Newfound Gap
{{Short description|Mountain pass in the Great Smoky Mountains}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox mountain pass
| name = Newfound Gap
| photo = Revised Rockefeller Memorial at Newfound Gap IMG_5140.JPG
| photo_caption = Rockefeller Memorial at Newfound Gap
| elevation_ft = 5048
| elevation_ref = {{cite gnis|id=1000706|name=Newfound Gap|accessdate=November 28, 2014}}
| traversed = Newfound Gap Road
Appalachian Trail
|location=North Carolina
Tennessee
United States
| range = Great Smoky Mountains
|coords = {{coord|35.6112063|N|83.4248814|W|type:pass|display=inline,title|format=dms}}
| topo = USGS Clingmans Dome
|embedded = {{Infobox road
|child=yes
|country=USA
|type=Npkwy
|route=Newfound Gap Road
|map=
|map_notes=
|maint=NPS
|length_mi=31.6
|established=
|direction_a=South
|terminus_a={{jct|state=TN|US|441}} in Cherokee
|direction_b=North
|terminus_b={{jct|state=TN|US|441}} in Gatlinburg
|states=North Carolina, Tennessee
|counties=Swain, NC; Sevier, TN
|system1={{infobox road/browselinks/USA|state=TN}}
|system2={{infobox road/browselinks/USA|state=NC}}
}}
}}Newfound Gap (el. {{convert|5048|ft|m}}) is a mountain pass located near the center of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park of the southern Appalachian Mountains in the United States. Situated along the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, the state line crosses the gap, as does Newfound Gap Road (which overlaps U.S. Route 441 through the park and ends at the park's boundaries near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and Cherokee, North Carolina). The Appalachian Trail also traverses the gap, as do a few other hiking trails.
Newfound Gap is home to the Rockefeller Memorial, a popular destination within the national park and the site from where President Franklin D. Roosevelt formally dedicated the park on September 2, 1940.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/historyculture/stories.htm |title=Stories |website=nps.gov |access-date=December 3, 2021}} According to the National Weather Service, Newfound Gap has around 19 snowy days per year. From 1991 to 2005, annual snowfall ranged from {{convert|43.5|in|cm}} to {{convert|106|in|cm}}.[http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mrx/skywarn/awareness/wwaw2008.pdf] {{dead link|date=November 2021}}
History
Prior to the development of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Newfound Gap was an undiscovered pass two miles east of what was long thought to be the lowest mountain pass over the Great Smoky Mountains, Indian Gap.{{cite web|url=http://theblueridgehighlander.com/scenic_drives/tennessee/newfound_gap_road/index.html |title=The New Blue Ridge Highlander |publisher=Theblueridgehighlander.com |date= |accessdate=2013-04-17}} Indian Gap Road, an unpaved, arduous trail frequented by traders, farmers, and even by the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, was completed in 1839 and named after the old Cherokee Indian trail that the road paralleled. Newfound Gap was not recognized as the lowest gap over the mountains until 1872, when Arnold Guyot measured many of the mountains in the area and determined the "Newfound Gap" to be a lower, more accessible mountain pass.
Climate
{{Weather box
|location = Newfound Gap, Tennessee, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1991–present
|single line = Y
|Jan record high F = 65
|Feb record high F = 68
|Mar record high F = 77
|Apr record high F = 80
|May record high F = 86
|Jun record high F = 92
|Jul record high F = 90
|Aug record high F = 85
|Sep record high F = 82
|Oct record high F = 87
|Nov record high F = 72
|Dec record high F = 70
|Jan avg record high F = 55.2
|Feb avg record high F = 57.5
|Mar avg record high F = 65.8
|Apr avg record high F = 74.4
|May avg record high F = 77.6
|Jun avg record high F = 79.5
|Jul avg record high F = 81.7
|Aug avg record high F = 79.1
|Sep avg record high F = 76.3
|Oct avg record high F = 71.7
|Nov avg record high F = 63.6
|Dec avg record high F = 56.7
|year avg record high F = 83.4
| Jan high F = 39.0
| Feb high F = 41.9
| Mar high F = 49.3
| Apr high F = 58.3
| May high F = 66.0
| Jun high F = 70.9
| Jul high F = 73.7
| Aug high F = 72.3
| Sep high F = 67.8
| Oct high F = 59.3
| Nov high F = 50.2
| Dec high F = 42.7
|year high F = 57.6
|Jan mean F = 30.6
|Feb mean F = 33.3
|Mar mean F = 39.4
|Apr mean F = 48.0
|May mean F = 56.4
|Jun mean F = 62.4
|Jul mean F = 65.5
|Aug mean F = 64.4
|Sep mean F = 59.6
|Oct mean F = 50.3
|Nov mean F = 41.2
|Dec mean F = 34.7
|year mean F = 48.8
| Jan low F = 22.2
| Feb low F = 24.6
| Mar low F = 29.6
| Apr low F = 37.8
| May low F = 46.8
| Jun low F = 53.8
| Jul low F = 57.3
| Aug low F = 56.5
| Sep low F = 51.3
| Oct low F = 41.2
| Nov low F = 32.3
| Dec low F = 26.7
|year low F = 40.0
|Jan avg record low F = -1.8
|Feb avg record low F = 4.4
|Mar avg record low F = 8.9
|Apr avg record low F = 19.4
|May avg record low F = 31.2
|Jun avg record low F = 43.0
|Jul avg record low F = 48.3
|Aug avg record low F = 48.0
|Sep avg record low F = 38.3
|Oct avg record low F = 24.3
|Nov avg record low F = 13.1
|Dec avg record low F = 6.7
|year avg record low F = -4.5
|Jan record low F = -16
|Feb record low F = -14
|Mar record low F = -6
|Apr record low F = 7
|May record low F = 21
|Jun record low F = 35
|Jul record low F = 36
|Aug record low F = 41
|Sep record low F = 25
|Oct record low F = 9
|Nov record low F = 5
|Dec record low F = -14
|precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation inch = 6.81
| Feb precipitation inch = 6.04
| Mar precipitation inch = 6.56
| Apr precipitation inch = 6.00
| May precipitation inch = 6.19
| Jun precipitation inch = 6.12
| Jul precipitation inch = 7.33
| Aug precipitation inch = 5.07
| Sep precipitation inch = 5.43
| Oct precipitation inch = 5.43
| Nov precipitation inch = 5.87
| Dec precipitation inch = 7.01
|year precipitation inch = 73.86
| unit precipitation days = 0.01 in
| Jan precipitation days = 13.5
| Feb precipitation days = 12.8
| Mar precipitation days = 13.2
| Apr precipitation days = 12.2
| May precipitation days = 14.8
| Jun precipitation days = 15.8
| Jul precipitation days = 16.9
| Aug precipitation days = 13.6
| Sep precipitation days = 11.1
| Oct precipitation days = 10.3
| Nov precipitation days = 10.0
| Dec precipitation days = 12.2
| year precipitation days = 156.4
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{{cite web
|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USC00406500&format=pdf&dataTypes=MLY-TMAX-NORMAL,MLY-TMIN-NORMAL,MLY-TAVG-NORMAL,MLY-PRCP-NORMAL,MLY-SNOW-NORMAL
|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|title = U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access – Station: Newfound Gap, TN
|access-date = April 30, 2023
}}
|source 2 = National Weather Service
{{cite web
|url = https://www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=mrx
|publisher = National Weather Service
|title = NOAA Online Weather Data – NWS Knoxville
|access-date = April 30, 2023
}}
}}
Newfound Gap Road
File:Autumn colors 2023 on Newfound Gap Road.jpg
With the development of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park came the construction of a highway from Tennessee to North Carolina, completed in 1932—this time crossing Newfound Gap, replacing the defunct Indian Gap Road. North of the park, it is known as Great Smoky Mountains Parkway. The Gatlinburg Bypass, originally intended to be a part of the Foothills Parkway, extends out from the park to connect Newfound Gap Road south of town to the parkway north of town.
Despite its heavy winter snows, the pass is kept open all year, except during and just after winter storms. When closed, the snow route is a long detour around the east-northeast end of the park, using U.S. 321 and Interstate 40. The Tennessee side typically has heavier snow because of its north and northwestern exposure. Even when valley roads are clear and there is little snow in Gatlinburg (and almost none in Cherokee), Newfound Gap may have far deeper snow and will be closed for several hours after significant snowfall ends. Additionally, being in a national park, Newfound Gap Road is only treated by snowplows and a gravel-sand mix, as no chemicals can be used for snow removal due to their harm to the environment.
The road was closed for days after the Great Blizzard of 1993, when {{convert|5|ft|m}} of snow fell, and snowdrifts piled up to twice that.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [http://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm Great Smoky Mountains National Park]
- {{HAER |survey=TN-35-A |id=tn0278 |title=Great Smoky Mountains National Park Roads & Bridges, Newfound Gap Road, Gatlinburg, Sevier County, TN |photos=38 |color=2 |dwgs=1 |data=88 |cap=3}}
{{Gaps of the Appalachian Mountains}}
Category:Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Category:Mountain passes of North Carolina
Category:Mountain passes of Tennessee
Category:Landforms of Sevier County, Tennessee
Category:Landforms of Swain County, North Carolina
Category:Transportation in Sevier County, Tennessee