Great Smoky Mountains National Park
National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior
SMOKIES GUIDE The Official Newspaper of the Smokies • Winter 2024-25
The rolling hills of Cades Cove are a feast for the eyes with a light dusting of frost. Cades Cove, like most areas on the western side of the park, saw little damage from the hurricane. Photo by Bill Lea.
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Words with a Ranger After ten years at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and 33 years in public service, the time has come for me to hang up my flat hat. As an idealistic young man starting my career in the US Forest Service in 1991, I could have had no idea what adventures lay ahead or that I would have the honor to lead the most visited national park in America. This is a complex park; with 400 employees, 2,000 volunteers, and more than 13 million visitors per year, there is never a dull moment. I have cherished these opportunities and the challenges that have come along with them. In fact, this ten-year stretch may have been the most consequential decade of the park’s history. We have experienced a prolonged government shutdown, hurricanes, wildland fires, and a global pandemic. Yes, there Continued on page 8
Park’s East Still Recovering in Wake of Helene Several storm-related road and trail closures will persist this winter
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t’s been months since Hurricane Helene tore through the Southern Appalachians, but the storm’s impacts still linger in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Though most of the park saw only minor flooding, significant damage in its far eastern region has led the National Park Service to close the Cataloochee Valley, Big Creek, and Balsam Mountain areas until further notice. In Cataloochee, the worst-hit area of the park, all trails were affected by flooding and erosion. Only two footlog bridges survived, and fields were left full of debris. In many places, the entrance road along Rough Fork Creek transformed into a gully where the raging waters ripped away the roadbed and ate at the foundation of Caldwell Barn. The entire length of Big Creek Trail was damaged, and Heintooga Road and Straight Fork Road both saw numerous washouts. A footlog bridge on Swallow
OUR PARK ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fork Trail, one mile up from the junction with Big Creek Trail, washed away, and a significant landslide took out about 100 feet of Gunter Fork Trail. Flooding outside the park boundary could also impact visitors. The heavily used section of Interstate 40 connecting North Carolina and Tennessee, closed since Helene, will reopen as a two-lane road by 2025. A permanent fix is still nearly two years away. Despite the damage, plenty of magic awaits park visitors this winter, and most park trails remain open and accessible. Just be sure to check current conditions before you venture out, as winter weather can change rapidly. Ask at a visitor center or see current closures at go.nps.gov/SmokiesConditions. For information about road closures outside the park, visit smartway.tn.gov/traffic for Tennessee roads or drivenc.gov for North Carolina. GreatSmoky MountainsNPS
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PARKING TAG REQUIRED! Parking in the Smokies for more than 15 minutes requires a valid parking tag (annual tag pictured). For more info, scan code with camera app
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