News Release

Update on US441/Newfound Gap Road overnight closure

Date: October 5, 2024

The National Park Service will continue to temporarily close US441/Newfound Gap Road from 10 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. each evening for the safety of all drivers. The park is turning away commercial vehicles at checkpoints during the day, but is not currently able to staff the checkpoints overnight.  

The park continues to see an influx of illegal, large commercial vehicles attempting to travel the road. While the NPS recognizes that major routes outside the park are currently closed, Newfound Gap Road is not safe for large, commercial vehicles. Newfound Gap Road is a two-lane road with steep continuous grades and tight curves. There are no truck lanes, runaway truck ramps or places for a large commercial vehicle to slow down and pull over.  

In a 24-hour period, the park turned away more than 45 large commercial vehicles during the day, and overnight, responded to two significant incidents. In one incident, a car hauler crashed into a wall and down an embankment and in the other, a semi-truck’s brakes caught on fire. While responding to these incidents, eight semi-trucks drove past emergency responders.  

The park is working on options that prevent commercial vehicle travel without closing the road overnight, but we don’t have a timeline.