Great Smokies Welcome Center, a new visitor center and retail space at 7929 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway in Townsend, Tennessee, has officially opened. In this new and expanded location, Great Smoky Mountains Association will provide information, educational materials, souvenirs, parking tags and other park-related goods to visitors of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
“This new visitor center allows us to support [the park] on a larger scale, with much more information and merchandise for park visitors to explore,” said CEO Laurel Rematore. The center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Christmas.
The Great Smokies Welcome Center provides twice the retail floor space of the previous location, with dedicated areas for membership information, merchandise and educational displays developed in collaboration with the National Park Service. Upstairs, GSMA will operate a dedicated space for private events, and behind the scenes, employees can enjoy a larger break room, larger stock room, a space for wholesale operations, and an audio recording space, where GSMA’s creative team will record audiobooks and podcasts.
visit smokiesinformation.org.