Crack in the Blue Ridge Parkway. Click to enlarge. Image by Jennifer Mesk Photography.
Closure Includes Craggy Gardens
UPDATE 8-5-13: Repair work has begun.
UPDATE 7-23-13: An Asheville news outlet is reporting that Parkway officials hope to open at least one lane by Labor Day as a temporary measure during the busy fall season.
UPDATE 7-21-13: The National Park Service has provided a detour map at this link for alternate routes around the closing.
Heavy rains over the last few weeks look to have caused a 1oo-foot-long, 3-inch-wide crack in the Parkway. The crack is at Milepost 374 near Ox Ford Road. The road is now closed from Milepost 355 at Mount Mitchell to Milepost 375 just north of Asheville. This includes the Craggy Gardens area.
Parkway officials say the crack is in the middle of the roadway near Tanbark Tunnel and is likely caused by a “slope failure” due to the heavy rains the region has experienced this summer.
From the official NPS Real-Time Road Closure Map.
View the official National Park Service Road Closure Map for more details.
The road closure duration is indefinite at this time. We will update this post with more information as it becomes available.