Road Conditions in Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Open and Closed Roads in the GSMNP

With more than 30 inches of snow recorded in some areas of the Great Smoky Mountains national park it will take some time before all the roads in the GSMNP will be open. Power outages and stranded motorists have strained local emergency services, which held up well to this record-breaking snowstorm in the Smokies.

While the Smokies can get snow often in the winter, it is often gone within hours or a most a few days. While local and backcountry roads can use salt to melt ice and snow, the national park service can only use sand. Runoff from salt would disturb the delicate chemical balance in the waterways of the Great Smoky Mountains national park so salting roads in the park is forbidden.

The main priority is to open Newfound Gap Road back up which with I-40 closed at the NC TN border due to a landslide, is even more urgent. It will take days before people can go directory from Gatlinburg To Cherokee NC without huge detours.

Open Roads in the in the Great Smoky Mountains national park:

• Little River Road TN


• Gatlinburg Bypass TN


• The Spur between Gatlinburg TN and Pigeon Forge TN


• Laurel Creek Road TN


• Cades Cove Loop Road TN


• Tremont Road is open to Upper Tremont Road


• Greenbrier Road is open to Ranger station


• Wears Cove Road TN


• Cherokee Orchard Road TN is open to the Twin Creeks Science Center

Closed Roads due snow and ice in the Great Smoky Mountains national park

• US 441 Newfound Gap Road between Cherokee NC + Gatlinburg TN


• Cataloochee Entrance Road NC


• Toms Branch Road NC


• Lake View Drive NC


• Foothills Parkway East TN


• Foothills Parkway West TN

Current Road Closures and Openings in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.