Seasonal Road Closing Season

If you intend to hike any of the trails along the Balsam Mountain Road or the Heintooga Ridge Road in Great Smoky Mountains National Park before winter arrives, you have less than two weeks left before these roads are closed for the season.

Both roads are located in the Southeastern corner of the park between Maggie Valley and Oconaluftee in North Carolina. The two seasonal roads will close on Monday, November 1, and won’t reopen again until late next May.

Of course the trails along these roads will continue to be open, but you may have problems reaching the trailheads. The following trails will be impacted: Flat Creek Falls, Hemphill Bald, Rough Fork, Palmer Creek, Balsam Mountain, Beech Gap and Hyatt Ridge trails.

Heintooga Ridge Road is accessed from the Blue Ridge Parkway near milepost 458. This two-way road dead-ends into the one-way Balsam Mountain Road.

Balsam Mountain Road is a thrilling ride on a one-way gravel road. Along the way you’ll see sweeping mountain vistas overlooking the vast wilderness area where many Cherokee Indians retreated in order to avoid removal on the tragic Trail of Tears. The road also passes the highest picnic area in the park, which affords outstanding views as well.

Five other seasonal roads, Roundbottom, Parson Branch, Rich Mountain, Roaring Fork and Clingmans Dome Road, will be closing throughout the month of November.




Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

$129 Million saved by NPS to fund 30 additional projects

The National Park Service (NPS) announced on Thursday that favorable pricing on large construction projects as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has resulted in savings of over 20% - totaling approximately $129 million. The Service will use these dollars to fund an additional 30 high priority projects across the country putting additional people to work in ways that will leave a permanent legacy for our national parks through critical facility improvements, infrastructure repairs, and energy efficiency enhancements.

The list of newly funded construction projects as part of ARRA includes:

* Repaving the Smokemont Campground area and the Heintooga Ridge Road in the Smokies

* Resurface the Foothills Parkway East

The NPS is also announcing the replacement of 26 projects with 36 additional projects totaling $9.3 million. Projects are being replaced for various reasons, such as prior completion with non-ARRA funds or because they cannot be completed within the Recovery Act timeframe. The NPS selected the replacement projects from existing contingency lists using established merit-based criteria for expediency of implementation, job creation potential and ability to address high-priority mission needs.

The current list of the NPS ARRA projects can be found by clicking here.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided $3 billion to the Department of the Interior. Of that amount, $750 million went to the NPS to fund job-creating investments in critical infrastructure and facilities, trail restoration, abandoned mine remediation, and energy efficiency and renewable energy.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.