Great Smoky Mountains Parking Tag Guide (Park It Forward)

How the parking tag works

The park started the Park It Forward parking tag program on March 1, 2023. There is still no entrance station and no fee to drive through the park. Instead, you pay when you park.

The rule is simple: if you park a vehicle anywhere inside park boundaries for longer than 15 minutes, it needs a valid tag on display. Tags are not tied to a location, so one tag covers every trailhead, picnic area and parking lot in the park, on both the Tennessee and North Carolina sides.

The NPS says all revenue from the program stays in the park. It pays for trail maintenance, restroom cleaning, trash removal, visitor education, emergency response and law enforcement.

Prices and how long each tag lasts

Daily and weekly tags expire at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on the date printed on the tag. Annual tags are valid for 12 months from the month of purchase, and the expiration month is marked with a hole punch.

Pick the tag that matches your trip. Two days of parking costs $10 with daily tags, three days costs the same $15 as a weekly tag, so the weekly tag is the better buy for a stay of three days or more. If you plan to visit more than eight days in a year, the annual tag ($40) pays for itself.

Who needs a parking tag

Every vehicle that parks in the park for more than 15 minutes needs one. That includes day hikers at trailheads, families stopping at a picnic area, people walking Cades Cove on a vehicle-free Wednesday and anyone leaving a car at a visitor center lot.

The NPS lists no exemption for campers or backpackers. If you are staying at a park campground or leaving a car at a trailhead for a backcountry trip, plan on a tag that covers every day the vehicle is parked. A weekly tag is usually the simplest choice.

The tag is required for parking, not driving. Drivers who pass through the park on Newfound Gap Road or the Cades Cove loop without parking, or who stop for less than 15 minutes, do not need one.

What counts as parking for more than 15 minutes

The NPS wording covers any parking spot anywhere within park boundaries. A quick stop at an overlook or roadside pull-off to take a photo is fine without a tag as long as you are back in the car within 15 minutes. Once the car sits longer than that, a tag is required.

In practice, almost every visitor who gets out to hike, picnic, tour a historic site or visit Kuwohi will park for more than 15 minutes. If you plan to do anything beyond driving through, buy a tag.

A tag does not reserve a space. Parking is first come, first served, and popular trailheads fill early in summer and October. The NPS recommends entering the park by 8 a.m. on busy days.

Where to buy a tag

Cell service is spotty or missing in much of the park, so buy and print your tag at home or in a gateway town such as Gatlinburg, Townsend, Cherokee or Bryson City before you head in.

• Recreation.gov: daily and weekly tags, available up to one month before your visit. You must print the tag, because digital copies on a phone are not accepted.
• Automated parking tag machines inside the park: daily and weekly tags. The NPS fees page has a map of machine locations.
• Park visitor centers and other in-person sales locations, including some outside the park. The NPS fees page maps these as well.
• Smokies Life (smokieslife.org), the park's nonprofit partner: annual tags, shipped to you. Order early enough for it to arrive before your trip.

How to display it

The tag must be physical and visible. Place a daily or weekly tag face-up on the front, lower passenger side of the dashboard. Display an annual tag on the front, lower passenger side of the windshield.

Each tag must show a license plate number that matches the vehicle it is in. Tags are not replaceable, refundable, transferable or upgradable, so you cannot move one between cars or trade a daily tag up to a weekly one. If you are renting a car, buy the tag once you know the plate number.

Exemptions and free days

The NPS lists these exemptions from the parking tag requirement:

• Vehicles with a disability license plate or placard. Display the plate or placard as usual; check the NPS fees page for current details.
• School groups, through an exemption process run by the park.
• Permitted researchers.
• Specific special uses covered by a park permit.
• National park free entrance days. In 2026 tags are not required on those days; the remaining dates this year are October 27 and November 11. The 2027 list has not been announced yet.

Planning tips

• Buy daily or weekly tags on Recreation.gov before you leave home, print them, and keep them in the car so you are not hunting for a machine at a full trailhead.
• For three or more days, one weekly tag ($15) costs the same as three daily tags and less than four or more.
• Each car in your group needs its own tag, with its own plate number.
• Moving between areas, such as from Cades Cove to Newfound Gap, does not need a second tag; one valid tag covers the whole park.
• On Cades Cove vehicle-free Wednesdays, park only in designated spaces and display your tag.
• Gateway towns sit outside the park, so parking in Gatlinburg, Townsend or Cherokee follows local rules, not the park tag.

Passes, fines and enforcement

America the Beautiful interagency passes of any type are not accepted in place of a parking tag. They do not cover parking here because the park charges no entrance fee for them to replace.

Vehicles parked without a valid, physically displayed tag are subject to a citation. The NPS parking pages do not publish a fine amount, so do not assume a warning. A $5 tag is far cheaper than finding out.

For questions not covered here, call the park's information line at (865) 436-1200.

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• Best Time to Visit Great Smoky Mountains National ParkWhen to visit the Great Smokies: April wildflowers, the May firefly lottery, summer crowds, October color by elevation and winter road closures.