Newfound Gap - Newfound Gap Road

Newfound Gap Road

With the development of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park came the construction of a newer, more modern highway from Tennessee to North Carolina, completed in 1932 – this time crossing Newfound Gap, replacing the now-defunct Indian Gap Road. North of the park, it is now known as Great Smoky Mountains Parkway. The Gatlinburg Bypass, originally intended to be a part of the Foothills Parkway, extends out from the park to connect Newfound Gap Road south of town to the parkway north of town.

Despite its heavy winter snows, the pass is kept open all year, except during and just after winter storms. When closed, the snow route is a long detour around the east-northeast end of the park, using U.S. 321 and Interstate 40. The Tennessee side typically has heavier snow because of its north and northwestern exposure. Even when valley roads are clear and there is little snow in Gatlinburg (and almost none in Cherokee), Newfound Gap may have far deeper snow, and will be closed for several hours after significant snowfall ends. Additionally, being in a national park, Newfound Gap Road is only treated by snowplows and a gravel/sand mix, as no chemicals can be used for snow removal due to their harm to the environment.

The road was closed for days after the Great Blizzard of 1993, when 5 feet (1.5 m) of snow fell, and snowdrifts piled up to twice that.