441 winter time closures?

[ATL Backpacker]

Looking at a trip next month down the Thomas Divide trail starting at 441. Was mulling the possibility of wintertime 441 closure preventing us from getting to the trail head (or back to the trail head via shuttle) when I came across the below on the NPS website. I know anything is possible in the Smokies with regards to weather and it's impossible to predict a month in advance. But are 441 closures near/at the top fairly common during the winter?

Roads and Facilities
• Newfound Gap Road (US-441) is subject to occasional nighttime closures in winter due to ice forming on wet road surfaces at high elevation when the temperature drops in the evening. This may occur even when roads in the lower elevations are clear and dry. Please check the status of the road via the twitter account listed above before traveling to the park.

[TNhiker]

it all depends upon weather......

they will close it down if there's significant snow or ice........

and closures during winter can be quite common......

i believe they closed the road down last week when the park was getting flurries at bottom and accumulation at higher elevations....

best idea is to call the road hotline (i dont have number handy) when you are about to do trip......and watch weather forecasts.....

[Tipi Walter]

I got hit one year with an impassable road up into the high ground and got dropped off lower and hiked on the road in the snow the rest of the way up the mountain. They can't exactly stop you from hiking on 441 in the snow, and at the top the AT crosses so ya gotta reach it somehow.

[TNhiker]

yeah....

by closing it---i mean to vehicles...

one can still hike or ski the roads when closed........

[madgoat]

I have seen 441 closed in bad weather to all traffic except 4WD and snow chains. Not sure if they do that anymore, but 4WD may increase your chances...

[The Solemates]

from my experiences 441 closes quite frequently. its never stopped us, because we rarely park up there. usually we find out the road is closed when we cross at newfound gap.

[TNhiker]

That would be clingmans dome road that crosses at the gap...

one would find out at the bottom of the hills if 441 (newfound gap road) is closed....

[The Solemates]

That would be clingmans dome road that crosses at the gap...

one would find out at the bottom of the hills if 441 (newfound gap road) is closed....

No, The trail crosses 441 at newfound. It does not cross clingmans rd (ever).

[HooKooDooKu]

If you look at the archive of the GSMNP web cams, you will see that on any given winter day, the odds are that their is NOT snow on the ground. After all, the climate average shows that the day-time high temperatures, even at Clingman's Dome, usually climb above 32º.

But of course snow will close 441 from time-to-time. However, because it is considered a major roadway that links the two sides of the mountains, the road does get plowed and they try to get it back open as soon as reasonably possible.

If I were you, I'd go ahead and plan for my Thomas Divide hike. The odds are against the roads being closed, and you could always plan on using Kanati or Newton Bald trail as an alternative.