At last friends I finally won the lottery!  Well not THE LOTTERY, and not me, but my daughter-in law, she was lucky enough to be selected in the Smoky Mountain National Park Synchronous Firefly Lottery! Holy Crap!  As Balki Bartokumous said, “We must do the dance of joy!”

What is the Synchronous Firefly lottery you ask?  Well let me tell you I had no idea this coveted lottery even existed until we started following Keep Your Daydream  and Less Junk More Journey on YouTube and one of them were talking about it, I don’t remember which one. 

According to Recreation.gov there are 19 species of fireflies, or lightning bugs, as us hoosiers call them, that live in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park and only one of a few to synchronize their flash patterns.  They do this to attract a mate for reproductive purposes.  Kind of like our wispy eyelashes and flashy lipstick ladies(insert wink here). 

There is an 8 day period usually in late May or early June that is designated the optimum viewing period for this display.  The park closes Little River and Jakes Creek Trailheads at night to all but foot traffic from the lucky folks that were drawn for a parking permit in the lottery or those lucky enough to select the right days to camp in Elkmont Campground.

This year, you had from April 26-29th to enter the lottery.  There is a $1.00 fee to enter, and you must select your desired viewing day and an alternate date.  The viewing dates were designated as June 3-10th this year.  As with every year I made ALL my kids enter, we have been doing this for 5 years and finally we got our day June 6th!

If you are selected you will get a congratulations email along with a $24.00 charge to the card on file.  If you are not selected, you also get a sorry you lost email.  In all, there are 1120 parking permits awarded in the 2 week period.  140 cars per day with a capacity of 7 people per car are allowed into the area.  ID’s are checked as you enter.  Gates open at 6 p.m. and there are no entries past 8:15.

If you have never been, be aware, you really don’t get much direction other than “Here are the driving directions.” and do not use any white light.  Bring a red light flashlight, and they will give you cell phone covers of red cellophane upon entrance.  We arrived before 6, they will not let you in early, and there is no reason to be here this early as the show does not really start until 9 or 10.

You will need to bring some chairs, snacks, and maybe a blanket.  Remember, you are walking in so you might want to bring one of those fold up wagons to help haul your stuff.  On the way in, don’t forget to stop at the creepy white van to grab some merch.  I got a glow in the dark shirt, keychain, and a sticker.  There are also award winning pit toilets.

You have free rein to decide where to set up your area.  We stayed along the main trail.  DON”T DO THIS.  There is a much better option.  You have to go in deep to the Troll Bridge.  Not to say we had a bad spot, we didn’t, but there was a far more superior spot that was steps away and we did not know it until later.

While waiting for the light show we explored a few spots off the beaten path, and checked out the creek.  I took some pictures of where we were but pictures do not do it justice.  Listening to the wind blow through the trees and water rush around us was mesmerizing by itself before the main event even started.

When twilight came, you could see a few fireflies.  It looked like home, the warm yellow glow across the fields and lawns of the hoosier state.  That is what it was at first, when there was just one or two.  It must have been a different species.  We are a house divided on the official light color.

When darkness hit, the kids had us walk with them back into the woods to where the Troll Bridge was located.  It was pitch black back there and I am amazed we did not fall on a log or another person, you could not see anything.  You could just hear nature all around.  The water, the trees, and God’s wonder.

Looking all around, I have never seen anything like it.  It was magical!  White lights all around in  360° views.  It reminded me of Christmas lights twinkling all around me.  I cannot describe this moment with words correctly, there are none.  I was taken by the work of God’s artwork, so much it actually brought tears to my eyes.

We all tried taking a picture, tried getting videos, but we just could not capture the moment.  It remains only in our memories, maybe if we get drawn again we will learn how to get it on film.  That will be my goal.  We were there for probably about 5-6 hours.  We left at about 10:30.  The fireflies were still going as they escorted us all the way down the trail to our car.

Even though I can cross this off my bucket list, I am going to continue to nag my kids to enter every year.  I want to go again.  If you have mobility issues, you can set up on the paved trail as well.  You don’t have to go 4 wheel driving by any means.  

Remember the excitement when you were a child when the lightning bugs, fireflies, or whatever you choose to call them came out.  Experience that wonder again.  Hopefully we will get to, and fingers crossed it will not take another 5 years to get our names drawn!