A group of tourists in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, resorted to smashing their own SUV's rear window with a large rock after a black bear got locked inside, the latest in a string of bear-in-vehicle incidents across the Southeast and Mountain West.
The scene, captured on video and reported by OutKick, unfolded sometime during the week before August 20. At least three people gathered around the SUV, where a black bear, believed to have entered the vehicle looking for food, had somehow become trapped when the door closed behind it. One man tried to pop a door open with what appeared to be a Slim Jim tool. When that failed, another man picked up a large rock and drove it through the rear window.
All three immediately ran. The bear crawled out through the shattered glass and disappeared. No injuries to the tourists or the animal were reported.
The Gatlinburg incident sits inside a broader pattern. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which borders Gatlinburg, is home to roughly 1,900 American black bears and draws about 12 million visitors a year. That combination, dense bear population, massive human traffic, and vehicles full of snacks, produces predictable results.
The National Park Service warns Smoky Mountains visitors to lock their vehicles and never leave food, garbage, or other scented items inside. Bears can open car doors with their paws or teeth, and once inside, they often cannot figure out how to get back out.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officer Travis Sauder, speaking to The Colorado Springs Gazette about a separate incident, described the mechanics plainly:
"Typically what happens is they pull the door open, get in, get their food, and then they leave. But sometimes the door closes behind them and they have trouble figuring out how to get out."
That explanation fits the Gatlinburg case almost exactly. The bear got in. The door shut. The keys were apparently locked inside with the animal. And the tourists were left standing outside their own vehicle, staring at a 200-plus-pound problem through the glass.
Not every trapped bear walks away. Earlier in August 2026, Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported that a black bear died after getting locked inside an unlocked vehicle in Colorado Springs. The bear had opened the door, climbed in, and become trapped when the door closed. It tore apart the vehicle's interior trying to escape. No one discovered the animal for several days. A similar incident in Sevierville, Tennessee ended the same way, a black bear entered an unlocked car attracted by food waste, became trapped, and died after nearly nine hours in extreme heat. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said interior temperatures likely exceeded 140 degrees Fahrenheit that day.
The Tennessee agency noted that bears have noses seven times more powerful than a bloodhound's. Empty soda cans, candy wrappers, fast food bags, and even air fresheners are enough to draw a bear to a vehicle.
On July 29, another bear got inside an unlocked vehicle in Manitou Springs, Colorado, and spent hours trapped, destroying much of the interior. Firefighters eventually freed that bear. Wildlife officials tried to relocate it, but the animal bolted into Pike National Forest before they could.
In every one of these cases, the sequence is identical. A vehicle is left unlocked or contains food. A bear opens the door. The door shuts. The bear panics and destroys the interior, or worse, dies inside.
The Gatlinburg tourists at least got lucky. Their bear escaped alive, and nobody was hurt. They lost a rear window. Others have lost entire vehicle interiors. In two cases, the bears lost their lives.
Twelve million people visit the Smokies every year. The Park Service posts the warnings. The bears keep showing up. And visitors keep leaving their doors unlocked and their fast food bags on the seat.
At some point, the question stops being why bears keep getting into cars and starts being why people keep making it so easy for them.
