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Work continues to make Alum Cave Trail safer, creating stable bridges and adding handrails

Work on the popular hike started on Feb. 8 and is expected to continue as crews make it safer.

Alum Cave Trail, one of the most popular in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, will be closed on weekdays in February for bridgework.

On Feb. 26, officials said that park workers were using power and hand tools to replace footlogs along the trail, making the trail safer for hikers journeying it. They were also making more stable bridges before adding handrails as the final step before completing the work.

The trail will be open Fridays-Sundays, and it will be open on Presidents Day, Feb. 15.

The week-day closures begin Monday, Feb. 8, and continue through Feb. 25, according to the National Park Service.

   

The closure affects associated parking lots as well.

NPS will replace two foot-log bridges over some water near the Arch Rock area.

"In order to efficiently replace the foot-log bridges along the narrow trail corridor, a full closure is necessary for the safety of the crew and visitors," NPS said in a statement Wednesday.

Alum Cave takes hikers up to Mount LeConte and the lodge.

Alternative ways of getting to the top remain, including The Boulevard and the Trillium Gap Trail.

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