Great Smoky Mountains National Park closed due to hazardous weather; Parkway open?

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is completely closed Jan. 15 due to current hazardous weather conditions, according to a news release from the National Park Service.

Most park roads are closed including Newfound Gap/U.S. 441 ― the road that connects Cherokee in North Carolina to Gatlinburg, Tennessee ― Little River, Gatlinburg Bypass, Cherokee Orchard at park boundary, Laurel Creek, Cades Cove Loop, Upper Tremont, Foothills Parkway East and West, Wears Cove Gap, Old N.C. 284, Lakeview Drive, Greenbrier, Cataloochee Entrance and Tom Branch.

All park facilities, including visitor centers, are also closed Jan. 16.

Park staff will continue to maintain access to the Spur and to Newfound Gap Road from Cherokee to Towstring, and from Gatlinburg to Sugarlands.

Rangers and road crews will assess conditions and will determine when roads are safe to open. The park will share updates on the park website and social media and will send an updated news release early Jan. 16.

The Smokies is the most visited park in the National Park Service. It covers a half-million acre swath of rugged, mountainous and remote terrain across the Western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee border.

The Blue Ridge Parkway ― the most visited unit of the NPS ― is closed in Western North Carolina except for the Asheville corridor from Milepost 382 at U.S. 70 and the Folk Art Center, to MP 393/U.S. 191/Brevard Road at the N.C. Arboretum.

For the latest in parkway road closures, check the parkway website at nps.gov/blri.

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This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Great Smoky Mountains National Park closed hazardous weather