Smokies prepares to handle traffic as synchronous fireflies put on spring show

Smokies prepares for flashing bugs

GATLINBURG, Tenn. — The synchronous fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are just trying to attract each other, but their coordinated flashes of light get a lot of human attention as well.

To accommodate the crowds of nature-lovers who come to watch the bugs, National Park Service officials have made arrangements to bus in visitors.

From June 5 to 13, the Elkmont entrance road will be closed between 5 p.m. and midnight to all traffic except trolleys and registered campers at the Elkmont campground.

Trollies will pick up firefly watchers at the Sugarlands Information Center and take them to see the fireflies, which — as part of their mating ritual — flash in simultaneous patterns. The Smokies website says the species is the only one in North America capable of this. The trolley ride costs $1 round trip.