The Southern Highland Reader

REGIONAL–Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) President and CEO Sutton Bacon will testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business tomorrow. The “Heroes of Small Business” hearing is scheduled for 10am.

An excerpt of a release published on SNEWS:

At the hearing Bacon will discuss NOC’s $48 million impact on western North Carolina’s economy and the company’s plans to open NOC’s Great Outpost, an 18,000-square-foot LEED certified flagship store in Gatlinburg, TN bordering the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

NOC’s Great Outpost is a rare example of dynamic small business expansion during the current economic slowdown, and Bacon will testify on the importance of innovation and new product development through tough times. The new store will occupy an anchor position in Gatlinburg’s downtown shopping and entertainment district, one of the most popular vacation destinations in the Southeast with over 14 million visitors annually, and will feature a wide selection of top outdoor apparel, camping, climbing, cycling, paddling, hiking and travel brands. When it opens it will become the largest retail store in Gatlinburg, creating approximately 55 jobs.

According to a recent Western Carolina University study, NOC, the nation’s largest outfitter, contributes $48 million to the economy of western North Carolina and supports over 579 full-time jobs in a region that had been reeling from a loss of traditional manufacturing jobs. Bacon’s testimony will emphasize the importance of outdoor recreation as a regional economic driver. According to the Outdoor Industry Association—of which Bacon is a board member—the outdoor industry sustains 6.5 million jobs and contributes $730 billion to the nation’s economy.

The release goes on to describe NOC’s 18,000 sq. ft. “Great Outpost” flagship store, soon to open in Gatlinburg.

Read the entire release here.

GSMNP–Great Smoky Mountains National Park has announced its spring opening schedule for Park facilities and availability of services.  Beginning this year, a variety of new concession services will be offered to visitors and new facilities will open. LeConte Lodge will provide day hikers and backpackers with an opportunity to buy a prepared bag or dining room lunch, beverages, and baked snacks at the lodge.  Cades Cove Riding Stables will begin offering wheelchair accessible carriage rides and hayrides.  In addition, new facilities nearing completion at Sugarlands Riding Stable include a modern wood and steel frame barn for housing horses, office, and hay shed.
A majority of campgrounds and secondary roads will open starting on Friday, March 13.  The schedule follows:

Roads–The secondary roads that are set to open on March 13 include:   Little Greenbrier, Rich Mountain, Straight Fork/Round Bottom, Forge Creek, and Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.  Clingmans Dome Road is set to open on April 1 and the Heintooga Ridge and Balsam Mountain Roads will open on May 8.  Parson Branch Road will have a delayed opening resulting from storm damage over the winter and is expected to open late spring.

Operating Hours for Visitor Centers – The three visitor centers are open daily and the operating hours through March are as follows:  Sugarlands Visitor Center, near Gatlinburg, TN, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Cades Cove Visitor Center, near Townsend, TN, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., and the Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee, NC, hours will be 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

The National Recreation Reservation Service (NRRS) provides visitors an opportunity to make reservations to many federally-managed recreation areas, including the National Park Service, all across the U.S.  The system allows campers to reserve specific campsites and to make reservations 6 months in advance.   In addition, group campsites and picnic pavilions can be reserved up to 12 months in advance.  To make reservations at three of the Park’s developed campgrounds, and all group campsites, horse camps, and picnic shelters, visitors can go to  “http://www.Recreation.Gov” www.Recreation.Gov or, alternatively, book reservations by calling 877-444-6777.

Campgrounds open on a staggered basis starting March 13. (See the following schedule for exact dates.)  Three of the Park’s 10 campgrounds are on NRRS from May 15-October 31: Cades Cove, Elkmont, and Smokemont. Cosby Campground has a limited number of reservable sites through NRRS.  Camping fees are $14 per site at the smaller, more primitive campgrounds, and $17-$23 at the larger campgrounds.

Campers have an opportunity to camp in “generator free” campsites at three campgrounds:  Cades Cove, Elkmont, and Smokemont campgrounds.   Campers can reserve a site in the generator-free loop sections of Cades Cove and Elkmont campgrounds.   At Smokemont, while there is no separate generator-free designation, loops A, B, and C are managed as tents only and are generator free, and RV campers who prefer a generator-free site may reserve a site in those loops.
Group Camping will be available at seven campgrounds (see schedule for opening dates) and reservations must be made through NRRS.  Group camping is available at Big Creek, Cataloochee, Cosby, Deep Creek, Elkmont, Cades Cove, and Smokemont.  The cost for group camping ranges from $26 to $65 per site/night.
Horse Camps at Anthony Creek, Big Creek, Cataloochee, Round Bottom, and Towstring will open April 1 and reservations are only available through NPRS.  The horse site fees are $20 at all horse camps except for Big Creek where it is $25.
Picnic Areas - There are 10 first-come, first-serve picnic areas.  Open all year are Big Creek, Cades Cove, Chimney Tops, Cosby, Greenbrier, Deep Creek, and Metcalf Bottoms.  Collins Creek Picnic Area will open on March 13 and Heintooga and Look Rock are scheduled to open on May 8.  The Park’s largest picnic pavilion at Twin Creeks opens on April 1 and reservations are required through NRRS only.  Twin Creeks fees range from $35-$75 depending on the number of people. In addition, picnickers can reserve five other picnic pavilions on NRRS.  They are located at Collins Creek, Cosby, Deep Creek, Metcalf Bottoms, and Greenbrier picnic areas.  The cost is $20, except at Greenbrier where it is $10.
Horseback Riding  - The opening dates for the three horseback concessions located on the Tennessee side of the Park are:  Smoky Mountain Riding Stable is open and the Sugarlands Riding Stable and the Cades Cove Riding Stable will open on March 21.   In addition to horseback rides which cost $25 per horse per rider, Cades Cove Riding Stable will offer their customary carriage rides and hay rides, but later in the season one of the new offerings will be wheelchair accessible carriage and hay rides.  The Smokemont Riding Stable in North Carolina will open April 1 and a will continue a service started last year that provides visitors with a chance to experience a horse-drawn wagon ride along the route of the historic Oconaluftee Turnpike.

LeConte Lodge, accessible only by trail, will open on March 23.  Reservations are required and can be made by calling 865/429-5704, fax 865/774-0045 or e:mail reservations@lecontelodge.com.  One night at the lodge costs $110 per adult and $85 for children 10 and under (tax not included).  The price includes two meals–dinner and breakfast.   For the first time this year, day hikers and backpackers can purchase a prepared bag or dining room lunch and snacks/beverages at the lodge.  Reservations are required for the dining room lunch.

Campground Concessions – The Cades Cove Campground Store is open.  The store provides groceries, camping supplies, firewood, ice, vending, limited food service, souvenirs, and bike rentals.  Continuing a service that was new in 2008, the Cades Cove store has multi-speed comfort or mountain bikes available for rent, in addition to single speed cruisers.  The Elkmont Campground concession will open March 13.  The concession provides firewood, ice, and vending of soft drinks, newspapers, and snacks.

CAMPGROUND SCHEDULE

North Carolina:

Campgrounds, Fee, Open, Group, Sites

*Smokemont    $17, $20    March 13    March 13
Balsam Mountain    $14    May 8
Deep Creek    $17    April 1    April 1
Big Creek    $14    March 13    March 13
Cataloochee    $17    March 13    March 13

Tennessee:

Campgrounds, Fee, Open, Group, Sites

*Cades Cove     $17, $20    Year-round    March 13
*Elkmont    $17, $20    March 13    March 13
Cosby    $14    March 13    March 13
Look Rock    $14    May 8
Abrams Creek    $14    March 13

*$20 per site during the reservation period May 15-October 31.  At Elkmont, riverside sites are $23 during reservation period only.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent Dale A. Ditmanson has announced that an 18 month-long project to repave 6.5 miles of thePark’s Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441) is set to begin on March 16.

Newfound Gap Road serves as the primary visitor access to many of the Park’s most popular trailheads and scenic overlooks and is a heavily-traveled north-south artery between the tourist hubs of Cherokee, NC, and Gatlinburg, TN. The section to be resurfaced extends from the Collins Creek Picnic Area intersection south to the Park’s boundary with Cherokee, NC.

The work will be performed under a $9,922,175 contract with APAC Atlantic, Inc., and will be funded and administered by the Federal Highway Administration’s Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division. Completion of the work is expected by September 1, 2010.

Superintendent Ditmanson said, “In negotiating this contract we made every effort to minimize the disruption to visitor access to Park attractions and to our gateway communities. The contract incorporates a variety of work restrictions that are tailored to avoid lane closures during the busiest periods.”

“However,” Ditmanson said, “Given that paving work cannot be done in the coldest months, we could not avoid some traffic delays and still get the work done within a reasonable time frame. Up until June 15 lane-closures can take place around the clock during the week, but will not be allowed between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. on weekends, holidays, or during Easter Week (April 10 through April 19). Weekends are defined as noon on Friday through 8:00 a.m. on Monday.”

From June 15 through August 15 no closures will be permitted at all between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.”

“We repaved the first ten miles of Newfound Gap Road in 2006 and 2007 using this same set of restrictions and found that inconvenience and complaints were very minimal,” Ditmanson concluded.

From August 16, 2009 through June 15, 2010, daytime lane closures will again be allowed except on weekends, and holidays. No work of any kind will be permitted during the month of October, on the day after Thanksgiving, or from December 23 through January 2. During periods when single lane closures are allowed the contractor may close up to four areas at a time but delays at each closure may not exceed 10 minutes at each location.

The Park has set up a new toll-free recording to provide current information on the status of any lane closures: 1-888-355-1849.

Information on unplanned or emergency road closures in the Smokies are always available at (865) 436-1200, ext. 631 (in Tennessee), or (828) 497-1909.

This section of road was last repaved in 1983 and is badly deteriorated. In addition to removal and replacement of old pavement, the contract includes widening and realignment of the road at the entrance to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center.

GATLINBURG-New York Times travel writer Austin Considine came to Gatlinburg as a Metallica-loving kid. Now as a committed urban-person, he’s back. He’s also more forgiving of the place than most of us are:

Looking at Gatlinburg’s strip with adult eyes, I wondered how much self-awareness was at work there. It would be easy for a city slicker to assume this place misses its own punch lines. In truth, I decided, it merely embraces that special brand of conscious kitsch that forms its own American kind of authenticity. With all its absurdities, Gatlinburg knows what it is and proclaims it loudly, from one flashing signboard to the next.

Read the piece here.