Rock Slide closes road in National Park

I just got this bit of news about a major road in the Smokies National Park being closed. This is the road you would normally take from Gatlinburg to go to Cades Cove. Here are the details:

Subject: Smokies Rock Slide Expected to Close Little River Road Through Weekend
Immediate Release Contact: Bob Miller Date: August 14, 2009 865/436-1207

Smokies Rock Slide Expected to Close Little River Road Through Weekend

Great Smoky Mountains Chief of Facility Management Alan Sumeriski has announced that a rockslide is expected keep Little River Road between the Elkmont Campground and the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area closed through Monday. The slide is located about two miles west of the Elkmont Campground junction.

Sumeriski said, “When the slide first occurred we had hoped our own road crew could make the road safe in a few hours, but a second slide soon occurred which left a large patch of unstable rock still clinging to the slope above the road. We estimate that there are about 30 truckloads of this loose material that must be pulled down and hauled off to halt the slide.”

Motorists wishing to travel between the Park’s Gatlinburg Entrance and Cades Cove or Townsend must detour to Pigeon Forge via U.S. 441 North and then U.S. 321 South into Townsend and back into the Park on TN 73 to reach the Park’s Laurel Creek Road to Cades Cove. “Visitors can still reach Elkmont Campground by way of the Gatlinburg Entrance,” Sumeriski said. “Metcalf Bottoms and the 8-miles of Little River Road from the Picnic Area to the Townsend junction are still accessible from U.S. 321 in Wears Valley via Line Springs Road or from the Townsend end. Due to bridge load restrictions, no vehicles larger than passenger vans are allowed to enter the Park via Line Springs Road. Travel on the Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441) between Cherokee, NC and Gatlinburg, TN is not affected”

Current Park Road information is available at (865) 436-1200. NPS -

How's business?

Glad you asked! We had a great July, with six different sets of guests spending a total of 27 nights at Smoky Mountain Tower. August is a little slow, and we can't figure out why. We've had two families who have enjoyed all the amenities at Smoky Mountain Tower, and one more is scheduled to be there in about 10 days for a family wedding weekend. But we'd sure like to have more folks staying with us at Smoky Mountain Tower.

We've had lots of people looking at our blog, as well as checking out our Web site and our various advertising sites on the Internet. If you're one of those folks who "kicked the tires" but didn't make a reservations, we sure would like to know the reason why.

We plan to be in Gatlinburg next week for a couple of days, and we'll be definitely checking everything out at Smoky Mountain Tower. If you think there's something we need to pay particular attention to, please let us know.

You can always contact us through e-mail at Dave@SmokyMountainTower.com. Or if you want to talk direct, please call us at 704-280-5845. We hope to hear from you!