2010 Events and Festivals at the Townsend Visitors Center 

January - March: Crafts and Music Classes, various times and dates

Learn rug hooking, basketry, pottery, sewing, or flat-picking guitar.

March 19 - 21:  Smoky Mountain Fiber Arts Festival

Hosted by the Townsend Artisan Guild and Fine Arts Blount.  This interactive fiber arts event connects the community with fiber arts activities.  The festival will include fiber animal exhibitions, contests, an arts exhibition, fashion show, workshops, educational demonstrations of fiber processes, spinning, weaving, needlecrafts, dyeing, hands-on projects with children and adults, Fiber Arts Market and more.  *Register for great classes BEFORE MARCH 7.

Saturday, April 3:  Herb and Wildflower Day, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

A tribute to the beauty and fascination of wildflowers, ferns, trees, and herbs.  Visit with expert botanists, photographers, and naturalists.  Buy locally grown plants, delicious baked goods, and fine hand-made pottery.  Take a short walk in the woods or a longer exploration of a special place.

April - early December, 2010: Arts and Crafts Exhibits and Demonstrations in the Visitor Center Exhibit Room

Visit with and buy directly from talented, local artists.

April 30 and May 1:  18^th Townsend in the Smokies Spring Festival and Old Timers Day, 9:00 am - 10:00 pm each day

Bluegrass music, Young Pickers Talent Contest, arts and crafts, Appalachian skills, wildflower walks and garden tours, storytelling, BBQ and other good food, antique cars and tractors.

Friday, June 4 and Saturday, June 5:  Smoky Mountain Pottery Festival

Enjoy the work of skilled artisans and see pottery being made at this juried show with 40 booths.  There will be demonstrations, featured guest potters, special firings, children’s tent, music, and good food.

September 24 and 25: 18^th Fall Heritage Festival and Old Timers Day, 9:00 am - 10:00 pm each day

Bluegrass music, arts and crafts, sorghum molasses making and other Appalachian skills, antique tractor show, young folks program, good food.

For more information click here or call the Visitors Center at 865-448-6134 or 800-525-6834.

Click here for a list of up-to-date road closures in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

ROAD CLOSURE ADVISORY:   Schedule of Cades Cove Loop Road Re-Construction

Great Smoky Mountains National Park managers have announced plans to rehabilitate the 11-mile Cades Cove Loop Road in the spring of 2010.  Due to the limitations on work processes posed by the narrow, single lane historic road the Park plans to close the road to all use from March 1 through May 21, 2010. The work is weather sensitive so the actual closing period could be influenced by the amount of rainfall.

According to Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent, Dale Ditmanson, “We looked at a full range of options to get the work done without totally closing this popular road, but all would have involved sending traffic out of the Cove via the primitive, gravel Parson Branch Road onto U.S. 129 – a very long detour totally unsuited to carrying the 3-4,000 vehicles that enter the Cove each day. We also considered requiring nighttime work only, but due to the method of construction, ‘Full-depth Reclamation’, it is not possible to drive on the road the day after the sub-base is rebuilt.”

The “Full-depth Reclamation” process involves using specialized equipment that essentially roto-tills the existing pavement, mixes it with the underlying materials to a depth of six inches, then incorporates water and Portland cement. The resulting mix must harden for 5-7 days before it can support loads or receive the final paving.  The work will be completed under a contract from the Federal Highway Administration at an estimated cost of $4 to 6 million.

“The construction method selected eliminates the time, pollution and cost of milling of the old pavement and trucking hundreds of loads of it back to the asphalt plant for reprocessing. Instead the pavement is recycled in place, so it’s a much more environmentally responsible way of getting the work done.” Ditmanson said.

To help minimize the closure period, the contract will offer substantial financial incentives for completion ahead of schedule as well as imposing penalties for delays.

The road will remain a single lane, one-way byway, but the Park does plan to pave a number of informal pull-offs that are already in use, but badly eroded.  Managers hope that paving the pullouts will encourage drivers to pull over more when stopping to view wildlife, helping traffic to flow better as well as reducing erosion.

“I do want to make sure the public understands that, although the Loop Road will be closed, the rest of the activities that visitors come to the area for will still be available.” Ditmanson said, “The campground, picnic area, horseback riding stable and campground store will be operating as normal and any trails, except those accessed off the Loop Road, will also remain open. We will also work to make visitors aware of alternative destinations such as the Tremont or Elkmont areas that traditionally get light visitation, but have great scenic values as well as a variety of hiking opportunities.”

“To learn more about alternatives during the work period visitors can go to the Park’s website: http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/road-facility-improvments.htm, under “Planning your Visit” or stop at the Townsend Visitor Center on U.S. 321.  The Townsend center is operated jointly by the Smoky Mountain Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Great Smoky Mountains Association, so the staff is well-acquainted with the area and the Center stocks all the same informational materials as the our Cades Cove Center.“

How to get around the Smoky Mountains when Newfound Gap Road is closed (and I-40 is closed due to a rock slide).

Or click the link below to see a large version of the map.

 

 

 

Attachment	Size
Alternate route map around 441 and I-40 closures (pdf)	2.21 MB