Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the country’s most popular national park — and it’s not even close. With more than 12 million annual visitors, it sees more than double the 5 million yearly visitors to Zion National Park, which takes up a distant second place.
So, it’s no small thing that less than half of Great Smoky’s campgrounds are currently open for reservations. After losing a dozen staff members in President Trump’s mass layoffs, six of the park’s 10 campgrounds are now closed, according to the park website. Some still haven’t been repaired after damage from Hurricane Helene, while others have been shuttered without explanation.
Those with spring reservations for the campgrounds will receive refunds. It’s also possible for visitors to get reimbursed for reservations of picnic areas and pavilions. Many of those are closed as well.
It’s the latest signal that the country’s national parks will continue to reduce services in the wake of President Donald Trump’s second term.
National Park Cuts: Know Before You Go
In his first 2 months, Trump slashed the jobs of tens of thousands of government workers. That included rangers, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other essential personnel for the nation’s parks and forests.
Those firings were illegal, according to the decisions of two federal judges last week, who ruled that the workers must be reinstated. However, Trump continues to defy those rulings and many others, leading some legal scholars to call the situation a “constitutional crisis.”
As the political football continues, parks advocates are asking visitors to call their favorite parks before heading out this spring and summer.
“Parks are going to experience staff shortages, visitor center closures, trail closures — it’s more important than ever that you spend a little time planning ahead and preparing,” said J.D. Tanner, director of education and training for nonprofit group Leave No Trace. “Make sure that the experience you’re expecting is going to take place. Otherwise, you’re going to find yourself somewhat disappointed.”
Fired Parks Workers Still Waiting
Parks supporters immediately welcomed the news that roughly 1,000 workers could be reinstated. But it’s unclear if the courts can stop Trump from dismantling the country’s park system. The president has also instituted a spending freeze for the park service, delayed seasonal hires, and opened up protected areas to drilling and resource extraction.
The U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service (NPS), has made “no moves to start putting crucial staff back to work,” according to a press release from parks advocacy group Resistance Rangers.
Not only are the fired parks workers still waiting to be rehired, but the Department of the Interior (DOI) also doubled down on its attempts to keep reducing the NPS workforce. The department is now offering parks employees a $25,000 severance payment if they quit working this spring, SFGate reported.
As a result, parks advocates — led by Resistance Rangers — returned to many national parks this weekend to protest Trump’s actions. Also, hundreds of current and former park service employees signed a letter to Doug Burgum, Secretary of the DOI, demanding the fired parks workers be reinstated.
“These cuts leave our treasured sites and wildlife vulnerable,” parks officials said in the letter. “The one person who monitors water quality at Death Valley National Park was fired. Yosemite National Park lost its only locksmith. Critical monitoring projects of endangered species, like the endangered black abalone, are halted…On March 13, 2025, two U.S. District Courts ordered agencies to reinstate their unlawfully-fired employees. But there has been no response from the Department of the Interior. We demand to know why not.”
