GATLINBURG, Tenn. – The Cades Cove loop road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be closed beginning Monday for repairs.
Park managers expect to reopen the often-crowded 11-mile loop no later than May 21.
Horse, bicycle and foot traffic will be prohibited along with vehicles.
Crews from the Harrison Construction Division of APAC Atlantic, Inc., have been working at night and along the roadside to get as much done before closure as possible. They have replaced culverts, rebuilt stone headwalls on culverts and have erected black silt fence along the work area to prevent silt from washing into streams during construction.
Cades Cove is one of the most popular spots in the park, dotted by original pioneer homesteads, barns, pasture and farmland.