Gatlinburg Bypass Will Close For Bridge Repair During Jeep Invasion

Thankfully, the beautiful overlook seen above will remain open to the public!

Despite the fact the Jeep Club Invasion will be held at the LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge August 22-24, Gatlinburg sees a spillage of the off-road style vehicles during that week. I know many of them love to joyride in the National Park, but that will not happen in one such section—the Gatlinburg Bypass from the overlook, to Newfound Gap Road. From the spur that connects Pigeon Forge to Gatlinburg, this is located about a mile past the Welcome Center on the right.

If you have a Jeep and are hoping to take this route, you’ll have to get here a bit earlier, as the Bypass will close the evening of Wednesday, August 21 and isn’t expected to reopen until Sunday evening, August 25. Crews will be installing a new bridge deck, in addition to cleaning drainage ditches, repairing damaged guardrails, removing litter, and other routine roadside maintenance.

This project is being done thanks to the $11 million dollars in investment from the Great American Outdoors Legacy Act Restoration Fund, which included the rehabilitation of a two-mile stretch of Newfound Gap Road. After beginning the project in April, it is set to be completed by the end of September, just in time for leaf-peeping season.

The good news is the overlook you see in the picture at the top will remain open to the public, as it can be accessed by Campbell Lead Road, instead of the Gatlinburg Bypass during this weekend. Please keep this in mind if you’ll be traveling here and want to get some spectacular pics of Gatlinburg and the mountains beyond, most especially, the majestic Mt. LeConte!

Thank you for reading and subscribing to A Gatlinburg NOW Publication! I will have new posts in the next week or so involving a few more fall events in Gatlinburg, plus plans to potentially review a new restaurant I have on my list of yet-to-visit eateries. Stay tuned for that and much more, and if you can, please share my content with friends who might find my publication helpful for their own Gatlinburg vacation!