Great Smoky Mountains National Park has altered the facility opening dates for many park facilities for the 2013 season. The Look Rock Campground and Picnic Area and the Abrams Creek Campground in Tennessee will remain closed. The remaining sites will open as follows:
Secondary Roads are scheduled as follows: Round Bottom/Straight Fork Road will open April 1; Parsons Branch and Rich Mountain Road will both open on April 5; Roaring Fork Nature Trail and Little Greenbrier are set to open April 12.
Clingmans Dome Road has been open dependent on weather conditions since Feb. 15, but will be officially open for the summer season on March 29.
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.-5 p.m., Cades Cove Visitor Center, near Townsend, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Campgrounds will open starting April 12. Reservations are required for Cades Cove, Elkmont, for the period from May 15-Oct. 31 and Cosby Campground, which has mostly first-come, first-served campsites, has a number of sites which can be reserved. Camping fees range from $14 to $23 per site/night.
The Park’s largest picnic pavilion at Twin Creeks opens on April 1 and reservations are required. Twin Creeks fees range from $35-$75.
The opening dates for the three horseback concessions located on the Tennessee side of the Park are: Smoky Mountain Riding Stable on March 8; Sugarlands Riding Stable on March 8; and Cades Cove on March 9. Cades Cove Riding Stable will offer their customary carriage rides and hay rides, and wheelchair accessible carriage and hay rides.
For more information, visit www.nps.gov/grsm.
For more information on Tennessee happenings, visit tnvacation.com, facebook.com/tnvacation, tnvacation.com/triptales/, instagram.com/tnvacation, twitter.com/tnvacation/ or pinterest.com/tnvacation/.