Link wasn't working for me.

But if they can reduce the number of vehicles in the cove, I presume I'm for it.

Brian A.
I'd rather be cycling.

This is an idea that's been around for a while and I hope it gets adopted. Zion National Park has a shuttle system that reduces the crush of vehicles and provides a much better experience than riding around in your car. People have to actually get out of their car and talk to each other!

From the article I don't get the feeling that it is a shuttle service and not a tour bus.

— the shuttle would have to run daily

So they've been debating five options for at least 2 years . . . when is anything going to be done?

If nothing else, they should at least widen the road and add pull offs so there's not "wildlife jams" whenever someone spots a deer. That's the worst aspect of the traffic.

I'm curious about the legal constraints on fees. I know the park can't charge an entrance fee due to land transfer restrictions. Does this similarly prevent the park service from charging for access within a specific area (e.g. Cades Cove)? Could they charge a vehicle fee for driving around the loop?

I think that's the only way they're going to get large numbers of people to use public transportation.

Brian A.
I'd rather be cycling.

I see they didn't take my suggestion as one of the proposed alternatives, that being close the road and let the cove go back to forest.

I say close the road from the Wye to Cades Cove. Use a free shuttle and if anyone wants to drive to the picnic area, charge a fee. This may not violate the publics free access to the Smokys.

Our park is spelled two ways, "Smokys" and "Smokies," and I was unsure which one to use since both are common use.

It's only one section of the large park, and it's much preferable to charging fees. This road simply can't carry the amount of people who want to go there. Realistically, there isn't much chance of relieving the pressure with a few shuttle buses. Then you'd just have lines of shuttle buses instead of lines of cars. Less, but still not a real solution to the problem of congestion and habitat preservation.

It make sense to make people walk in. That way they can go in as far as they like. I'd ban bikes too. Bicyclists can also scare wildlife, flush birds up, and could endanger walkers. Though they don't make that much noise they sure aren't a natural part of the wilderness and teams of speeding bicyclists dressed in weird outfits terrify me, let alone the bears. Make people walk in. Nature can best be appreciated on foot anyway.

Maybe if our national parks eliminated the tourists who don't want to walk into them because of obesity or sheer terror of nature, we would never have to discuss how much to charge. Without them we could eliminate the costly junk food stands, trinket shops and the troops of forest rangers we now need to protect the throngs of people now crashing through our forests.

Senior citizens and the handicapped could be made exceptions.

Then again there are always those overhead trams they have in certain areas of Costa Rica. You ride up, look down, step out, peer at the jungle a minute, then hop back in the tram. Personally I hate these.

Let's make people walk in...

Bicyclists can also scare wildlife, flush birds up, and could endanger walkers.

I'll give you the third one, but cyclists don't scare animals much (if any) more than walkers do.

Perhaps they can extend the no-vehicles off hours at the cove, but it's wishful thinking to talk of them closing motor access completely. That would kill tourism $$.

Brian A.
I'd rather be cycling.

If you're going out as an individual, and your sole objective is to get close to wildlife, then I'd say you're better off on foot

My point was that a typical handful of cyclists isn't any noisier or more disruptive to nature than a typical group of people walking and talking.

At any rate, either one is far better than the current racket of SUVs and motorcycles that dominate the park. I'd love it if they would close the loop to cars entirely for a couple days a week. But I don't see it happening. Our culture is too dominated by gasoline.

Brian A.
I'd rather be cycling.

I;m not surprised people stopped for a bluebird. When I was in college I took a friend from Philadelphia up to Cades Cove. Not only had she never seen deer that close before, she'd never seen cows so near to hand - and she found those even more amazing