Information About the 2025 Synchronous Firefly Viewing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
This may not be quite as lucrative as winning the big money lotteries, but it’s still a lucky day if your name is drawn.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is known for a lot of things, and the synchronous fireflies most definitely deserve a placement of recognition. For those lucky individuals, prime viewing this year will be from May 29th through June 5th at Elkmont. Simply go to recreation.gov starting May 2nd at 10 A.M. EST. The entry period closes on May 5th at 11:59 P.M. EST.
In late May or early June every year, hundreds gather near Elkmont to view this wonderful natural phenomenon where fireflies flash simultaneously in their annual mating ritual. As a way to limit the amount of people for viewing, since 2006, the park has held a lottery to gain access to see this peak activity, which is determined to be the aforementioned dates for this year. Problems that will arise if they don’t do a lottery include traffic nightmares, safety issues, and disturbances to the fireflies themselves.
A total of 960 vehicle reservations will be issued—120 per night—through the process. Each reservation will allow up to seven people per vehicle to park at the viewing locations. The capacity was based on the number of available parking, and to safely accommodate visitors based on the amount of staff available for the event.
People who want to apply can choose two potential dates for viewing the fireflies during the eight-day period. A computer will randomly select the applicants; there is a $1 fee to apply. If selected, you will be given reservations, and a $29 dollar fee will be charged to the same card used when you apply. This fee covers the cost of awarding the reservation, on-site portable restrooms, and nightly personnel costs for the viewing opportunity.
Reservations are non-refundable, non-transferable, and can only be used for the date issued. Everyone who applies will receive an email by May 13th, whether their name was successfully drawn or not.
This is a popular event that is magical to those who were lucky to see this natural phenomenon take place. I have never witnessed it, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested. Good luck to all of you who want to see it!
Thank you for reading and subscribing to my publication. Stay tuned for much more news ahead! I will be doing plenty of writing in the next month with a handful of new restaurants and openings to cover. I hope you’ll stick around to hear my thoughts on all of these exciting happenings! I appreciate you!