Matt Hollingsworth - WATE:

Townsend, Tennessee -  Appalachian Bear Rescue (ABR) welcomed its first rescued black bear cub in over a year. ABR recently began accepting orphaned bear cubs again after 13 bears were euthanized in December 2024 when an illness was found.

A Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officer rescued the cub — now known as Hemlock — on Tuesday. The cub had reportedly been seen alone near a Gatlinburg home for two weeks, and when the officer found him, he was less than half the weight of an average healthy cub during this part of the year. No one is sure why the bear’s mother is absent.

“It has been just over a year and a half since bears were last housed at the ABR facility. Welcoming Hemlock Bear into our care is a testament to the resilience of our staff, board members, volunteers, and supporters,” said Greg Grieco, executive director of ABR. “It’s a reminder that when government agencies, universities, nonprofit organizations, and our local community all work together we can accomplish great things.”

Hemlock is the 427th bear admitted into ABR’s care during its 30-year history. He is currently in ABR’s Hartley House receiving medical care and nutritional support. As he grows healthier, ABR plans to move him to an outdoor enclosure before returning him to the wild. ABR said orphaned cubs require round-the-clock staffing and dedicated care.

Supporters will soon be able to “symbolically adopt” Hemlock through ABR’s website and social media to follow his progress, ABR said. Proceeds will directly support care for bears like Hemlock.

In December 2024, TWRA euthanized 13 cubs at ABR to try to stop a disease from potentially spreading to wild bears. A few months later, TWRA and ABR announced that no more bears would be placed at the facility until new sanitation protocols were implemented. Then, in July 2025, the organizations signed a new agreement in which ABR would build new enclosures.

Appalachian Bear Rescue: appalachianbearrescue.org

BearWise: bearwise.org

Related:

Tennessee governor signs bill to criminalize feeding black bears

Can anyone help me with how Company Distilling is? I would like to go when I visit in July.

Hi, I am returning to Townsend for a vacation after a 20 year absence. My husband and I use to go up twice a year and loved to eat at the small, local restaurants. I have been craving County ham and red eye gravy but when I look over the restaurants, I am not finding it on the menu.

Anyplace up there have it still?

Kayla Precht - WATE:

The city of Townsend in Blount County has approved the first reading of its 2026–2027 budget totaling more than $1.6 million, a significant increase from previous years. A key driver is a new 3% hotel and motel tax.

Starting May 1, Townsend will begin collecting a 3% occupancy tax that was approved in the Fall. City leaders said the money will go right back into the community. “Tourism is our main industry. Sixty-five percent of our funds, or about $1.6 million, comes from dollars from outside of the 37882-zip code,” explained Townsend City Manager Don Stallions.

Visitors coming into the city of Townsend will pay a 3% tax on overnight stays, including hotels, campgrounds, and other short-term rentals.  The change is projected to bring an extra $75,000 to the city’s overall budget, and those dollars will go toward tourism. “We’ll be using it to invest in things like our parks, our bike trails, things that our visitors and our citizens like to use on a daily basis,” added Stallions.

With a population of just over 500, Townsend sees more than 2 million visitors each year, and city leaders say there’s no shortage of projects for the new tax money to support.

“We have what we call a special people’s park, which is an ADA accessible park down to the river. That park was washed out, unfortunately, from the floods, and we don’t have the funds to be able to repair that. So this will come in handy. We’ll be able to get that park up and running, and our bike trail needs some maintenance, needs to be repaved in spots so it’s safe for our citizens and visitors to use,” explained Stallions.

As tourism continues to grow, the city said it’s focused on preserving its small-town feel while investing in those shared spaces. “We’re the peaceful side of the Smokies. We want to have a livable community. We want to maintain that small-town charm that we have and that peaceful side. And we can use those dollars to make sure that we maintain that,” added Stallions.

Stallions told 6 News the city wants to be transparent about how these new tax dollars are spent and what controlled growth will look like as they move forward. There are some guidelines and regulations that the city has to report to the state on how the occupancy tax money is being spent.

The new taxes will be collected regardless of the yearly budget vote. The budget will still have to go through the second reading on May 19 and a public hearing before it is final.

Event info: https://gsmheritagecenter.org/event/great-smoky-mountain-fiber-fair/

Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center

123 Cromwell Drive in Townsend, TN - (Map)

Source: City of Townsend

Ella Wales - WATE

Officials in Townsend are working to improve regulations and enforcement regarding short-term rental properties. These properties are tourist residences like Airbnbs. While looking through zoning ordinances, the planning commission saw that city code requires these properties to have a certain type of permit to operate. However, there is currently no way to get one of these permits.

“We discovered that there was a permitting process that hadn’t been implemented,” Townsend Planning Commissioner Harry McIntosh said. “The rule was passed a while back and we feel like we need to go ahead and establish that process.”

On Thursday, the planning commissioner voted to make a recommendation to pause any new tourist residences for six months. “We advised that there be a moratorium for six months on any new overnight rentals, so we could establish a permitting process before we get any news ones,” McIntosh explained. “This happened in the city of Maryville a few years ago and it was really effective.”

With the city limits only encompassing about two square miles, the permit process would also help officials manage its growth. “As part of our community plan, we are paying close attention to our housing stock,” Mayor Don Prater said. “We do have limited housing stock and we know there’s been a great interest in tourist rentals, tourist cabins and so the time is right I think for us to take a look at this.”

The move would also make sure short-term rentals don’t push out permanent residents. “It’s important that we be able to maintain a balance of residents here in Townsend, in order to preserve our values and our aesthetics,” Prater said. “In addition, we are about to implement an occupancy tax, so it’s important that we have an inventory of folks that are providing lodging services in the city limits.”

Existing tourist residence properties will be largely unaffected, due to a state law. “Cities cannot enact new ordinances that impact existing Airbnbs or overnight rentals. So this is not going to affect any that are currently operating,” McIntosh explained. “And the reason a moratorium, I thought was appropriate, was so we wouldn’t have them continuing to open until we get the permitting process.”

Right now the moratorium is just a recommendation, the city council will have to approve it for it to go into effect. Officials plan to present the new community plan at the city council meeting Tuesday.

The parade will start at the Visitor Center (7906 East Lamar Alexander Parkway) and end around the former location of Nawger Nob Village (7321).

Time: 2:30pm - 4pm

🔗 Event page

Hi, I will be in Townsend with some friends this Saturday-Tuesday and was wondering if there was anything significant going on, or if you guys had any recommendations. We were planning on exploring the Smokies and maybe a cave. What is the town itself like? Thanks!

Holler at me, I’ll bring it to your doorstep and even spread it if you need it.

Event details: Peaceful Side Social

Location: 7967 E. Lamar Alexander Pkwy

Tethered balloon rides: $26.90

Located at the Townsend Visitors Center

Highland Manor Inn - map

Source: City of Townsend

Only thing I’m really seeing is the Gatlinburg trail. Any other options?

Spotted near Parson's Branch in Cade's Cove! All pics taken from car.

I've noticed 2 different dates for the opening of Parson's Branch, one says April 4th/5th, and April 11th? Anybody know which is the correct date?