Cades Cove Loop Road reopens, some other Great Smoky Mountains national park roads still closed

Little River Road in the Great Smoky Mountains national park between the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic area and the Townsend Wye remains closed today as park rangers attempt to find the body of a woman who drowned yesterday by jumping into the flooded Little River and refused to be rescued.

Cades Cove Loop Road which was closed yesterday due to flooding at numerous points is now open t all traffic, bicycles and pedestrians. Flooding and wind damage has kept 2 of the other major roads in Cades Cove closed: Rich Mountain Road and Parson Branch Road. No reopening date is anticipated yet.

In the south end of the Great Smoky Mountains national park in the Balsam Mountain area Heintooga Road is also closed due to storm damage with no reopen date.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Opens Roads Closed for Winter

Spring is around the corner and the Great Smoky Mountains national park has just opened most of the roads that were closed for the winter. If winter conditions occur this roads may temporarily close again.

The only remaining roads in the GSMNP that are still closed are:

• Balsam Mountain in Balsam Mountain area of North Carolina Closed October 31st, 2008 will reopen May 8th 2009
   
• Clingmans Dome Road off Newfound Gap Road in North Carolina closed November 30th, 2008 will reopen in April 1st 2009
   
• Heintooga Ridge Road in Balsam Mountain area of North Carolina closed October 31st, 2008 will reopen May 8th 2009
   
• Parson Branch Road in Cades Cove area of Tennessee closed November 16th, 2008 will reopen in Late Spring 2009

Parson Branch was excepted to be open today but due to extensive damage form winter storms will remain closed until some time late spring or early summer.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Closes Forge Creek Road for Winter

The national park service has decided to close Forge Creek Road for the winter until mid-March. This dirt and Gravel road is badly in need of repairs and is located in the back end of the Cades Cove Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains national park near the Cades Cove visitor center.

As you can see by the picture above this road has deep holes and ruts that fill with water and recent heavy rains has saturated this road connecting the Cades Cove Loop Road to the Gregory Bald Trail Head and Parson Branch Road which is also closed for the winter.

While Alan Sumeriski Park Facility Management Chief stated that "Normally this gravel road opens and closes throughout the winter as snow and other weather conditions permit, but recent heavy rains have left the road so saturated and spongy that allowing traffic on it now would necessitate extensive repairs come spring." It's fairly obvious to anyone driving or hiking on this road it can already use extensive repairs.

The closure of Forge Creek Road will not affect any traffic going around the Cades Cove Loop and it will give hikers the opportunity for a quiet level walk in the park with a good change of seeing the coyote that hand out on this road near the Henry Whitehead Place.

Cades Cove Paving Options for 2010 presented by the Great Smoky Mountains national park

Long awaited and far overdue it looks like Cades Cove is finally going to get a total overhaul of the 11 mile long Cades Cove Loop Road in early 2010.

The last time this tremendously popular road in the Great Smoky Mountains national park was paved was in 1978 and it has long needed significant repairs for more than 10 years.

First of all this single lane road will not be widened and will continue to have its 11 foot width throughout the entire Cades Cove Loop. There are however discussions to consider to have as many as 12 paved pull offs.

The main goal of this paving project is to completely replace the existing roadway since its past the point of repair. In order to do this the contractor must break up the existing road, grind it up, and mix in new concrete creating a new base and then install a new asphalt road surface.

Presently without proper drainage to lead water away from seeping under the road surface, water that does get under the road during the winter is freezing and thawing accelerating the breaking up the roadway.

Besides age and heavy use, the Cades Cove Loop Road is in such as sad state because of this lack of drainage along the roadside which is going to be added during this massive construction project.

What the national park service has proposed in it pubic meeting at the Heritage Center which was attended 2 dozen people, are 4 options for closing and allowing access to visitors in Cades Cove during the road construction process.

Basically the plans range from a complete closure of the Cades Cove Loop Road from April of 2010 to the end of May affecting approximately 250,000 visitors, to closing the road in 2 or more sections which can affect as many as 500,000 visitors and will take far longer.

Beside major traffic hassles and safety issues if the road is closed in sections, it will affect far more visitors and create a far more environmentally detrimental carbon footprint due to longer constriction time and gas used to navigate the tremendous detours that can add as much as 40 miles to this 11 mile auto tour!

If Cades Cove Loop Road is closed in sections, the park service is proposing under some options to send exiting traffic out Parson Branch Road which is an unpaved and dumping drivers onto the dangerous Tail of the Dragon 30 miles out of the way with no facilities, gas or cell phone service.

Extending the Cades Cove construction project with partial closures will also tack on higher costs onto the whole project with increased construction costs, signage costs, more lost business for gateway towns, more lost business to the Cades Cove concessions and a huge cost and manpower issue of traffic management.

The park did a great job working on alternatives and presenting them, but for economic, safety, ecological and negative visitor impact, closing Cades Cove Road and repaving in one shot is the best option.

If Cades Cove Lop Road is closed completely during the repaving project, with the monies saved over the other options the National Park Service may be able to afford paying to have work done 7 days a week and or at night as well which would speed up the whole process.

Parson Branch Road in Cades Cove already shows wear and tear

Parson Branch Road in the back end of Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was closed for years due to storm damage requiring the national park service to have a major overhaul done to the unimproved road which ends up on US 129.

While major work was done to this dirt and gravel road, there are already some serious pot holes and ruts that can do serious damage to a cars front end or make a car or motorcycle lose control if hit wrong. Most of the new damage to Parson Branch is in the upward grade and just after bridges and stream crossings.

Parson Branch Road is still a great way to see the Smokies up close without having to leave the car and allows you access to 2 trailheads of the Great Smoky Mountains national parks more quiet and secluded hiking trails - Gregory Bald Trail and the Hannah Mountain Trail.

Bikers - the motorcycle riding type in the Smoky Mountains - love Parson Branch road because it takes you out to the tail of the dragon - a road where high performance cars and motorcycle riders love the numerous hairpin turns and push their vehicles and driving skills to the edge.

Unfortunately many thrill seekers have been injured or lost their lives doing this and as a result traffic speed limits enforcement has developed a no tolerance for speeding and regularly cruise this stretch cracking down on anyone breaking the limit even if it is only a few miles over the posted speed.

By all means, take Parson Branch Road out of Cades Cove when you have the time - especially in Rhododendron season - but take it easy!