Weather Conditions and a Serious Accident Closes Some Major Great Smoky Mountains National Park Roads.

The Great Smoky Mountains national park is under a flood warning until 7 am tomorrow morning and it is the high waters associated with past days rain that closed Forge Creek Road and Sparks Lane in Cades Cove first along with the upper portion of Tremont Road.

Now a serious accident has caused rangers to closed Newfound Gap Road US441 for as of yet an undetermined time.

Additional Great Smoky Mountains national park road closures now include all of Cades Cove Loop, Road, Old State Road 284 between Big Creek and Cataloochee, and the Cataloochee entrance road.

Links: GSMNP Roads  Smoky Mountains Weather

High Winds, Rain, Fog and Light Snow Blanket The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Great Smoky Mountains national park has seen days of rain and melting snow saturating the ground toppling trees. With today's wind event gaining in strength, especially on the Tennessee side, it is best that visitors stay out of the park while crews work on making the roads in the park safe again.

Road closures include Newfound Gap Road and now Cades Cove Loop Road and even after the storm is over it may take a while to cleaned up the downed trees and dangerous snags before the roads will be safe to open again.

The Foothills Parkway West has so many downed trees Great Smoky Mountains national park road crews were only able to open the roadway into a single lane alternating on each side for administrative purposes and not for public access until the numerous trees blocking the roadway can be cleared.

Today's high wind advisory calls for gusts up to 45 mph and the winter warning in effect from 9 pm tonight to 4 pm Sunday calls for high winds, snow, sleet and freezing rain. Accumulations of less than 5 inches are expected in lower elevations.

This appears to be another weekend in the Smokies that if you do not have to be out on the road, it's best to stay home and stay safe.

Road Conditions in the Great Smoky Mountains national park

Newfound Gap Road Remains Open, Elkmont Too.

The Smokies are still digging themselves out from underneath a major snowstorm and more roads in the Great Smoky Mountains national park remain open including the Elkmont Campgrounds entrance road and Newfound Gap Road between Cherokee and Gatlinburg.

Additional good news for drivers is that the predicted snow for this week has been called off. With this warming trend roadways will continue to open.

Black ice has been forming so drivers need to be even more cautious at when temperatures drop at night especially along bridges and sooner in higher elevations.

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

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.

Winter conditions prompt National Park Service to close 2 major roads in GSMNP

The Great Smoky Mountains national parks major through road - Newfound Gap Road also known as US 441 which connects Gatlinburg Tennessee with Cherokee North Carolina has been closed due to ice and snow from the winter storm system that is right now in the Smokies.

Clingmans Dome Road which takes you from Newfound Gap Road near the Newfound Gap parking area up the Clingmans Dome Parking area is also closed due to ice and snow.

No other roads in the GSMNP are closed at this time, nor are any expected to close tonight.

Since the storm will continue to drop snow until as late as Wednesday it is possible Newfound Gap may periodically open and close for the next 2 days. We don't expect Clingmans Dome Road to reopen until Wednesday or Thursday.

Winter storm grips the Smoky Mountains

A hard freeze with up to 4 inches of snow - how could this be since it was in the high 70's yesterday with spring wildflowers blooming everywhere the Great Smoky Mountains? It's the Smokies - expect the unexpected when it comes to weather in the Smoky Mountains.

Home gardeners and farmers alike are rushing to protecting young plants, flowering bushes and trees against the deep cold expected tonight and the very hard frost expected tomorrow night.

Snow has been falling for hours in the higher elevations such as Newfound Gap and Clingmans Dome where some the snowfall is actually sticking but the biggest hazards right now are the thick fog and the slick roadways that will possibly freeze into black ice in some areas as the afternoon temps continue to fall.

Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains national park as seen in the picture above taken today is the highest point you can drive to and Clingmans Dome Road would be the first potential road to close as the weather in the Smokies continues to deteriorate.

Gatlinburg and other high elevations in the Smokies may see as much as 1 to 3 inches of snow tonight with colder weather and another inch expected tomorrow night. This weekend we should see more seasonal weather in the Smokies reaching closer to 70 degrees again.

Will Newfound Gap Road, the major road connecting Cherokee North Carolina with Gatlinburg Tennessee close due to snow and ice? It's very possible and Your Smokies will keep you informed of the road conditions in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and we have the best Smoky Mountains weather conditions page too.

Snow and winter conditions closed Newfound Gap Road in the Great Smoky Mountains national park

Snow and ice on Newfound Gap Road is making driving treacherous so the national park service closed US441 the road connecting the cities of Gatlinburg with Cherokee.

There is presently a winter advisory throughout most of the Smokies with accumulation up to 2 inches or more in the upper elevations and bitter cold temperatures.

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.