SMOKEMONT – Locating an open public restroom in Great Smoky Mountains National Park should be easier starting this week but finding someone to suggest a good spot for a family hike or to replace a washed out trail bridge won't be.

Workers are reopening limited facilities here and in a few other locations around the park that had been closed during the partial federal government shutdown, park officials announced Sunday.

They include restrooms at Smokemont Campground, located just off U.S. 441 about 5 miles north of the park entrance at Cherokee, and those at Deep Creek Picnic Area near Bryson City.

The changes that began Sunday are part of a National Park Service initiative to reopen some areas or facilities using revenue from user fees. That money ordinarily goes to enhance park facilities, additional visitor services or major maintenance projects.

Damage to parks, overflowing trash cans, litter and human waste have been reported in national parks around the country during the shutdown. People with two nonprofit groups that support the park say those problems appear to be less in the Smokies but there have still been issues.

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The other Smokies facilities to be reopened are in Tennessee: Cades Cove Campground and Picnic Area, including restrooms; Little River Road between Metcalf Bottoms and the Townsend Wye and the section of the Foothills Parkway that runs between Interstate 40 and the Cosby area.

Restrooms at Newfound Gap at the North Carolina-Tennessee line on U.S. 441 and at the Cades Cove Visitor Center were already open thanks to funds from the nonprofit Friends of the Smokies. The Visitor Center itself, located at Cable Mill in the western end of the cove several miles from the campground, is reopening thanks to services from Great Smoky Mountains Association.

Either January or February is typically the month with the lowest number of Smokies visitors, but National Park Service figures show the park is still far from deserted then. January visitation averaged nearly 310,000 people over the past 10 years.

The park said workers will plow roads and remove downed trees on main park roads that they typically try to keep open in winter: Newfound Gap Road/U.S. 441; the bypass around Gatlinburg, Tennessee; Little River Road; and Cades Cove Loop Road.

The number of workers available for that work will be less than usual, however, meaning closures could be longer than normal and some lesser used roads could remain closed until the shutdown ends, the park said.

U.S. 441 reaches an elevation of 5,046 at Newfound Gap and is frequently closed because of snow and ice, as it was Monday.

The Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee and Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg remain closed along with most park campgrounds.

Smokies issues may be less than other parks'

Karen Proctor Wilmot, executive director of the Bryson City-Swain County Chamber of Commerce, said local officials had considered donating money to have the Deep Creek restrooms reopened before the park's decision to do so. Trails there are particularly popular because of their streamside and waterfall views.

People with several tourism-related businesses in the area tell her "they have not as of yet seen a reduction in their reservations (related to the federal shutdown) but they are getting a lot of questions."

Knowing people will be able to find public restrooms "makes it quite a bit easier" to recommend visitors make trips into the park, Proctor Wilmot said.

Both Laurel Rematore, CEO at Great Smoky Mountains Association, and Brent McDaniel, head of marketing at Friends of the Smokies, said the park seems to be holding up relatively well during the shutdown.

Trash is being picked up under a contract that has continued through the shutdown. There have been some issues with litter and human waste near trailheads, McDaniel said.

Rematore said, "A lot of park users right now are folks that I categorize as hard-core hikers. ... Those people by and large seem to know how to behave."

Impacts will linger, some say

Both said the shutdown will still have negative implications for the park over the long-term and that they will worsen if it continues.

The park is usually hiring seasonal workers for its busy season now, Rematore said, and planning and maintenance activities typically go on year-round.

"The longer this goes on, the bigger the job the Park Service has when they finally get back to work," she said.

Also, book stores that the association operates at Oconaluftee and Sugarlands are closed because they are in visitor centers, meaning the group will have less money to donate to help with park projects.

But, Rematore said, a park visit is still likely to be a pleasant one.

"I think there's a lot to see and do. You just have to work harder to find someone to answer a question," she said.