TOWNSEND, Tenn. — Fans of Cades Cove in the Smokies can drive to the popular site in the national park one day earlier than expected.
Laurel Creek Road will reopen to traffic by 7 a.m. Saturday, according to Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) spokesperson Dana Soehn.
The 11-mile loop will also open at 7 a.m., a few minutes before sunrise.
Laurel Creek Road is the only route visitors can drive to get to Cades Cove. It has been closed since January 6 while crews repaired the Bote Mountain Tunnel. The road was originally scheduled to reopen Sunday, March 1.
National Park Service statistics show the number of overall GSMNP visitors dropped 11.7 percent in Jan. 2020 compared to Jan. 2019.
The park entrance hit the hardest was Townsend, where visitor traffic decreased 52.3 percent in Jan. 2020 compared to Jan. 2019.
"With regards to our friends and neighbors here in Townsend, it's been a long winter. It's been a tough two months," said Mark Oldham, owner of the Dancing Bear Lodge and Apple Valley in Townsend. "We have not felt the effects as much as other businesses."
RELATED: Jan. 23, 2020 - Bote Mountain tunnel repairs make progress; road to Cades Cove reopens in March
Oldham said with six-months notice of the tunnel closure, they were able to plan for guests to visit the many other attractions in the Smokies. Now that the road is set to reopen, they no longer have to sell people on missing out on Cades Cove.
"Now that it's open, of course we're going to shout it from the top of our lungs. Of course we're going to make hay. Because it's fantastic. We love it. Cades Cove is a wonderful attraction," said Oldham.
Photographer Barry Spruce at the Cades Cove Gallery made plans to deal with the closure during January and February. Spruce is glad the construction project remained on-schedule and said reopening one day early is significant.
"To be able to open on a Saturday instead of a Sunday, everybody's going to be excited about this weekend and I think it'll be really busy," said Spruce. "Everybody's just been trying to get through the last two months, waiting for the tourists to come back."
Spruce also looks forward to visiting a beloved landscape.
"There a lot of people that have to get their Cades Cove fix. I'll probably be in line maybe an hour and a half before the scheduled opening, which is sunrise," said Spruce.
There's still some remaining construction work at the Bote Mountain Tunnel. At times from March through mid-June, crews may close one lane of traffic. Visitors should anticipate the chance of delays driving to and from Cades Cove.