Sparks Lane in Cades Cove to be closed

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Great Smoky Mountains National Park managers just announced on the Park's web site that Sparks Lane in Cades Cove, will be closed from September 2 through October 8 to allow for replacement of culverts and to improve fish habitat.

During the work period the road will be closed to all use including pedestrians and cyclists. Travel around the 11 mile paved Cades Cove Loop Road will not be affected.

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.

2 comments

Anonymous said...

Jeff, do you know if this is related to the multiple closures of this lane that happened this past spring?

juggler

The Smoky Mountain Hiker said...

Juggler,

Sparks Lane was closed in mid-February and again for a couple of weeks from late March thru early April. In both of those cases the road was closed due to flooding. Although the park press release doesn’t state the exact reason, my guess is that they are trying to fix the periodic flooding issue once and for all – at least we all hope this will take care of it. Here’s a statement from the park’s web site:

“two existing concrete-enclosed steel culverts that carry Cooper Branch and Rowans Branch under Sparks Lane will be replaced with larger-capacity concrete box culverts that will reduce wash-outs after heavy rain events”

Jeff