In the Smokies Weddings

03/01/2025

02/19/2025

02/19/2025

❄️ Winter Weather Advisory ❄️

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for parts of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina.

What to Expect:

🌨️ Snow accumulation likely in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, especially at higher elevations.

🚧 US 441/Newfound Gap Road and Foothills Parkway West will close at 6 PM due to forecasted snow and ice.

Stay safe and keep informed! For the latest updates on park road conditions, visit our current conditions page on our website.
https://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

NPS Photo from January 2025

02/17/2025

02/17/2025

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02/17/2025

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02/16/2025

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02/16/2025

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02/16/2025

10/30/2024

10/11/2024

10/05/2024

The National Park Service will continue to temporarily close US441/Newfound Gap Road from 10 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. each evening for the safety of all drivers. The park is turning away commercial vehicles at checkpoints during the day, but is not currently able to staff the checkpoints overnight.

The park continues to see an influx of illegal, large commercial vehicles attempting to travel the road. While the NPS recognizes that major routes outside the park are currently closed, Newfound Gap Road is not safe for large, commercial vehicles. Newfound Gap Road is a two-lane road with steep continuous grades and tight curves. There are no truck lanes, runaway truck ramps or places for a large commercial vehicle to slow down and pull over.

In a 24-hour period, the park turned away more than 45 large commercial vehicles during the day, and overnight, responded to two significant incidents. In one incident, a car hauler crashed into a wall and down an embankment and in the other, a semi-truck’s brakes caught on fire. While responding to these incidents, eight semi-trucks drove past emergency responders.

The park is working on options that prevent commercial vehicle travel without closing the road overnight, but we don’t have a timeline.

10/01/2024

News Release—The National Park Service (NPS) will reopen US 441/Newfound Gap Road by 8 a.m. tomorrow morning to allow for access between Tennessee and North Carolina communities.

Once US 441 reopens, all major roads, trails and facilities on the Tennessee-side of the park will be open to visitors. Kuwohi Road (formerly Clingmans Dome Road) will also open tomorrow. While the park has assessed high-use areas and trails for hazard and downed trees, visitors should exercise extra caution as they hike and explore the park.

Several local communities including Sevier County, which includes Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville, as well as Cherokee in North Carolina, are fully open to those who can access them through safe routes.

Visitors should plan their trips to the area with the following in mind:

✅Plan safe routes to the area in advance: Plan your route and check on the status of local communities before you visit.

✅Recreate responsibly: Have a plan, know your limits, pack the 10 Essentials (www.nps.gov/articles/10essentials.htm) and avoid all water recreation. Know that emergency services are stretched thin, and response times may be delayed.

✅Some park closures are still in place: Park areas including Cataloochee Valley, Big Creek, Balsam Mountain and Lakeview Drive are still closed. Oconaluftee and Kuwohi visitor centers are also closed. Check current park conditions before heading to an area of the park.

US 441/Newfound Gap Road has been closed following the storm due to limited park staffing (some park staff were impacted by the storm or are assisting with recovery) and limited resources including fuel, which the park had been reserving for emergency response. With the coordination from the City Manager of Gatlinburg, and support from the NPS Eastern Incident Management Team (which is supporting Blue Ridge Parkway), the park received a needed fuel delivery to the Oconaluftee area today which is helping the park to reopen the road tomorrow.

Commercial vehicles are always prohibited on US 441/Newfound Gap Road and in all of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (with the exception of the Spur). While the NPS recognizes that major routes outside the park are currently closed, park roads are not structurally designed to sustain traffic from heavy vehicles. Commercial vehicles will be turned away.

Additional updates will be shared on the park website: www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

NPS Photo

09/30/2024

FLOOD WARNING - A Flood Warning continues for the French Broad River affecting Jefferson and Cocke Counties until 4:15 PM.

-As of 1 AM the the stage was 11.2 feet
-Flood Stage is 10.0 feet
-The river is expected to fall below flood stage late this morning and continue falling to 6.2 feet Friday evening.

06/18/2024

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