Visits to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for April were off by nearly 20 percent compared to the same time the year before.
The number of visits dropped 18.7 percent for April 2011 compared with April 2010.
However, officials say that the decline is partially due to the Interstate 40 rockslide at the Tennessee/North Carolina state line that closed the interstate for a period of time in April.
That closure funneled heavy traffic through the park via Newfound Gap Road until the slide was cleared on April 25.
The Gatlinburg entrance visitation was down by 21.5 percent compared to the previous year, the Townsend entrance visitation was up by 16.4 percent, the Cherokee entrance was down by 35.6 percent and the outlying entrances were down by 10.3 percent.
Year to date entries into the park are down by 9.2 percent compared to January through April 2010.

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