Displaying items by tag: whiteoak sink

A visitor to Whiteoak Sink in Great Smoky Mountains National Park photographs a wildflower.  Courtesy National Park Service

Park managers hope new rule will limit trampling of the flowers people flock to photograph. Meanwhile, there’s sad news about the sink’s resident bats.

Large groups of spring visitors to the geologically and ecologically unique Whiteoak Sink area near Cades Cove will have to obtain permits in an ongoing effort to prevent damage to the sink’s plant and animal habitats.

The sink is home to vivid wildflower displays in the spring, and the 5,000 people who come to see the annual spectacle stray off trails and destroy or damage some plant species.

“The intent of the trial reservation system is to better protect sensitive wildflower species that can be damaged when large groups crowd around plants off-trail to take photos or closely view blooms,” according to a release from Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Whiteoak Sink is off the Schoolhouse Gap Trail between Townsend and Cades Cove.

“This trial project will allow managers to determine if better coordinating group access can reduce trampling and soil compaction around sensitive plant populations.”