GRANDFATHER, N.C. — Another section of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina has reopened, the National Park Service announced Wednesday.
These sections, west of Asheville, added nearly 55 miles to the approximately 20 miles reopened last week. Most of the parkway in North Carolina remains closed because of extensive storm damage from Helene.
The sections reopened on Wednesday are:
- Milepost 411.8 at US 276 to milepost 421 at Black Balsam. This includes Graveyard Fields overlook and trailheads at milepost 418.8.
- Milepost 423.2 at NC 215 to milepost 469 at US 331 in Cherokee near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park entrance. This includes the adjacent Heintooga Spur Road to the Masonic marker. This also includes the Waterrock Knob Visitor Center and Park Store at milepost 451.2, which will be open daily from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. until Nov. 11
The section of Blue Ridge Parkway between milepost 421 to 423.2 remains closed because of a landslide. This closure includes Devil's Courthouse.
This map from the National Park Service shows the sections of the parkway that remain closed:
The approximately 20-mile section near Blowing Rock reopened earlier this month. Most of the parkway in Virginia has also been reopened.
Since Helene, most of the scenic parkway in North Carolina has been closed.
"We realize how critical the Parkway is for our region,” Tracy Swartout, the Blue Ridge Parkway superintendent, says in a statement earlier this month. “While much work remains, we are prioritizing our efforts in less-damaged areas that have the most impact for community connectivity, and that we are able to reopen safely."
The National Park Service has deployed its Eastern Incident Management Team to clear debris from the roadway. Over 100 National Park Service employees from 37 states and the District of Columbia are working on recovery efforts along the parkway, the park service has said previously.
"We are anticipating opening additional sections of the Parkway that support adjoining communities, soon," Swartour wrote.
The Blue Ridge Parkway runs 469 miles through North Carolina and Virginia. It transitions to US 411 in Cherokee, North Carolina. US 411 continues from western North Carolina through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park into Tennessee. The National Park Service reopened that stretch of US 411 to traffic earlier in the month. US 411 provides an alternative to drivers in the absence of Interstate 40, which has remained closed between the two states since the storm. However, commercial vehicles are prohibited from using both US 441 and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The idea to construct the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway dates back to 1933. Portions of the construction was funded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal public works programs.
Across western North Carolina, the North Carolina Department of Transportation says it will take several billion dollars to restore the state's damaged roadways. The federal government has pledged support specifically to repair I-40 and I-26.
The Associated Press contributed to this story