Archive for the ‘Heintooga Ridge Road’ Category

Seasonal Road Closing Season

Thursday, October 21st, 2010
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

Posted in Balsam Mountain Road, Heintooga Ridge Road, Seasonal Road Closings | Comments Off

Great Smokies receives more stimulus money

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
The Maryville Daily Times is reporting that the Great Smoky Mountains is starting four American Recovery and Reinvestment Act projects to improve hiker parking areas and resurface two roads in the Park. The $12.2 million for these projects brings total federal stimulus funding for the Smokies to $77.5 million.

The projects are: repaving the Foothills Parkway-East, the Smokemont Campground and the Heintooga Ridge Road. In addition, the Park will create new hiker parking areas and repave the roads leading to the popular Little River, Cucumber Gap, Meigs Mountain and Jakes Creek Trails in the Elkmont area.

During the early phases of construction visitor access to the Jakes Creek and Little River Trailheads will be provided, but the area will be closed between July 6 and Aug. 31 when safe passage can no longer be possible through the construction zone.

Contracts are for the repaving of the Heintooga Ridge Road and the Foothills Parkway East in Cocke County are presently in the solicitation phase.


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

Posted in Foothills Parkway East, Great Smoky Mountains, Heintooga Ridge Road, Smokemont Campground, stimulus money | Comments Off

$129 Million saved by NPS to fund 30 additional projects

Saturday, March 6th, 2010
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.

Posted in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Foothills Parkway East, Heintooga Ridge Road, National Park Service, Smokemont | Comments Off

Seasonal Road Closing Season

Monday, October 19th, 2009
If you intend to hike any of the trails along Balsam Mountain Road or Heintooga Ridge Road in Great Smoky Mountains National Park before winter arrives, you have only 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 November 1 and won’t reopen again until 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 that overlook some of the vast wilderness 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 also 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.

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Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

Posted in Balsam Mountain Road, Heintooga Ridge Road, Maggie Valley, Oconaluftee, blue ridge parkway | Comments Off