Landslide closes NC-Tennessee mountain highway on Saturday, rangers say

Joe Marusak, The Charlotte Observer on Aug 2, 2025

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A landslide closed a busy highway in the North Carolina and Tennessee mountains on Saturday, National Park Service rangers said.

U.S. 441/Newfound Gap Road in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is closed until further notice due to road damage, rangers said at 2 p.m.

Late Friday, rangers responded to reports of a landslide on Newfound Gap Road between mile markers 12 and 13 on the Tennessee side of the park, according to a Park Service alert. That’s south of Alum Cave trailhead.

“Heavy rainfall caused Walker Camp Prong to swell and undermine part of the roadway,” rangers said in the alert.

The National Park Service continued to assess the structural integrity of the damaged section Saturday afternoon, along with Federal Highway Administration officials.

“The affected area spans approximately 100 feet and has significantly undercut nearly the entire width of the southbound lane,” according to the alert.

Drivers planning travel between the states should use Interstate 40, rangers said.

Rangers intend to partially open U.S. 441/Newfound Gap Road on the North Carolina side of the park from Oconaluftee to Newfound Gap early next week, according to the Park Service.

That will allow access to Kuwohi from the North Carolina side of the park.

Formerly Clingmans Dome, the sacred Cherokee Indian site is the highest point in both Tennessee and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. At 6,643 feet, Kuwohi also is the third highest peak east of the Mississippi.

“U.S. 441 to Tennessee (Newfound Gap) is closed until further notice due a landslide on the TN side that has caused road damage,” the tribe posted on social media.

The landslide followed intense storms Friday night across the mountains and the rest of North Carolina.

A 22-year-old Bryson City woman died in a two-car wreck on Interstate 40 in Catawba County during heavy rains around 7 p.m., the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said. Gabriella Elise Cruz died at the scene, troopers said.

At least 18,000 Charlotte-area Duke Energy customers and 23,500 statewide lost power, and at least 537 flights were delayed at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.