Parson Branch Road Reopens in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Parson Branch Road Reopens in
Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Posted: September 17, 2007

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials Managers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park announced the scheduled reopening of Parson Branch Road at noon on Friday, September 21, 2007.

The 8-mile, one-way, gravel byway, which leads out of Cades Cove to U.S. 129 in Blount County, Tenn., has been closed since it was severely damaged by a flood in May 2003.

Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson said that, "We are pleased to be able to reopen this scenic byway in time for the busy fall color season.

Parson Branch Road provides a low-speed, 'up-close-and-personal experience' to motorists as it passes through some of the Park's most beautiful old and second-growth forest."

"When we planned and carried out the repairs," Ditmanson continued, "we engineered in some changes to the drainage channels and stream crossings that would make it less susceptible to being washed out again, but I think visitors will find that its primitive character and its sense of solitude are still unimpaired."

In addition to being a popular motoring destination, Parson Branch Road provides access to the Hannah Mountain Trail and to Gregory Bald Trail which is the shortest and easiest route to Gregory Bald.