Cades Cove Loop Road and Greenbrier Road are closed. Other local roads flood due to high water

Cades Cove Loop Road and Greenbrier Road have both been closed today due to high water on numerous places from the past 30 hours of rain. Since close to 3 inches of rain has fallen in some areas creeks streams and rivers are spilling over their banks creating a mess for many on the Smoky Mountains.

There have been numerous traffic accidents in the Gatlinburg - Pigeon Forge - Sevierville area and a flood watch is in effect in Newport until 7 pm as the Pigeon River is expected to create flooding issues.

To make matters worse there is a wind advisory in effect today until 4 pm tomorrow so expect that trees will fall because of the saturated ground and high winds creating more power outages and telephone and internet service interruptions.

The Great Smoky Mountains national park is faring better than expected as other roads in the park have not been closed yet and though all the branches, creeks, streams and rivers are flooding they are yet to create any property or safety issues other than for those who will kayak or attempt to cross them in the dangerous state.

While it is possible that Cades Cove Loop Road may reopen today if the high waters recede, it is doubtful that Hyatt Lane, Sparks Lane, Forge Creek Road and Parsons Branch Road will open right away as vehicles driving over these gravel roads when they are saturated do serious damage to the roadway.

Greenbrier Road is closed right now and may reopen today, but the section of roadway to the Ramsey Cascades parking area will take at least a day before the water recedes enough for it to reopen.

Controlled burns to take place in Cades Cove section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Cades Cove in the north western section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park will be ground zero for 3 planned controlled burns this week performed by national park service firefighters as a cost effective method to keep the historic fields in the valley from becoming a forest.

Prescribed burns in Cades Cove generally take place in March but due to the Cades Cove Loop Road repaving next year which will close the road, prescribed burns will take place if weather conditions permit today through Friday.

Today the park plans on burning several tracts of land in the Cades Cove Valley west of Hyatt Lane close to where prescribed burns took place this spring. Before setting the larger blaze containment areas have been set by mowing the grass around where the burn is to take place.

If all goes well tomorrow through Friday the next set of controlled wildfires in the Great Smoky Mountains national park will take place in fields between Parks and Hyatt Lane.

While these burns should not effect traffic along the Cades Cove Loop Road it is possible to road will be closed for safety reasons. It is also possible either Hyatt Lane or Sparks Lane will be also closed in the next 3 days but more than likely the only effect the prescribed wild fire will have on visitors in Cades Cove is the sight and smell of smoke.

The Great Smoky Mountains national park has about 950 acres of fields in the Cove visible from Cades Cove Loop Road mowed a year and another 1,000 acres that are less visible are kept from being claimed by forest burned or mowed on a 3 year rotation.

Greenbrier section still closed but Cades Cove reopens as Great Smoky Mountains National park cleans up from flooding and storm damage

While the storm that drenched the Smoky Mountains was not packing much of a punch dropping from 2 to just less than 3 inches of rain in the past 24 hours in areas of the park, the saturated ground and rain swollen rivers could not handle any more and minor flooding was widespread in areas in and around the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

The Little Pigeon River created the most damage in the Great Smoky Mountains national park as it washed out an area of roadway along Greenbrier Road near the bridge to Ramsey Cascades where Middle Prong runs into the Little Pigeon River.

The video below shows the Little Pigeon River following over its bank and it effects were felt far downstream in the residential areas some of which had minor evacuations.

The Little River which flows out of Elkmont was rising quickly promoting an evacuation of the Elkmont Campgrounds in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and further downstream created problems for campgrounds outside the park and resident in Townsend and Walland. The Campground has been deemed safe and was just reopened.

In Cades Cove Sparks Lane which notoriously gets flooded was closed first followed by Hyatt Land and then the entire 11 miles of the Cades Cove Loop were closed as water stared building up in the back end. Cades Cove Loop has just reopened but Sparks Lane, Hyatt lane and Rich Mountain Road will remain closed until they dry out so that passing vehicles will not damage the road surface.

The Chimneys Picnic Area was also closed last night as rising waters from the Little Pigeon River started to flow over the banks.

Crews will be working today in the park surveying and cleaning what appears to be minor damage. Hikers should report any large downed trees or washout in back country but expect to have to climb over under or around obstructions in the trails for at least a few days.

Based upon the extent of the damage on Greenbrier Road reported to me by eyewitness yesterday don't expect Greenbrier to be open past the Ranger station for at least a day or 2. Hopefully while they have dump trucks in the area they will fix some of the preexisting immense holes in the road surface right now.

Sparks Lane in Cades Cove Tennessee will remain closed for most of Leaf Season

Sparks Lane the first gravel road bisecting Cades Cove in the north western Tennessee section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is going to remain closed to all vehicles, cyclists and hikers until the construction is completed proected now as October 25th.

The construction project on Sparks Lane will improve drainage and allow fish to traverse up and down 2 of the streams which the road crosses. Unfortunately the delay in the delivery of these 2 large concrete culverts need for this project has delayed the whole project.

While Sparks Lanes closure does not make a major impact on traffic in the Cades Cove Loop it does limit a quick access through the lower section for people looking to exit the Cades Cove Loop early or to drive or ride again on the back end of the loop without leaving the Cove.

More information about the Sparks Lane constriction project in Cades Cove.

Temporary closure of Sparks Lane in Cades Cove will not affect Cades Cove Loop traffic.

The Cades Cove 11 mile Loop Road that circles the valley floor of Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains national park sees more than a million drivers a year who get to enjoy beautiful vistas, numerous wildlife and historic buildings with peak traffic occurring in the months of September, October and November.

The 11 mile Cades Cove Loop Road is a single lane paved road which only allows 1 way traffic, but has 2 gravel roads bisecting the loop: Sparks Lane and Hyatt Lane one of which Spark Lane which will be closed on September 2nd and if all goes well reopened on October 8th. During the time the road is closed to construction, hikers and bikers are prohibited from entering the road.

The road is being closed to allowed replacement of existing concrete enclosed steel culverts to larger capacity concrete box culverts to carry the flow of both Rowans Branch and Cooper Branch underneath Sparks Lane.

The larger capacity culverts being installed in Spark Lanes will reduce washouts from large rainstorms and runoffs as well as allowing fish in both the Cooper Branch and Rowans Branch to more easily move up and down the creeks.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has given a $50,000 grant toward the $194,400 project since this construction project in the Great Smoky Mountains national park will benefit the habit of the fish located in Cades Cove.

Sparks Lane commonly sees only a few dozen cars an hour during peak times using to road to either cut their trip around the Cades Cove Loop shorter or to double back to do the back end of the Cades Cove Loop again.

Cades Cove partially closed to cars, Hikers and Bikers

The tremendously popular Cades Cove 11 mile loop in the Great Smoky Mountains national park will be partially closed from April 28th until May 1st until 10:00 am each day to drives, Cades Cove bikers and hikers while construction will take place.

The national park service will be undertaking 3 projects at the same time, repairing the drainage as well as resurfacing the road at the Abrams Creek Trail at the far end of Cades Cove as well as working on the bridge that crosses Abrams Creek.

Both Sparks Lane and Hyatt Lane will also be closed during this construction period and will reopen at around 10:00 am.

This is not yet the project we are all waiting for - a complete repair and resurfacing of the entire Cades Cove 11 mile loop which is badly in need of repair.

This winter we observed surveyors already measuring the Cades Cove 11 mile loop as well as checking drainage areas. I was advised this week that repairs are expected to get underway next year to the entire road surface.

Next weeks closures will allow only hikers and bikers to hike and bike back and forth on a 5-mile portion of the road between the Cades Cove Loop Road entrance and the construction site.

Hikers will not be allowed past the bridge or on the south end of the loop road so that they will not hinder large construction vehicles or slow down work due to safety concerns.

Weather related road closures in the Great Smoky Mountains national park

The national park service still has roads closed in the Great Smoky Mountains national park due to winter conditions some of which will take days to reopen.

While most roads in the Smoky Mountains are open in North Carolina, Newfound Gap Road (US 441) which connects Cherokee NC to Gatlinburg TN is now closed to all traffic.

The following roads are also closed in the national park: The Roaring Fork Nature trail in Gatlinburg, and in the Cades Cove area the following unimproved roads are closed Parsons Branch Road, Forge Creek Road and Sparks Lane.

Cold weather is predicted to continue throughout the day in the Smoky Mountains - it's snowing now in areas in Bryson City North Carolina, it may take until tomorrow warming weather for some roads to be opened back up. For roads such as Forge Creek which is closed due to muddy conditions it may take a few days until all roads will be reopened.

The national park service is advising drivers that the Spur connecting Pigeon Forge with Gatlinburg Tennessee still has active ongoing construction and that drivers must obey posted speed limits as there have been numerous accidents in the construction zones.

Sparks Lane and Forge Creek Road in Cades Cove Remain Closed

Due to muddy conditions both Sparks Lane and Forge Creek Road remain closed in the Cades Cove area the of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

In the winter months 3 unimproved roads normally remain open in Cades Cove, Sparks Lane, Hyatt Lane and Forge Creek Road while the 2 roads that lead out of the national park Rich Mountain Road and Parsons Branch Road close for the winter.

Forge Creek Road can be found by the Cades Cove Visitor Center and takes visitors to one of the Gregory Bald trailheads, Parsons Branch Road and passes by one of the finest examples of transitional architecture: The Henry Whitehead Place.

Sparks Lane is the first bypass shortcut for drivers, bikers and hikers who take the 11 mile Cades Cove Loop Road. While Sparks Lane remains closed, if you do not wish to take the whole tour your first opportunity to exit the loop will be Hyatt Lane which remains open at this time.

Dues to today's damp weather Cades Cove and tonight's and tomorrows predicted participation, don't expect either road to be open shortly. Forge Creek Road has been closed for what seems like most of the winter season this year due to poor road conditions.