Newfound Gap
Address
Newfound Gap Rd/US Hwy 441
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
About Newfound Gap
Newfound Gap is the lowest pass through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The elevation at Newfound Gap is 5,046 feet above sea level. At almost a mile high this area can be up to 20 degrees cooler than the lower elevations. A drive on Newfound Gap Road (US Highway 441) from either Gatlinburg, TN (16 miles away) or Cherokee, NC (18 miles away) is like driving from north Georgia to Canada in terms of the diverse forest ecosystems you’ll experience.
Newfound Gap offers a large parking area for both cars and buses; it’s a very popular destination! The famous Appalachian Trail crosses the here and sometimes you’ll be lucky enough to spot some thru-hikers. Newfound Gap is also home to the Rockfeller Memorial where President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the National Park in 1934. Newfound Gap offers splendid views of the Oconaluftee Valley where in 1838 began the Cherokee’s Trail of Tears.
Just 1/2 mile sounth of Newfound Gap is the seven-mile Clingmans Dome Road which leads to the highest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at 6,644 feet in elevation. Due to snow Clingmans Dome Road is closed from December 1 to March 31.
Phone
865-436-1200
Website
www.nps.gov/grsm
