GATLINBURG (AP) - Visits to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park this year are up 13.5% from a year ago.
Park officials said Wednesday that the park has had 2.7 million visitors through May, about 330,000 more than for the same period in 2011.
May visits were up 10% to just under 800,000. Park spokesmen credited favorable spring weather, lower gas prices, special events in the area and the opening of attractions for the increase in May.
The 500,000-acre park, with 9 million visitors annually, is the most popular national park.
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