GSMNP Winter Schedule

Great Smoky Mountains National Park has announced its winter season facility closings schedule. As cooler weather approaches and visitation decreases, various facilities will close, including 7 of the 10 campgrounds, and operational hours for some visitor services will be reduced.
VISITOR CENTERS Through the month of November, the
Sugarlands Visitor Center, 2 miles south of Gatlinburg, TN, will open daily from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
The Oconaluftee Visitor Center, 2 miles north of Cherokee, NC, will serve visitors from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
The Cades Cove Visitor Center located half way around the Cades Cove Loop Road will be opened daily from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. The visitor center hours for the following winter months are posted on the Park’s website, www.nps.gov/grsm.
ROADS Several of the secondary roads are scheduled to close as indicated:
Balsam Mountain/Heintooga Roads on November 1, Roundbottom/Straight Fork on November 16,
Parson Branch and Rich Mountain Roads on November 22, and Clingmans Dome and Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail on December 1.
During the winter months, the Park’s two main roads, Newfound Gap (U.S. 441) and Little River, will remain open throughout the year, except for temporary closures for extreme winter weather conditions. The Gatlinburg Bypass, Cades Cove Loop Road, Cosby Road, Greenbrier Road, Upper Tremont, Forge Creek, Lakeview Drive, and Foothills Parkway (East and West) will open and close as road and weather conditions mandate.
For more information on winter weather road conditions, contact the Park at 865/436-1200 (Then select option “2” and select “2” again to access road info).
Winter Schedule—LODGING
Mt. LeConte Lodge will close for the season on November 23.
CAMPING Two of the three major campgrounds will remain open all year. These year-round campgrounds are Cades Cove in Tennessee and Smokemont in North Carolina. Starting November 1, they will be on a self-registration basis with a reduced number of available sites.
Elkmont Campground in Tennessee will remain open through the Thanksgiving weekend and will close on December 1. Balsam Mountain campground is already closed for the season.
The six remaining self-registration campgrounds at Cosby, Cataloochee, Deep Creek, Big Creek, Look Rock and Abrams Creek, will close on November 1. CADES COVE CAMPGROUND STORE Cades Cove Campground Store will close on December 22, but will reopen December 26-January 2 to serve visitors during the holiday period. The store will also be closed on Thanksgiving Day. Vending machines at the store will remain in service throughout the winter.
PICNICKING Seven picnic areas will remain open through the winter: Chimney Tops, Cades Cove, Cosby, Greenbrier, Metcalf Bottoms, Big Creek, and Deep Creek. Picnic pavilions at Cosby, Greenbrier and Deep Creek will be open through the winter and can be reserved at www.recreation.gov. Picnic pavilions that will close on November 1 include Twin Creeks, Collins Creek, and Metcalf Bottoms.

Reservations Required Campers

Great Smoky Mountains Superintendent Dale A. Ditmanson has announced that when the Park’s Cataloochee Campground reopens for the season next March 11 campers will be required to have made advance reservations either online at: www.recreation.gov or toll-free at 1-877-444-6777.
Historically, the popular, but remote, 27-site campground has operated on a first-come-first-served basis, which did not provide prospective campers any way of knowing whether they would be able to get a site until after they arrived at the Campground. “Cataloochee Campground offers one of the Park’s most sought-after camping experiences, but getting there involves a 30 to 40 minute, 11-mile, drive off I-40, with much of that along a very-narrow and circuitous gravel road.” The reservation system will eliminate the frustration of finding no campsites left after having made the difficult drive to the campground.”
“The new reservation system will allow all interested campers an equal chance to plan their visits up to six month in advance with the assurance that they will have a site.” Ditmanson continued.“
The reservation system typically allows reservations to be made up to six months in advance, but the reservation database for Cataloochee in this first year is not expected to be active until February 1, 2011. On that date, reservations for sites from the March 11 campground opening date through August 1 will be reservable at once. Campsite reservations must be made in advance by phone or on-line. The cost of camping at Cataloochee in 2011 will be $20 per night beginning in March 2011.

These ain't Crop Circles in the Smokies

These oval shaped formations were spotted OTG on the side of the rock and were obviously left by alien life forms.
Today was great day for a walk OTG and avoiding all the folks along the park roads and easy trails taking pictures of the fall colors. Much of the foliage may be cut in it's peak as these heavy rains and strong winds blow through tonight. There was a tornado warning for the GSMNP/Townsend area earlier tonight and it is still raining hard at this time (11:18 pm EST). I may get up early and go for a walk, while the seasonal visitors are still in their RV's drinking coffee, and enjoy the quiet of the full streams.

Falling Temperatures

Dudes and Dudettes! today I walked the Rich Mtn. trail up to the #5 campsite and it was not a day for the lightweight!
Now I'm sure you have walked in tougher weather conditions as most regular backpackers and hikers have yet this was the first of the season for me and included temps in the upper 40's with rain. Check out the bee in the bloom. What?!, is it like trying to stay dry or was it slow to get out as the bloom closed anticipating the weather? May be that it's been dormant because of the change in weather.

As I was on my return I passed two ladies going up and one remarked with a smile "hello, beautiful day!?", and I responded "yea, I guess it just depends on how you look at it!" It was a good day for a walk and glad I had the opportunity, Peace.

Sweetwater Creek In Georgia

Whoa! It's been a while but the hikes are happening! One of the most recent, last Wednesday the 29th, was taken while working in and around Atlanta during which I hiked couple of days at Sweetwater Creek State Park. Sweetwater Creek is located 15 mls west of Atlanta off I-20W and exit #44. This day use park encompasses 2549 acres offering hiking trails, picnic areas, fishing, and class IV rapids, after heavy rains. Sweetwater Creek is the most visited day use park in the Georgia SP system.

The trails are easy to moderate with most; that I walked, wide and clear of plants and obstructions and were a fun change. The scenery from the trails along the creek/river and around the remains of Manchester Mill (see picture above) were quite pretty. The New Manchester Manufacturing Company, a textile mill built in the 1840's was burned during the Civil War as part of a scorched earth policy being carried out by Union troops.










For more information about this SP see friendsofsweetwatercreek.org