National Park Service continues to follow impacts from Hurricane Helene
The National Park Service (NPS) will reopen US 441/Newfound Gap Road by 8 am tomorrow morning, Oct. 2, 2024, to allow for access between Tennessee and North Carolina communities.
Once US 441 reopens, all major roads, trails and facilities on the Tennessee side of the park will be open to visitors. Kuwohi Road (formerly Clingmans Dome Road) will also open tomorrow. While the park has assessed high-use areas and trails for hazard and downed trees, visitors should exercise extra caution as they hike and explore the park.
Several local communities including Sevier County, which includes Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville, as well as Cherokee in North Carolina, are fully open to those who can access them through safe routes.
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Tips from the National Park Service
Visitors should plan their trips to the area with the following in mind:
- Plan safe routes to the area in advance: Plan your route and check on the status of local communities before you visit.
- Recreate responsibly: Have a plan, know your limits, pack the 10 Essentials and avoid all water recreation. Know that emergency services are stretched thin, and response times may be delayed.
- Some park closures are still in place: Park areas including Cataloochee Valley, Big Creek, Balsam Mountain and Lakeview Drive are still closed. Oconaluftee and Kuwohi visitor centers are also closed. Check current park conditions before heading to an area of the park.
US 441/Newfound Gap Road has been closed following the storm due to limited park staffing (some park staff were impacted by the storm or are assisting with recovery) and limited resources including fuel, which the park had been reserving for emergency response.
With the coordination from the City Manager of Gatlinburg, and support from the NPS Eastern Incident Management Team (which is supporting Blue Ridge Parkway), the park received a needed fuel delivery to the Oconaluftee area today which is helping the park to reopen the road tomorrow.
Commercial vehicles are always prohibited on US 441/Newfound Gap Road and in all of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (with the exception of the Spur). While the NPS recognizes that major routes outside the park are currently closed, park roads are not structurally designed to sustain traffic from heavy vehicles. Commercial vehicles will be turned away.
What you should know before you go
If visitors choose to visit, they are asked to recreate responsibly. In other words, know your limits, avoid water recreation and know that emergency response times may be delayed. There is potential of downed trees and other hazardous trail conditions.
Visitors should also be mindful of closures and limited resources in some communities surrounding the park. Western North Carolina communities and Cocke County (Tennessee), in particular, experienced significant flooding and have downed trees, damaged powerlines and limited resources.
Facilities, roads that remain closed
The following remain closed as of Oct. 1:
- Newfound Gap Road/US 441 and Kuwohi Road (formerly Clingmans Dome Road) closed but planned to reopen on Oct. 2
- Balsam Mountain, Cataloochee, and Big Creek areas closed
- Foothills Parkway East closed
- Lakeview Drive closed
- Trail advisory (Several trails temporarily closed)
- Parson Branch Road
The park is supporting surrounding communities and staff severely impacted by the storm. Additional updates will be shared on the park website.
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