Blue Ridge Parkway in your plans this summer? Helene closures may change them.

Yahoo

03-05-2025

The mountains of Western North Carolina are greening up again and soon the rhododendron blooms will herald the arrival of summer along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
But this year, most of the parkway remains closed in North Carolina, as crews continue to repair the devastation left by the remnants of Hurricane Helene seven months ago.
Of the 252 miles of parkway in North Carolina, from Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the Virginia state line, only 95 have been reopened since the storm. There's no timetable for when the rest will be safe for cars and cyclists again, said Tracy Swartout, the parkway superintendent.
'The recovery is going to be long,' Swartout said during a status report posted online in early April. 'It's not going to be a sprint; it's going to be a marathon. The projects are going to take time.'
The closures are spread over five separate sections, mostly north of Asheville. The ferocious winds and torrential rains from Helene were worst at higher elevations, bringing down countless trees and causing landslides both above and underneath the road. Many trails, campgrounds and the Linville Falls visitors center were destroyed.
Near Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River, wind gusts topped 100 mph and more than 30 inches of rain fell in a matter of hours, according to the National Weather Service. Mount Mitchell State Park remains inaccessible, and the National Park Service has counted 45 landslides along a 50-mile stretch of the parkway between Mount Mitchell and Linville Falls.
Crews are initially concentrating on a dozen landslides at eight places along the parkway, said Andy Otten, project manager for the park service.. They're also removing tons of earth that filled or buried drainage pipes and culverts in those areas, Otten said.
'Some of these are buried 10 to 12 feet in mud and rock,' he said. 'This initial effort is removing 30,000 cubic yards of material alone. And this is just the first pass at addressing some of the more significant locations.'
The park service expects these repairs will allow it to open more of the parkway by fall, Swartout said, though it's not clear how much of the road will be ready. She noted that crews and their equipment still can't access some of the damaged areas and landslides.
'In order to be able to get in there and do the central slides, a lot of times we need to repair the slides on the outside, as we work our way in,' she said. 'So some of the recovery is going to take years.'
In the meantime, Swartout encouraged people to consider visiting the parkway and the nearby businesses and communities that rely on visitors. She noted, for example, that the Pisgah Inn, a hotel with a restaurant and country store, has reopened on a section of parkway south of Asheville.
'There's lots of damage, it's true,' she said. 'But we have a path forward, and there are lots of things to do. I want people to include the parkway in their planning.'
The 157 miles of the parkway that remain closed in North Carolina includes a 25-mile stretch near Virginia that was closed before Helene for long-term repairs.
Meanwhile, the park service was able to reopen the Virginia section of the parkway last fall. But a severe ice storm brought down so many trees this winter that a 17-mile stretch just north of the state line remains closed.
For the latest road conditions and closures along the Blue Ridge Parkway, go to www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/roadclosures.htm.
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