Newfound Gap Road US 441 between Cherokee and Gatlinburg Open After Rockslide Closure Last Night

The Great Smoky Mountains national park has seen more than its share of rockslides and landslides this last few months and yesterday was no exception as a rockslide near Mile Marker 19 on Newfound Gap Road took its toll or the roadway and drivers patience.

Fortunately, the rockslide took place new an overlook with a large parking area so that traffic could be diverted through the parking area while the Newfound Gap roadway was still open and cleanup and barriers were put onto place.

Last night the park service closed the entire length of Newfound Gap Road at 8:00 pm in case further debris fell off the hillside at night into traffic. Even before the road was closed an extensive system of barriers was set up which has been augmented with the addition of concrete barriers to keep any further debris from Newfound Gap Road US 441 which opened today at 7 am.

Drive slowly through the area and expect traffic diversions and the potential to having to come to a complete stop in around the landslide/rockslide area. The park service is waiting to see if the area has been stabilized or if in fact large equipment needs to scrape off and remove any loose debris.

Pigeon Forge - Gatlinburg Spur Reopens as GSMNP Deals With More Weather Related Issues

Today a second major rock slide has occurred on the section of the Foothills Parkway between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge which locals call "the Spur" closing to road to traffic for hours and creating snarls in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville as motorists unfamiliar with the area attempted to navigate back roads in the pouring rain.

New barricades and detours have been set up so that traffic is now moving both northbound and southbound on the Spur and in some areas, southbound traffic is flowing in one lane on the northbound side.

The landslide was a major event dumping tons of rock and earth on the roadway and leaving and extremely unstable slope in its wake. Blalock construction is moving large equipment into the area which will include a crane that will be used to remove any of the unstable areas of the mountainside, which will later be removed from the road surface.

Cades Cove Loop has been closed for much of the day as the days strong winds caused a significant number of large trees and branches to fall on the roadway.

Upper Tremont road also sustained significant tree damage and a small rockslide along Little River Road undermined a tree that was in danger of falling onto the roadway prompting the park serviced to close the road between Metcalf Bottoms and the Townsend Wye.

Reports have also come in that there are a significant number of blow downs on Newfound Gap Road that has also been closed all day long.

If all of this mess is not enough for the Great Smoky Mountains national park to deal with, rivers, creeks and branches are now running very high and flooding can be expected in low lying areas.

Landslide in Great Smoky Mountains national park cleared but clearing I-40 will take many months.

This has been some leaf season in the Smokies! Multiple rock and landslides within weeks create traffic nightmares for many, but fortunately yesterday's landslide in the Great Smoky Mountains national park took the park and Blalock Construction less than 24 hours to clear but the I-40 landslide only 3 miles from the Tennessee and North Carolina border will take until March 2010 or longer.

This summer we saw 2 rock slides occur along Little River Road which took days to clean up so that the road could be reopened so it was a very pleasant surprise to see how fast the main East West road in the Great Smoky Mountains national park reopened however those who wish to take I-40 from North Carolina will have to wait far longer before they can avoid detours. The real disaster for drivers will be when Newfound Gap Road (US 441) closes due to ice and snow in bad weather which is a very common occurrence.

There was another closure due to at potential landslide this moth along the Blue Ridge Parkway which has also cause drivers to have to deal with lengthy detours right when the fall season colors were at their peak along the parkway.

Related Landslide and Rockslides in the Smokies Stories:

• Rock Slide Closes Great Smoky Mountains National Parks Little River Road
• 2nd Rock Slide in the Great Smoky Mountains national park will keep major road closed far longer
• 12 miles of Blue Ridge Parkway in Mount Pisgah - Asheville Area Closed Due to Landslide Danger

12 miles of Blue Ridge Parkway in Mount Pisgah - Asheville Area Closed Due to Landslide Danger

Weeks of rain has taken its toll on the Blue Ridge Parkway at what is the worst possible time for a closure of a stretch of roadway in the Mount Pisgah Asheville area as peak leaf season is coloring the slopes and valleys of North Carolina.

Crews are working right now to erect temporary barriers in hopes that the most of the roadway will be opened back up Friday for the 2nd weekend of peak leaf season on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The area that will remain closed would be the Ferrin Knob Tunnel Number 1.

The slope that is causing all this grief has been closely monitored by the park service since it first failed in 2002 and had been repaired and according to Bambi Teague, the Blue Ridge Parkway's chief of resource management "It has been slipping and sliding since then, but in the past three weeks, it has been moving way more than anyone expected it would" which prompted the closure.

The picture above was taken 2 days ago on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and shows how fall color has already painted the slopes and valleys in reds, yellows and oranges between US 441 and US 19. This stretch is unaffected by the closure and leaf peepers traveling from Asheville should use US 276 near Brevard or NC 151 from Candler.

All hiking trails and backcountry campsites open for Memorial Day in the Great Smoky Mountains national park

The national park service was able to open the Trillium Gap hiking trail in the Great Smoky Mountains national park which was closed due to a landslide as well as the Goshen Prong hiking trail and backcountry campsite which was closed due to tree blowdowns and the 2 trails Schoolhouse Gap and Turkey Pen Ridge which were closed due to aggressive black bear activity all in time for the for the Memorial Day Weekend.

With fantastic weather predicted for the weekend expect to see a lot of activity in the Great Smoky Mountains national park as well as enhanced traffic enforcement so enjoy the park but drive at the posted limits!

Landslide in Great Smoky Mountains National Park closes hiking trail to Mount Le Conte

The Great Smoky Mountains national park has received some much needed seasonal rain which triggered a landslide on the Trillium Gap Hiking trail to Mount Le Conte from the Bushy Mountain trailhead in the Roaring Fork area near Gatlinburg Tennessee.

This popular hiking trail is not only popular with hikers wishing to climb to the top of Mount Le Conte because of its relatively lower angle of elevation; it also is the main thoroughfare for Llamas which bring supplies weekly up to the Mount Le Conte Lodge.

We predicted considerable blow downs of tress and limbs in the park which turned out to come true so hikers and horseback riders in the Great Smoky Mountains national park can expect a large number of trails may have fresh downed trees requiring hikers to climb over or around them.

This week there have also been plenty of both small and large rocks that have fallen into the roadways. Drivers should use caution especially when driving in the early hours in the park before rocks have been cleaned off the road or at night when visibility is reduced.

It may take until sometime in June before the Trillium Gap hiking trail will reopen