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Work On Cades Cove Road At Great Smoky Mountains To Impact Visitors

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Published Date

August 3, 2021

The road through Cades Cove at Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be closed for three weeks in September for resurfacing/NPS

Upcoming road work in Cades Cove at Great Smoky Mountains National Park will close the road for three weeks in early September.

The one-way road, which is traveled by more than 2 million visitors each year, needs to be resurfaced. As a result, it will be closed to all motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, and horseback riders from Tuesday, September 7, through Monday, September 27. During the closure, trails must be accessed from outside of the Cades Cove area as there will be no access to any trailheads from the Cades Cove Loop Road.  

Prior to the full closure, the loop road will also be closed to pedestrians and motorists for night work on Sunday through Thursday evenings, beginning at 7:30 p.m., from August 16 through September 2. 

Work also includes resurfacing of the campground entrance road from Laurel Creek Road to the Cades Campground and the parking area adjacent to the Cades Cove Campground Store. The campground, picnic area, campground store, and horse stables will remain open and accessible throughout the duration of the paving project. 

The Cades Cove Loop Road was fully reconstructed and resurfaced in 2010. This preventive pavement treatment will maintain the heavily used road in good condition and extend the service life of the asphalt surface. A full closure is necessary to allow logistical movement of trucks and paving equipment along the narrow, one-way road.  

In addition, current roadwork occurring in Cades Cove along Forge Creek Road has been extended. Forge Creek Road has been closed to all use since November 2, 2020, to replace five bridges. The closure has been extended through Friday, August 27, 2021. Due to the complete removal of the bridges and the use of large equipment to perform repair work, the road will continue to be closed to all use.

The full closure prevents all access (by foot, bicycle, or horse) to the Henry Whitehead Place and Gregory Ridge, Gregory Bald, and Hannah Mountain trailheads. Gregory Bald is accessible from trails outside the Cades Cove area, including Wolf Ridge Trail, Long Hungry Trail, or a section of the Appalachian Trail.  For more information about these routes, contact the Backcountry Office at 865-436-1297. 

For more information about temporary road closures, you can visit the park website.  

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Great Smoky Mountains' Laurel Falls Trail To See Major Renovations In January
National Park Service Rehabilitating Cosby Entrance Road At Great Smoky Mountains

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Comments

Submitted by SmokiesBackpacker on August 4, 2021 - 10:45am.

Talk about make work projects. I bike this road on Wednesdays and there isn't a pothole on it. But the NPS has to line the pockets of companies like Blalock Construction so they pave baby pave.  This happens all the time. Just think about the amt of money we are spending to make a Sevier Contractor rich while the backcountry lies in ruin. Just a small portio of this millions could put security cameras at Alum Cave to stop all the auto break ins there or at least catch those who do.  


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