Smoky Mountain Lakeview Drive Opens

Smoky Mountain Lakeview Drive Opens. GSMNP is rehabilitating Lakeview Drive in North Carolina through Great American Outdoor Act funding. Lakeview Drive will open  to vehicles on November 16, 2023 at 12 p.m. Visitors should plan for temporary single-lane closures and periodic closures of some parking areas as construction is completed. 

Construction crews will continue to work on parking areas, guardrails, headwalls. The road rehab will be completed in spring when they place the final layer of asphalt.  

Hikers and visitors will be able to access the Noland Creek Trail, Lakeshore Trail, Goldmine Loop Trail, Benton MacKaye Trail, or Lakeview Drive Tunnel from the road, but may not be able to park at the closest parking lot to the trailhead. The NPS is using almost $19 million in funding from the Great American Outdoors Act to reconstruct Lakeview Drive and repair Heintooga Ridge Road. 

The Great American Outdoors Act, supported by revenue from energy development, provides funding to make significant enhancements in national parks and other public lands to ensure their preservation and provide opportunities for recreation, education and enjoyment for current and future visitors. The Great American Outdoors Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and other construction funding sources are part of a concerted effort to address the extensive maintenance backlog in national parks.  

Source – GSMNP