Latest news stories from around the Great Smoky Mountains.
Weather permitting, the road to Clingmans Dome will be opening this weekend. The road was scheduled to open on March 31 but because of a mild winter park officials have been able to push the date up several weeks. Should snow occur, instead of plowing the road, it will just be closed allowing visitors to
The National Park Service will cut $130 million from its $2.6 billion budget under sequestration measures that are set to begin at the end of March. Information about the cuts was recently leaked to the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees who posted detailed information on their website: http://www.npsretirees.org The Great Smoky Mountains and the
The 63rd Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage is set for April 23-27, 2013 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The pilgrimage is an annual five-day event that includes wildflower and natural history walks, photography tours and indoor seminars. The outdoor portions are held in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park while venues Gatlinburg, TN will host
Superstar R&B singer Alicia Keys will make her first area appearance at a March 27 concert at Harrah’s Cherokee Event Center. Tickets will go on sale Saturday through the Ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000. The prices are $55 balcony, $75 upper floor and $105 floor, plus service charges. The 8 p.m. concert is open to
The reconstruction of the section of Newfound Gap Road (US 441) that was damaged in January’s massive landslide, is set to begin as early as this Friday, February 22. The first phase of the project was recently completed when a contracting firm removed debris, stabilized the area and built an access road to the site.
Flooding, the U.S. 441 landslide and multiple road closures all contributed to giving January 2013 the second lowest visitation rate in five years. Compared with January 2012, total visitation was down 1.4 percent last month. A total of 265,633 visitors entered the park in January 2013 while January 2012, saw 269,282 visitors. In 2012, the
Far removed from the whirring, pinging and dinging of slot machines and the cheers and moans at the card tables, the quiet, serene Mandara Spa pampers individuals who hit the jackpot or need to soothe themselves after rolling the dice and losing at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort. The 18,000-square-foot spa, which opened in December, was
Spruce Flats Falls is a beautiful waterfall located in the Tremont section of the Great Smoky Mountains. The trail to reach the falls begins at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. The open, flat area which the institute occupies is known as “Walker Fields” and was named for Will Walker who first settled there
Gather your friends, family or co-workers and create a team for a Great Smoky Mountains Scavenger Hunt! The hunt ranges over most of the park, using roads and official trails to access particular areas. >> Read Complete Article
The closure of U.S. 441 in the Great Smoky Mountains due to the recent landslide is already hurting the economies of the tourist communities near the park boundaries. The longer it remains closed the greater the economic impact will be on the communities that rely on tourism dollars. Early estimates were that the repairs could
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