Genna Scalf (The Herald/Alex Shelton)

Whether it’s to one of our nation’s many parks, a big city or a historical monument, everyone usually has a destination in mind for their summer vacation by this time of the year.

It’s no secret that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park receives more visitors annually than any other national park in the country. In fact, according to the Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism, estimates of last year’s attendance to the Smokies totaled 9 million visitors, with 11 million visiting Pigeon Forge, and only 2-to-3 million of those 11 million Pigeon Forge goers staying overnight.

This means that while the park does get many visitors, most of them are within an hour drive of here, and once they do get here, 2 million of them are completely content with not even stepping a single foot inside the park.

Tom Adkinson of the Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism said that while summer is viewed as the prime tourist time for Pigeon Forge, the efforts are year long.

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