess of what is allowable for each campsite. Information about how many vehicles are allowed at each facility is available on recreation.gov.
The annual parking tag is a cling and can be adhered to the motorcycle windshield or other highly-visible surface. The daily and weekly tags are paper but also need to be prominently displayed. Making sure the tag does not blow away or fall off is the responsibility of the visitor. One option is to tape the tag to the inside of the motorcycle windshield or instrument display. Motorcyclists should plan ahead and come prepared to adequately display their parking tag.
Parking tag sales are not limited or capped, therefore, the program is not anticipated to relieve congestion or solve parking issues in the park. Parking tag revenue will be used to better serve the visitor with one of the goals being the reduction of congestion.
Each parking tag must include a license plate number matching the vehicle in which it is displayed. You will need to wait to purchase your parking tag until you know the license plate number of your rental vehicle. You can purchase your parking tag in-person either at an Automated Fee Machine or in store.
Parking tags are non-transferable. Each parking tag must include a license plate number matching the vehicle in which it is displayed. If your license plate number changes for any reason, you will need to purchase a new annual parking tag.
National Park Service regulations allow school groups and other bona fide national and international educational institutions to obtain a waiver of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park parking tag fee, provided that the visit is for educational or scientific purposes, and the resources or facilities the group proposes to use support those purposes. Educational fee waivers are not granted automatically. Educational groups must apply and meet the criteria to receive the waiver.
Submission Information:
If the application is approved, a parking placard will be emailed to you to be displayed during your visit. Each vehicle must display the parking tag placard while parked in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Park staff will not print parking tag placards onsite. Visitor center staff are not authorized to approve fee waivers. Fee waivers must be processed in advance of your academic visit. Note: Parking tag exemptions for chaperones are covered at a ratio of 1 adult per 5 students K-8th grade, and 1 adult per 10 students in 9th grade and above.
National Park Service regulations allow permitted researchers to be exempt from paying for a parking tag while they are engaged in their permitted research activities. Perspective researchers will receive parking tag placards with their permit when it is issued. Researchers must inform the research coordinator of the minimum number of vehicles that will be needed for their work at any one time and will be issued that many placards. Placards must be printed in color and be visible through the front windshield while the vehicle is parked. Placards will be renewed annually for the duration of the issued research permit. As with any other parking tag, the placards issued to permitted researchers do not authorize parking outside of designated parking areas nor guarantee a parking space at any specific location within the Park; researchers must plan their schedules to arrive at popular locations outside of the peak visitation times.
Learn more and contact the park's research coordinator from the park's research page.
Each pass covers entrance fees at lands managed by the National Park Service and US Fish & Wildlife Service and standard amenity fees (day use fees) at lands managed by the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and US Army Corps of Engineers.
New in 2024, all passes will have one signature line for a single passholder. A pass covers the passholder and all occupants in a personal vehicle at sites that charge per vehicle or, the passholder and up to three additional adults (16 and over) at sites that charge per person. Children ages 15 or under are admitted free.
Please remember when making your purchase that Interagency Passes are non-refundable, non-transferable, cannot be extended and cannot be replaced if lost or stolen. Passholders must show valid photo identification (ID) with each pass.
The paperless parking management software here at ParkingPass is at the core of our parking management solutions because the world we live in today is built on digital interactions, convenience and seamless experiences.
With our parking control systems, we allow users like HOAs, apartment complex managers, towing companies, security and lot enforcement to give or restrict access to their lots as well as generate revenue.
Data collection and accurate reporting is essential for day-to-day functioning of your parking lot management system. The basic data you collect includes date and time, license plate numbers, the make and model of the vehicle and other details like how long a vehicle has been parked and their overall travel history.
Using our effective parking management system, report generation will be essential for two main reasons: optimizing revenue and generating audit trails. Collecting data is half the work. The other half is receiving accurate report generation and understanding the data.
Are you a frequent visitor to a favorite state park or love to sample the beauty of the state from north to south? A California State Parks Pass may be for you! Our park passes offer something for everyone and make great gifts throughout the year. We invite you to explore this webpage and find the right pass for you.
A new pilot collaboration between State Parks and California State Libraries will provide free passes to every public library throughout the state. Library patrons can check these out and use them for free vehicle day-use access to parks across the state.
Valid for one year, this pass allows admission to up to four people to State Historic Parks that generally charge a per-person admission fee. Some of the sites pass holders can tour include a California mission, see where the gold rush happened and experience Native American culture.
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