Government Shutdown and How the Closure Is Effecting the Great Smoky Mountains Day 14.

If you are coming to see the fall leaf season in the Great Smoky Mountains and expecting a ghost town because national parks in Tennessee and North Carolina remain closed because of the government shutdown, you are in for a surprise.

Fall Color this weekend in the Smoky Mountains

Fall color is just starting to peak higher up in the mountains and the main tourist areas of Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and Sevierville were packed this weekend and are still busier than a normal fall leaf season. Some other areas which are more park dependent such as Townsend Tennessee and Cherokee N Carolina are feeling the brunt of the closures.

Cabin rental companies, hotels and campgrounds outside the park are busier than ever and so are most of the restaurants as the majority of those cancelling their trips where those who were going to camp in the national park which is forbidden during the government closure.

Concessionaires such as the Horseback Riding Stables in the national park have taken a huge hit. Trail guides, stable hands and cashiers in many cases barley make enough to take them paycheck to paycheck which they now have not seen for more than a week. Rumors claimed stables may reopen yesterday, but this is not the case so far.

Also hard hit is the Great Smoky Mountains Association that runs the bookstores/gift shops in the Visitor Centers which are all now closed in the park. They turn all the proceeds they make back into the park. Besides losing sales, they have been the target of costly vandalism.

Other businesses dramatically affected are guide companies that take hikers, tourists and anglers in the park as well photographers and persons performing weddings within the park boundary. Fortunately for many of these companies they can convince so of their clients to takes more expensive further trips away, but not all customers are willing or can handle the additional expense.

One of the well known and established businesses that have really felt the pinch is the Hike Inn which provides accommodations and services for hikers on the Appalachian Trail on the North Carolina Side along with shuttle services to the Slick Rock Wilderness Area, Nantahala National Forest, Cherokee National Forest, the Benton Mackaye Trail and the Bartram trail.

With all the hiking trails in the Great Smoky Mountains national park officially closed, most of the overnight hikers are gone. For hikers looking to remain legal and bypass the park during the closure, the Hike Inn will pick you up at Davenport Gap and take you to where the trail begins again outside the park in Fontana or the other way around.

Another small business that has ground to a halt during the shutdown is Cataloochee Valley Tours run by Esther Blakely whose well trained and seasoned knowledge of the elk reintroduction program in the Great Smoky Mountains national park make her the best possible tour guide in the area.

Since the park is now closed when the majority of the heavy elk rut activity occurs which is also the fall leaf season, none of the elk tours in the park can be conducted. Elk activity outside the GSMNP which does occur, is not dependable enough to conduct tours, so sadly is Cataloochee Valley Tours and its customers must wait this closure out as best they can.

As it stands right now, offers to staff part of the Great Smoky Mountains national park with Blount County public safety employees has been turned down by the park service and the states of Tennessee and North Carolina have not worked out an agreement to fund the park with state monies such as what was done in parks in Colorado and Utah.

During Saturday morning, around 100 people at its peak peacefully demonstrated by the National Park entrance sign near Gatlinburg Tennessee to reopen this national park. During the entire demonstration the park service kept a very low profile with rangers observing the demonstration from a distance in their SUV.

Who and what they were trying to convince with this demonstration was still not clear after talking to demonstrators who did not understand the full complexity and legality of a government shutdown, what and how services are decided to be closed and by whom, and what it will take to reopen facilities in the national park.

The demonstration would have been most effective if it was in North Carolina and directed at people who can authorize the spending of state funds with the state of Tennessee to reopen the park.

The park as of this moment still remains closed to all cars, hiking, horseback riding and biking, other than on the 3 open park roads: Newfound Gap Road, The Gatlinburg Bypass and the Spur.

Most parking areas for hiking trails remain blockaded along newfound Gap Road and contrary to what many are claiming, hiking is the park is not allowed. Most scenic pullouts along Newfound Gap Road remain open at this time as well as the Newfound Gap Parking area and the Newfound Gap parking area bathrooms.

As long as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park remains closed due to the government shutdown, the picnic areas, visitor centers, campground and campsites all remain closed. Other buildings and structure in the park such as bathrooms and historic buildings also remain closed as well.

Right next to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the Blue Ridge Parkway which is now open for the entire length all the way to Virginia. Blue Ridge Parkways Visitor Centers, Bathrooms and picnic areas along the Blue Ridge Parkway remain closed; however the Pisgah In and Restaurant and the Folk Art Center near Asheville are both upon again to the public.

None of the hiking trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway are blocked off at this timer and many of them such as Graveyard Fields which is in full fall color peak right now, are quite busy.

The good news is that not only are these trials not blocked off, they are not officially listed as closed by the National Park Service is a press release on 10/01 by Chief Ranger Stinnett of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

There are still lots to see and do in the Smokies even though the park is closed and if you are looking to do something different and be a help to the local economy which is feeling the most from this shutdown, visit Cherokee North Carolina.

Related Government GSMNP and BRP Closure Articles:

Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Reopen Tomorrow at 12 Noon. - Posted 10-15-13

Great Smoky Mountains National Park May Reopen Tomorrow – Maybe - Posted 10-15-13

Government Shutdown Affecting Great Smoky Mountains National Park Day 14 - Posted 10-14-13

How Government Shutdown is Affecting Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Posted 10-08-13

Update to Government Closure of Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Posted 10-05-13

Shutdown Info Great Smoky Mountains and Blue Ridge Parkway - Posted 10-03-13

Government Shutdown: Road + Facility Closures Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Posted 10-01-13

Appalachian Bear Rescue Hosts 2010 Black Bear Expo at the Townsend Tennessee Visitor Center

With all the interest this year about black bears in the Smokies, the 2010 Black Bear Expo taking place Saturday June 26th from 9 am - 5 pm at the Townsend Visitor Center will be a big hit with locals and tourists alike.

You cannot think about the Great Smoky Mountains without thinking about our beloved local black bears. What you may not think about, is the almost 15 years of hard work that the nonprofit group Appalachian Bear Rescue does to help injured and orphaned black bear cubs by giving them a safe place to live and grow until they can be returned to the wild.

The great folks at Appalachian Bear Rescue are hosting a black bear expo this weekend that everyone young or old can enjoy and at the same time learn how to life safely in and around black bear habitats. Black bear management is actually people management, and this expo will give you and the family the knowledge it takes to keep our bear and your family safe, all the way enjoying music, storytelling and so much more.

The musical entertainment you can enjoy at the black bear expo will be multi-talented Appalachian musician Tony Thomas and Pistol Creek Catch of the Day. Be sure to also join in on the fun activities and take in the informative displays of black bear.

You will also learn how to set up a safe campsite and photograph black bears along with other animals in the wild. 20 people who sign in ahead of time will have to opportunity to take a guided hike to an inactive black bear den. To sign up for the hike, call (828) 524-9904.

One of the other highlights of the bear expo will be the exciting and incredibly entertaining stories given by Retired park rangers Dwight McCarter and Joe Kelley. There will also be hands on demonstrations by wildlife officers.

Besides food and soft drinks that will be available, a chainsaw carver will be on hand, and you can even purchase black bear items.

So come on out to Townsend Tennessee this Saturday June 26th and support the Appalachian Bear Rescue who in 2009 took in 23 black bear cubs - that's more than twice what they handled in 2008!

Want to find out how you can help? Contact Kathy or Anne by phone at (828) 524-9904 or email at wildscove@hughes.net. Appalachian Bear Rescue is also on Facebook and they have an Appalachian Bear Rescue Blog.

Appalachian Bear Rescue
PO Box 364
Townsend, Tennessee 37882

Additional Road Closings in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Due to Snow and Ice.

Old 284 which connect Big Creek with Cataloochee in the Great Smoky Mountains national park has just been added to the growing list of road closures from today's storm which is expect to dump snow until around 1 pm today.

The following GSMNP roads are now closed:

• Cataloochee Entrance Road by Maggie Valley NC


• Cherokee Orchard Road in the Roaring Fork Gatlinburg TN area


• Foothills Parkway East Cosby TN to I-40


• Little River Road from Gatlinburg TN to Townsend TN


• Old 284 Between Big Creek NC and Cataloochee NC


• Newfound Gap Road Gatlinburg TN to Cherokee NC (US 441)


• Wears Gap Road between Wears Valley TN and Metcalf Bottoms

Temperatures expected to remain at or below freezing for the remainder of the day and into the teens tonight so the snow and ice will stick around until at least tomorrow.

Little River Road in Great Smoky Mountains National Park remains partially closed until Tuesday

Try as they might the crews from the Great Smoky Mountains national park along with the help of Pigeon Forge construction company Blalock & Sons Inc will not be able to one the section of the Little River Closed by last week’s rock slides.

It is now looking like with all of the additional lose material that needs to stabilized and removed from the roadway the stretch of Little River road between the Elkmont campgrounds and the Metcalf Bottoms picnic area will not be open until sometime late Tuesday the earliest.

Anyone trying to get to Cades Cove or Townsend from either Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge will need to take Wears Valley Road (US 321) at traffic light 3 in Pigeon Forge.

2nd Rock Slide in the Great Smoky Mountains national park will keep major road closed far longer

What in the Great Smoky Mountains national park as a simple clean up after a minor rock slide on Little River Road which connects Gatlinburg Tennessee with Cades Cove and Townsend Tennessee turned into a major project as a second landslide has left tons of debris precariously clinging to a cliff side which will take days to clean up.

About 30 truckloads of rock, lose soil and organic debris will need to be removed and carted away keep the stretch of Little Road between Elkmont and the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic area closed all weekend long and will probably not open now until at least Monday.

As seen in the animation above there is crumbly rock on the bluff that will fall on top the Little River roadway if left alone so the park service is using heavy equipment to remove any lose rock and material which will then have to be carted away.

No injurious, damage to vehicles, structures or park equipment has been reported at this time.

Rock Slide Closes Great Smoky Mountains National Parks Little River Road

A busy section of one the Great Smoky Mountains National Parks main thoroughfares will have a section closed for the next few hours between The Elkmont Campgrounds and the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area due to the cleanup in progress of a rock slide.

Visitors coming from Gatlinburg wishing to go to Cades Cove need to take the Gatlinburg Bypass or the Spur to get to Pigeon Forge.

From Pigeon Forge drivers must take 321 (Wears Valley Road) all the way to Townsend or if they choose enter the park through the back entrance on Wears Cove Road where they can take Little Rover Road all the way to the Townsend Wye.

Campers in the Elkmont campgrounds wanting to go to Cades Cove must go back towards Gatlinburg in order to take the detour around the rock slide on Little River Road.

Little River Road will be open for sure by the mid to late afternoon. We will announce and changes on the cleanup status of the rock slide in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Major roads in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park closed due to ice and snow.

Yesterday's picturesque snow is wreaking havoc on all of the roads in the Great Smoky Mountains national park causing the national park service to close most major roads in and around the GSMNP.

The 3 major arteries running through the park: Newfound Gap Road US 441 connecting Cherokee North Carolina with Gatlinburg Tennessee, Laurel Creek Road connecting the Townsend Wye with Cades Cove and Little River Road connecting the Gatlinburg/Sugarlands area with the Townsend Wye are all closed due to dangerous ice and snow.

Entrance roads to some sections of the Great Smoky Mountains national park are also closed due to ice and snow: Wears Cove Road, Cherokee Orchard Road in Roaring Fork outside Gatlinburg, Greenbrier entrance road by Pittman center, the Cosby entrance road and the Cataloochee entrance road.

Road conditions around the Great Smoky Mountains national park are also treacherous so the following roads are also closed due to ice and snow: Old route 284 from Deep Creek to Cataloochee NC, the Foothills Parkway East from I-40 to 321 Cosby, and the Gatlinburg Bypass section of the Spur - Foothills Parkway.

Air quality issues plague the Great Smoky Mountains region and the GSMNP

The past week air quality issues caused health warnings in the Great Smoky Mountains region and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park due to elevated ozone levels.

The air pollution levels were so high in the Smokies, that it I was concerned for my own health and was unable to hike my normal 10 -15 miles a day in the GSMNP for 2 days in the past week. Even though I am extremely healthy, I did not want to exert myself and excessively expose my lungs to the irritating and damaging effect of the ozone.

The cart below shows actual readings taken from within the Great Smoky Mountains national park near the Cades Cove, Townsend and Maryville area at the Look Rock weather observatory.

Click on the chart above to see a full size image.

The photo below was taken on Sunday at the Hemphill Bald in the Cataloochee section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park near Maggie Valley North Carolina. You can see the excessive unhealthy haze created by the air pollution that not only causes poor visibility, but is a health risk especially to the young, old or unhealthy.

Not only is the ozone level in the Great Smoky Mountains increased due to the coal burning power plants, the sulfur dioxide pouring into the atmosphere is also acidifying the Great Smoky Mountains. The acid rain is affecting the plants and animals that inhabit the Great Smoky Mountains national park and it slowing killing the fish and other amphibians in the higher elevations and working it way down to the valleys.

As we will come to depend more and more on electricity for power, the level of dangerous pollutants in the air will increase further damaging the delicate balance in one the world's most important biosphere: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park unless drastic measures are taken.

That smoke coming from Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains Park is meant to be!

It looks as though the weather will hold up for today's prescribed burn in the NW corner of Cades Cove in the Tennessee section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Because of this controlled burn expecting to encompass 1,800 acres, the national park service is going to close several hiking trails for at least a few days to make sure that after the burn is complete snags (trees and branches hug up in other trees and branches) and hot spots (areas that might reignite again) will no longer endanger hikers.

Smoke from the fire in Cades Cove will affect the Cades Cove Valley as well as being visible from Townsend, US129, Walland and Happy Valley. I personally suggest that today is not the day to take a hike or tour in Cades Cove as I put off my hiking trip to the Cades Cove until this Sunday.

The prescribed burn has been ordered by the national park service to burn down some of the dead brush so that any wildfires which may occur will not be as unmanageable as well as allowing yellow pine trees to flourish which would naturally benefit from wild fires.

The fire will be set by and managed by between 25 to 30 firefighters using drip torches to ignite the dead brush and trees. The boundaries of where the fire is meant to be contained will be along the following hiking trails and creek beds:
Southern boundary: Cooper Road Trail
Western boundary: Beard Cane Trail
Northern and Eastern sides: Hesse Creek/Bark Camp

The following hiking areas and backcountry campsites will be closed until advised:

• Cooper Road Trail from the junction with Wet Bottom Trail
• Cooper Road Trail to the junction with Ace Gap Trail
• Cooper Road Trail to the junction Cane Creek Trail
• Hatcher Mountain Trail from the junction with Cooper Road Trail to the junction with Little Bottoms Trail
• Beard Cane Trail from the junction
• Ace Gap Trail from Beard Cane Trail junction to backcountry campsite 7
• Backcountry Campsite 3
• Backcountry Campsite 11

Most roads closed in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park due to winter storm

Old man winter blew in hard and with high elevations in the Great Smoky Mountains National park measuring as mush as 17 inches of new snow accumulation the major roads in the national park are all closed including Newfound Gap Road (us 441) a major through road connecting Cherokee North Carolina and Gatlinburg Tennessee.

The following roads are closed due to snow and ice the Great Smoky Mountains National Park:

• Newfound Gap Road (US 441) TN to NC
• Foothills Parkway East in Cocke County Cosby / Newport area
• Foothills Parkway West in Blount County west of Townsend
• Gatlinburg Bypass in TN
• Little River Road in TN
• Laurel Creek Road in TN west of the Tremont Road Junction
• Cades Cove Loop Road in TN
• Greenbrier Road TN
• Cataloochee Entrance Road NC
• Old Route 284 (Big Creek to Cataloochee)

Even though there was a minor accident on the spur connecting Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg Tennessee as of now the road remains open. Driver who wish to use the Spur are cautioned that there are still slushy spots even though the road has been heavily salted and drivers should use extreme caution.

Best advice when there is accumulation on the roads is to only drive when absolutely necessary.

West of Cades Cove Prescribed Burn in National Park will cause trail and parking area closings

The Smoke you will be seeing tomorrow in Cades Cove, Townsend, Happy Valley, Walland and Highway 129 will be from 30 firefighters who will employ both ground and aerial ignition methods to ignite and manage a burn within an established fire containment line in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Of course the Smokies weather conditions must be right in order for the park service to ignite and careful burn approximately 1,500 acres of forest west of the Cades Cove Loop Road in Blount County in Stony Ridge and Arbutus Ridge Tennessee.

Due to being crowded out by oak trees and other hardwoods as well as southern pine beetle infestations, yellow pine trees which were the predominate species in Stony Ridge and Arbutus Ridge have been steadily on the decline. By carefully burning some of these areas of the park, openings in the tree canopy will allow more sunlight encouraging pine tree growth.

Expect closures and smoke to affect the following trails and parking areas:

• Rabbit Creek Trail
• Abrams Falls Trail
• Abrams Falls parking area
• Cooper Road Trail
• Wet Bottom Trail
• Elijah Oliver Place Trail

While parts of some of these trails will remain open we strongly urge you to avoid them entirely until the weekend as it may take a few days to be sure that any rouge hot spots as well as any dead snags that can effect hikers on the trails have been taken car of.

The Smoky Mountains National Park grows in popularity but is that a good thing?

The figures are in. America's most popular national park the Great Smoky Mountains National Park continues to grow in popularity with 9,416,734 visitors in 2006 - a 2% increase over 2005 but is this good news for the most loved national park?

This is the largest increase in visitors to the GSMNP in 5 years. Even higher gas prices didn't drive away tourists and locals from coming. Even the off season months are seeing huge gains some of which have broken previous national park visitor records but summer peak season was off compared to previous years. Leaf season which runs from September to November picked up the slack for the lower summer visitation numbers.

Camping within the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is also on the increase with approximately 351,000 campers staying in both the frontcountry and backcountry areas of the National Park. Backcountry camping has seen only a negligible increase of a few hundred campers and frontcountry camping has seen an increase of almost 2 percent increase of approximately 6,000 additional visitors.

Visitation increases in 2006 to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park did not increase evenly across all of the park entrances. Where the Gatlinburg TN entrance to the park has seen almost flat increases visitation figures, outlying areas such as Cosby TN, Big Creek TN, Cataloochee NC and the like have seen visitor increases of 5%.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park Visitation by Park Entrance for 2006
Outlying Areas (TN and NC)	2,211,186	+ 5%
Townsend Tennessee	1,482,059	+ 3%
Cherokee N Carolina	2,321,471	+ 2%
Gatlinburg Tennessee	3,402,018	< +1%
Total	9,416,734	+ 2%

So what does all mean to the park, the visitors and outlying businesses in and around the Smoky Mountains?

The park is already stressed. The entire park staff and volunteers are doing an exceptional job with extremely limited resources which are already stretched to the breaking point.

Some of the roads, facilities and trails are badly in need of repair and show signs of overuse or abuse. Where 1 person carelessly tossing a tissue on a trail is bad, dozen or hundreds dropping even small pieces of litter or even organic matter such as apple cores or orange peels in quite another thing.

Walking or hiking off of designated trails is not illegal, but can do serious damage to environmentally sensitive areas. One person who is careful may not do significant damage but again, in numbers many people wondering around off of designated hiking trails can do serious damage to plants as well as the habitats of sensitive insects, aquatic life and animals.

What goes for staying on the "beaten path" also goes for walking through streams and moving rocks and aquatic plants. It is best to cross streams at regular crossings and not to disturb what is in the stream bed.

The areas in and around the Smoky Mountains are growing by leaps and bounds making the top Real Estate agents and real estate brokers and well as mortgage companies and banks in the Smokies quite happy.

Cabin companies, hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions are also seeing increased revenue due to the many people who fall in love with the Smokies many of which come back again and again.

What these 2006 park visitation figures are showing is that more and more people are looking to experience the lesser known and lesser visited parts of the Smoky Mountains National Park. Is this phenomenon because the same visitors have seen the more popular areas of the park and are looking for some place new or are they trying to avoid the crowds of the most visited parts of this national park? I would be interested to know and I am conducting my own straw poll in regard to this.

Since so many businesses in the Smokies benefit because of tourism to the park, I make this plea to donate to organizations such as Friends of the Smokies or have a company picnic in the park after you have everyone spend an hour or two picking up litter in the park. Not only will the visitors who come to the park - your customers - appreciate it, you will feel better doing something good for the environment.