National Park openings
Great Smoky Mountains National Park has announced its spring opening schedule for Park facilities and availability of services.
A variety of new concession services will be offered to visitors, and new facilities will open. LeConte Lodge will provide day hikers and backpackers with an opportunity to buy a prepared bag or dining room lunch, beverages and baked snacks at the lodge.
Cades Cove Riding Stables will begin offering wheelchair accessible carriage rides and hayrides. In addition, new facilities nearing completion at Sugarlands Riding Stable include a modern wood and steel frame barn for housing horses, office, and hay shed.
A majority of campgrounds and secondary roads will open starting on March 13.
The schedule is as follows:
•Roads — The secondary roads that opened on March 13 include Little Greenbrier, Rich Mountain, Straight Fork/Round Bottom, Forge Creek and Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.
•Clingmans Dome Road opened on April 1, and the Heintooga Ridge and Balsam Mountain Roads will open on May 8.
•Parson Branch Road will have a delayed opening resulting from storm damage over the winter and is expected to open late spring.
•Operating Hours for Visitor Centers — The three visitor centers are open daily, and the operating hours through March are as follows:
•Sugarlands Visitor Center, near Gatlinburg, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
•Cades Cove Visitor Center, near Townsend, TN, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
•Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee, NC, hours will be 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The National Recreation Reservation Service (NRRS) provides visitors an opportunity to make reservations to many federally-managed recreation areas, including the National Park Service, all across the U.S.
The system allows campers to reserve specific campsites and to make reservations 6 months in advance. In addition, group campsites and picnic pavilions can be reserved up to 12 months in advance.
To make reservations at three of the Park’s developed campgrounds and all group campsites, horse camps and picnic shelters, visitors can go to www.recreation.gov or book reservations by calling (877) 444-6777.
Campgrounds will be open on a staggered basis starting March 13.
Three of the Park’s 10 campgrounds can be reserved through the NRRS from May 15-Oct. 31 including Cades Cove, Elkmont and Smokemont. Cosby Campground has a limited number of reservable sites through NRRS. Camping fees are $14 per site at the smaller, more primitive campgrounds and $17-$23 at the larger campgrounds.
Campers have an opportunity to camp in “generator free” campsites at three campgrounds: Cades Cove, Elkmont and Smokemont
campgrounds.
Campers can reserve a site in the generator-free loop sections of Cades Cove and Elkmont campgrounds. At Smokemont, while there is no separate generator-free designation, loops A, B and C are managed as tents only and are generator free, and RV campers who prefer a generator-free site may reserve a site in those loops.
Group Camping will be available at seven campgrounds (see schedule for opening dates) and reservations must be made through NRRS. Group camping is available at Big Creek, Cataloochee, Cosby, Deep Creek, Elkmont, Cades Cove and Smokemont. The cost for group camping ranges from $26 to $65 per site/night.
Horse Camps at Anthony Creek, Big Creek, Cataloochee, Round Bottom and Towstring opened April 1, and reservations are only available through NPRS. The horse site fees are $20 at all horse camps except for Big Creek where it is $25.
Picnic Areas — There are 10 first-come, first-serve picnic areas.
Open all year are Big Creek, Cades Cove, Chimney Tops, Cosby, Greenbrier, Deep Creek and Metcalf Bottoms. Collins Creek Picnic Area opened on March 13 and Heintooga and Look Rock are scheduled to open on May 8.
The Park’s largest picnic pavilion at Twin Creeks opened on April 1, and reservations are required through NRRS only. Twin Creeks fees range from $35-$75 depending on the number of people. In addition, picnickers can reserve five other picnic pavilions on NRRS. They are located at Collins Creek, Cosby, Deep Creek, Metcalf Bottoms, and Greenbrier picnic areas. The cost is $20, except at Greenbrier where it is $10.
Horseback Riding — The opening dates for the three horseback concessions located on the Tennessee side of the Park are as follows: Smoky Mountain Riding Stable, the Sugarlands Riding Stable, and Cades Cove Riding Stable are open. In addition to horseback rides which cost $25 per horse per rider, Cades Cove Riding Stable will offer their customary carriage rides and hay rides, but later in the season one of the new offerings will be wheelchair accessible carriage and hay rides. The Smokemont Riding Stable in North Carolina opened April 1 and will continue a service started last year that provides visitors with a chance to experience a horse-drawn wagon ride along the route of the historic Oconaluftee Turnpike.
LeConte Lodge, accessible only by trail is open.
Reservations are required and can be made by calling (865) 429-5704, fax (865) 774-0045 or e-:mail reservations@lecontelodge.com. One night at the lodge costs $110 per adult and $85 for children 10 and under (tax not included). The price includes two meals — dinner and breakfast. For the first time this year, day hikers and backpackers can purchase a prepared bag or dining room lunch and snacks/beverages at the lodge. Reservations are required for the dining room lunch.
Campground Concessions — The Cades Cove Campground Store is open.
The store provides groceries, camping supplies, firewood, ice, vending, limited food service, souvenirs and bike rentals. Continuing a service that was new in 2008, the Cades Cove store has multi-speed comfort or mountain bikes available for rent, in addition to single speed cruisers.
The Elkmont Campground concession is also open. The concession provides firewood, ice, and vending of soft drinks, newspapers and snacks.
CAMPGROUND SCHEDULE
North Carolina:
•Smokemont, March 13
•Balsam Mountain Mid-May
•Deep Creek, April 1
•Big Creek, March 13
•Cataloochee, March 13
Tennessee:
•Cades Cove, March 13
•Elkmont, March 13
•Cosby, March 13
•Look Rock, May 8
•Abrams Creek, March 13.
