We just wrapped up national parks month in July, and Tennessee had a big reason to celebrate.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, after all, is the most visited park in the country. In 2018, it saw more than 11 million visitors – nearly twice the number that visited the Grand Canyon, the second most popular park.
As for the least visited national park? That would be Alaska’s Gates of the Arctic, which consists of 8 million acres of wilderness not directly accessible by car. Accordingly, that park sees around 11,000 annual visitors.
Now, some stories:
Brown Bag, a new healthy lunch spot, has opened on Gunbarrel Road in Chattanooga. The restaurant also offers Brown Bag Blessings, an option to call the restaurant a day in advance to pick up a free family-sized meal to bring to someone in need.
Local conservation projects are taking the lead with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s effort to conserve habitat on the Cumberland Plateau in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee.
And the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority was the only transit system in Tennessee to receive a grant that will allow for a fleet of fully electric buses.