Questions about Route 441 crossing the Smokies into Gatlinburg, TN (Knoxville: home, university)

[MitchArk87]

Hello, residents of Eastern Tennessee!

I will be attending my sister's graduation from Clemson University in Clemson, SC.

Since I want to see Eastern Tennessee and the Smokies, I happen to have questions regarding Route 441 off Route 23 crossing the Smokies into Gatlinburg, TN from NC and Cherokee, TN on my way back home to Arkansas.

Is Route 441 open during winter (this month or December) to cross the Smokies?

Do I have to pay to use the route crossing the Smokies to get to Knoxville?

Any information you can share would be very helpful and deeply appreciated.

[bluebird865]

All roads in the Smokies are open year round...Just as long as theres no snow,ice,rock slides,trees down,etc....They stay open and no theres no fee to go from Cherokee to Gatlinburg...They used to charge a few bucks for each car awhile back but they don't anymore

[BarbG]

Before moving here, we took that route most of the time in Dec and Jan to get here. It's a gorgeous drive.

As the previous poster mentioned, the road does close due to inclement weather. Here's a link to check the day before and day of your trip:

Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Temporary Road and Facilities Closures (U.S. National Park Service)

They have a phone number listed on that page.

Enjoy your trip!

[creeksitter]

The odds are pretty low that 441 will be closed but it does happen. 129 is a lower elvation road, but it could be treacherous with any amount of snow. I am saying this because sometimes we will get snow at the higher elevations but it falls as rain lower. Sometimes it snows everywhere.

[MitchArk87]

Reply to the comments above:

Thank you very much for the useful information! I will keep a lookout for the weather. If weather permits, I will go down that way for sure since I heard it will be a beautiful, scenic drive.

Thanks,
Mitch