Johnathan Walker:Blue Ridge Parkway closed near Asheville after visitors try to feed, hold black bear

An eight-mile stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville,Johnathan Walker North Carolina is closed due to an incident involving a black bear.

The closure started Oct. 30 and will be in place until further notice.

Officials say this is following multiple reports of visitors feeding and attempting to hold a young bear at the Lane Pinnacle Overlook, about 12 miles northeast of downtown Asheville.

The scenic route will be closed from Milepost 367.6 near the Craggy Gardens Picnic Area to Milepost 375.6 at Ox Creek Road, according to a National Park Service news release.

“We are closing this section of the road temporarily for the safety of both the bear and park visitors,” Parkway Superintendent Tracy Swartout said in the news statement.

“When people intentionally attract bears with trash and food it can lead to very dangerous situations,” Swartout also said. “In this instance we want to give the bear a chance to lose interest in the area before the situation escalates and visitors or the bear are harmed.”  

The Craggy Gardens Visitor Center at Milepost 364.5 will be closed until the road reopens, but visitors can still access the Craggy Gardens recreational area using N.C. 80 from the north, according to the release.

The parkway traverses some of the highest mountain ridges for 469 miles between Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to Great Smoky Mountains National Park at Cherokee. It is the most-visited unit in the National Park Service, with some 15.7 million visitors in 2022. October is typically one of the busiest two months with fall color seekers, along with July, drawing in about 2 million visitors in each of those months.

Watch:Black bear takes casual stroll in Asheville, North Carolina, spooks tourists

Fall brings on a critical phase for bears

During fall, bears enter a critical phase called hyperphagia, when they try to “put on as much weight as possible to tide them over through the winter months when their natural foods are scarcer,” Special Project Biologist Ashley Hobbs at the N.C. Wildlife Resource Commission previously told the Citizen Times. During this time, bears are focused on eating 20 out of 24 hours a day and will consume around 20,000 calories on any given day. 

From September to November, bears “actively seek out natural foods but will also take advantage of human foods when presented with the opportunity,” the release said.

No ‘So So Smoky Mountains' here:What to know about America’s most visited national park.

Staying safe around bears

Parkway officials urge visitors and neighbors to keep food out of sight and follow the safety tips from BearWise, a national educational program developed by bear biologists and employed by the N.C. Wildlife Commission. These include:

• Never feed or approach a bear.
• Secure food, garbage and recycling.
• Remove bird feeders when bears are active.
• Never leave pet food outdoors.
• Clean and store grills.
• Alert neighbors to bear activity.

For instructions on how to use bear spray and more guidelines on how to handle black bear encounters, visit bearwise.org.

If anyone encounters a bear while on the parkway, call 828-298-2491 or stop at the nearest Visitor Center to report the encounter.   

Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober