by Jim Matheny
Note: This article was updated April 4, 2025, with more details and links regarding hiking trails, walking where the road is closed to vehicles, secondary vehicle entrances, and campground closures.
The Cataloochee area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park partially reopened at noon on Friday, April 4, 2025. This marks the first public access to Cataloochee since Hurricane Helene ravaged the region in late September 2024.
Watch the video below from our YouTube channel for a recent tour of the damage and an overview of what you can access with the partial reopening of Cataloochee.
Big picture: You are able to drive some places in Cataloochee but not everywhere. Most trails are open but some are missing bridges at stream crossings and have downed trees. Several historic structures require repairs. The campground will currently remain closed, unrelated to Helene damage.
Below is a more specific breakdown of where you are able to drive, what’s open, what’s closed, and the many needed repairs that will benefit from your support of Friends of the Smokies.
Cataloochee entrance and open roads
To reach the main entrance to Cataloochee from Interstate 40 in North Carolina, take Maggie Valley Exit 20 and immediately turn onto Cove Creek Road. This is a curvy two-lane road that changes to an unpaved surface after 4.5 miles. Continue another 1.3 miles on the dirt road to reach the park’s Cataloochee entrance gate, which is also the location of the Cataloochee Divide Trailhead.
Update: A secondary entrance, Old Cataloochee Turnpike (Old Highway 284), also reopened. However, the park does not encourage visitors to use this entrance. It is a long, curvy, and narrow route with steep drop-offs and no guardrails. The gates are often closed due to heavy rain or other severe weather. There are sections where the road is essentially one lane, forcing traffic to stop or back up to allow oncoming vehicles to pass. Furthermore, the Waterville exit on I-40 often used to reach this road is currently a chaotic location with traffic reduced to one lane in each direction and heavy construction equipment repairing the interstate. Cove Creek Road is the park’s recommended route to enter Cataloochee.
After passing through the gate at the recommended entrance on Cove Creek Road, continue winding your way on the unpaved road 1.8 miles. You’ll then turn left onto the paved Cataloochee Entrance Road (shown on some maps as Ranger Station Rd).
From here, the road is open to traffic for the next 4.7 miles until you reach the parking area and gate at Pretty Hollow Gap Trailhead, just across the creek from Beech Grove School.
All of the attractions along this route are accessible, including the Cataloochee Valley Overlook, the Messer Barn, and the Palmer Chapel where descendants of the community hold an annual homecoming each summer.
You can also turn and drive on Cataloochee Creek Road to reach the Jarvis Palmer House. The Palmer House features museum exhibits on the history of Cataloochee, a springhouse, and a large barn.
There is a public restroom across the road from the Palmer House. The grounds surrounding the restroom were damaged during Helene but have since been repaired.
End of the road, beginning of heavy damage
Vehicle access on Cataloochee Entrance Rd ends at the parking area at Pretty Hollow Gap Trailhead.
This is where you would normally be able to drive through a gate to cross a bridge over Palmer Creek at Beech Grove School. Then you could drive one mile with Rough Fork Creek on your left and open pastures for viewing elk on your right. Along the way, you’d pass a parking area at the historic Caldwell Barn and Hiram Caldwell House before ending at a parking area at Rough Fork Trailhead.
Helene obliterated this section of road. It also damaged many of the nearby historic structures.
The foundation of Beech Grove School needs repairs from flooding at the adjacent Palmer Creek.
There essentially is no road between Beech Grove School and Caldwell Place. The flooded creek dumped large rocks on much of the road, washed out ruts that are a few feet deep in places, and ripped up culverts. Some of the road remains under standing water.
Crews now reach Caldwell Barn by driving on a makeshift path along the edge of the fields, just a few feet from the old road. The park poured gravel on some of the muddier portions of the path.
Update: Visitors are allowed to walk in these areas but are urged to use extreme caution as there are many uneven surfaces with large ruts and ditches. As always, maintain a safe distance from elk and other wildlife.
Caldwell Place crashed
Helene hit the Caldwell Barn especially hard. The flood waters crashed through the barn, caved in multiple walls, ripped up staircases, and snapped some of the boards. The barn was built in the 1900s.
Update: You are able to walk to this area where the road is closed. Please do not enter the Caldwell Barn as it has structural damage.
Just across the creek from the barn, the Hiram Caldwell House avoided the worst flooding. However, its roof was damaged by the storm’s high winds and requires repairs.
With your support, Friends of the Smokies is helping the park with all of these repairs. Thank you to everyone for your license plates, donations, and support of our fundraising events. It truly makes a difference.
Hiking trails open but hindered
According to a release from the National Park Service, most trails in Cataloochee Valley are open. However, hikers should exercise extra caution as there are “still downed trees, rutted or damaged sections of trail, exposed tree root balls, and landslides.”
Another obstacle for hikers is the storm washed away many of the foot log bridges at water crossings. That’s the case at Caldwell Fork Trailhead just beyond the campground. Although you can drive directly to the trailhead, the large bridge that immediately crosses Cataloochee Creek is gone.
The force of Helene’s flood waters scattered the large stone abutments that stood in the creek and supported the log bridge. Orange cones now mark the spot along the roadside where crews have started to pile supplies to repair the bridge.
Update: Several Cataloochee trails are closed to horses due to unstable trail surfaces and tree debris. Check the latest trail conditions on the park’s website for the latest information on trail closures. For the most up-to-date information on road closures, check the park’s current conditions page.
Camping Currently Closed
At this time, the Cataloochee campground, group camp, and horse camp are not scheduled to open in 2025. The closure is unrelated to Helene. The campsites did not suffer lasting storm damage. Cataloochee is one of six campgrounds across the park currently scheduled to remain closed this year.
Update: The NPS press release announcing the reopening of Cataloochee said “the park will open additional campgrounds if operational capacity allows.” For now, the aforementioned six seasonal campgrounds remain closed in 2025.
Camping is currently available in 2025 at four campgrounds in the Smokies: Cades Cove, Smokemont, Elkmont, and Deep Creek. Cades Cove and Smokemont are the park’s two year-round campgrounds. Elkmont is open now through Nov. 30, 2025. Deep Creek opens April 18 through Nov. 30, 2025.
Friends Going Above and Beyond
Park crews have worked for several months to clear trees and other storm damage to partially reopen Cataloochee. This is an important first step on a long road to recovery. From the NPS news release, since September the park has addressed the following damage throughout Cataloochee:
- Re-graveled sections of Cataloochee Entrance Road, Cataloochee Creek Road, parking areas near Palmer House, and Cataloochee Group Camp Road.
- Completed emergency stabilization of Hiram Caldwell Barn.
- Addressed many downed and hazard trees around roads, campgrounds and buildings throughout the valley.
- Assessed trail conditions across 60 miles of trails and completed some trail restoration.
- Addressed significant erosion around Caldwell Barn and restrooms and Beech Grove School.
We are thankful for your generous gifts that help us help the park. Your support of Friends of the Smokies will assist with repairs in Cataloochee and other areas of the park impacted by Helene. Your donations and license plates are also supporting more than 50 other needed projects and programs in Great Smoky Mountains National Park that would otherwise go unfunded. We appreciate everyone who goes above and beyond as a Friend of the Smokies!
Learn more about how to get a Friends of the Smokies license plate at BearPlate.org. You can make a direct tax-deductible donation at our website. We are also grateful for those who pitch in at our donation boxes throughout the park. Every gift makes a significant difference for our beloved Smokies. Thank you, Friends!
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