Road Closures in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Two needed road closure in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park planned to start next week may mean hikers will need to alter their plans and a shortcut to 321/Wears Valley Road will be inaccessible for more than 2 weeks.

Wears Gap Road Entrance to the Metcalf bottoms will be closed March 19th until April 5th due to work on bridge and the power line cutting off access to the Little Greenbrier School, as well as the Roundtop hiking trail and Little Brier Gap Trailhead.

During all day March 20th and 27th Tremont Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be closed for the delivery and installation of a new septic tank cutting off all access to the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont as well as the trailheads for West Prong Hiking Trail, Lumber Ridge Trail, and the Middle Prong Trailhead.

Outside of the park, there was another rockslide on 129 also called the Tail of the Dragon blocking all traffic near the Tennessee and North Carolina border. Department of transportation officials expect the road to be open some time late next week

Road Closure Information in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

2nd Rockslide in Days Closes Portion of Little River Road in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Great Smoky Mountains national park has been dealing with numerous rockslides within the park boundaries and 2 large large rockslides along the Spur connecting Gatlinburg with Pigeon Forge Tennessee. Today crews are inspecting another rockslide along the same section of Little River Road between Metcalf Bottoms and the Townsend Wye that was closed last week.

Presently there is no estimated time in which this section of Little River Road will be able to be reopened. Therefore car, motorcycle, van and light pickup truck traffic is being detoured in and out of the park at the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic area through Wears Gap and back in and out of the park for non commercial vehicles of all sizes at the Townsend Wye. Motor homes cannot cross the Metcalf Bottoms Bridge over the Little River and must take an alternate route of Wears Valley Road (321) when traveling between Pigeon Forge and Townsend.

Besides numerous weather related closures the Great Smoky Mountains national park has had to content with all winter, construction in Cades Cove, Clingmans Dome, Balsam Mountain Heintooga, Cherokee Orchard/Roaring Fork Motor Trail and Smokemont is severely limiting access to drivers and visitors of the park.

• Road conditions and closures in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Closed section of Foothills Parkway West will see some construction traffic for 6 weeks.

One of hidden secrets of the Great Smoky Mountains national park are the 2 incomplete sections of the Foothills Parkway off 321 which has some stunning vistas and hikers, bicyclists, horseback riders and even leased dogs are allowed.

Both of these long "trails" offer visitors a chance to explore nature for long distances with a gradual grade which is very accessible for those how may have problems with conventional hiking trails, want to avoid crowds or who are higher functioning persons with disabilities.

From November 12th through December 22nd on the far eastern side of the 9 mile section of the Foothills Parkway by Walland core drilling will be taking places so hiker and bikers need to be aware that this normally traffic free area will see some construction vehicles driving to and from the drilling sites.

I would suggest that anyone especially those who live in the area who has not hiked the incomplete sections of the Foothills Parkway does so before it is finished and open to vehicular traffic.

Related Smokies News Stories

• Foothills Parkway Construction begins in Wears Valley Closing Road to Hikers
• Unopened Section of Foothills Parkway Open to Motorists for Leaf Peeping

Foothills Parkway Construction begins in Wears Valley Tennessee and Closes Road to Hikers

One of the Great Smoky Mountains national parks best kept secret - the abandoned part of the Foothills Parkway in Wears Valley will be closed to hikers, bikers and horseback riders starting this Monday September 22nd so that construction which started in the 1970s can commence.

Though not a conventional hiking trail, this was one of the best places to hike in land area under the management of the national park service in the Smokies. This 5 mile asphalt road was virtual unused and provided excellent access without the hassle of traffic for handicapped persons, personals walking their dogs, riding bikes, riding horses or just taking in some of the most stunning overlooks accessible by walking on pavement.

After the first 15 minutes of walking into the abandoned area of the Foothills Parkway, traffic noise from Wears Valley Road (321) disappears and the sound of birds and rustling leaves in the wind is all that you can hear as you walk the 5 miles up the gentle incline.

Both sides of this section of the Foothills Parkway are lined by tall trees except for when you cross the bridges offering hikers spectacular views looking out into Wears Valley below and out to the towering mountain range in the Great Smoky mountains national park in the distance.

Well all good things must come to an end. Presently this part of the Foothills Parkway was supposed to run from Wears Valley to Walland and construction which started in the 70s had to stop as funding ran out.

In the mid 1980s funding was available so the Foothills Parkway construction began again, this time there was one project from Wears Valley west toward Walland and the other from Walland east to Wears Valley.

Less than 10 years later both projects had to be put on hold leaving a 1.6 mile "Missing Link" section uncompleted because of erosion problems and numerous slides.

Construction on the Foothills Parkway began again 1998 and by 2008 3 bridges spanning a total of 1,675 feet were completed on the Walland end of the "Missing Link".

Over the next 8 months the Hinkle Construction Corporation Inc. of Lexington Kentucky has been awarded a $3,783,268 contract with the Federal Highway Administration to construct 1,200 feet of new roadway which will run westward from the end of the partly-finished Parkway segment off US 321 in Wears Valley.

The Foothills Parkway construction contract calls for repairing damage to an overpass that carries the partly-completed Parkway over Happy Valley Road and the construction of a reinforced earth section of fill across a shallow ravine.

Officials from the Federal Highway Administration and the Great Smoky Mountains national park are expecting to be able to award a contract to construct another 1,800 feet of Parkway to extend east from the 3 new bridges on the Walland end of the "Missing Link" sometime in the fall of 2009.

Even though this section of the Foothills parkway is closed to recreational use, the other 9 mile-long section of partly finished Foothills Parkway from US 321 in Walland to the "Missing Link" will remain open.

Horseback riding stable in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park still open

People who want to ride a horse in the Great Smoky Mountains National park can still do so at the Smoky Mountain Stables located on 321 west of the city of Gatlinburg even though all the stables are normally closed this late in the season.

Until the end of the month for only $20 horseback riders can take advantage of the 1 hour guided horse back rides in the Great Smoky Mountains national park from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm 7 days a week. Excessive snow, ice or extreme cold can keep the stables from opening on a given day.

To find out more about renting a horse in the Smoky Mountains National Park check out the National Park horseback riding stables page and if the weather is questionable be sure to call (865) 436-5634 to confirm that the Smoky Mountain Stables will be open.