Smoky Mountains bring in fewer tourists in 2004

GATLINBURG, Tenn. -- Lots of rain meant fewer visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park last year. Still, more than 9 million people came to the country's most-visited preserve in 2004.

"There are probably a variety of factors that played a role in the declines this year, but it is certain that weather had a great influence on visitation," Smokies Superintendent Dale Ditmanson said.

The year was marked by seven months of visitation declines and above normal rainfall for a good portion of the year for the 520,000-acre park straddling the Tennessee-North Carolina border.

Lower elevations received 65.5 inches of rain or snow -- about 11 inches above normal.

A total of 9,167,044 visitors came through the park's three main entrances at Gatlinburg and Townsend, Tenn., and Cherokee, N.C., and more than 10 outlying areas.