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rancher1913
04-01-2018, 06:50 PM
Massive Sinkhole Growing in the Smoky Mountains to Become “Second Grand Canyon”
by Jason Fishman. Posted on April 1, 2018
A photo of a sinkhole in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
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This morning, the National Park Service confirmed the existence of a growing sinkhole in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. According to a press release from park officials, the sinkhole is not dangerous but it will eventually rival the Grand Canyon in size. We have summarized the National Park Service’s official announcement below.



A tweet from GSMNPNews about the sinkhole in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Discovery of the Sinkhole
As described in the press release, the sinkhole was first noticed on March 26, 2018, when volunteers from the Trails Forever crew were working in the national park’s backcountry. The crew members were returning from a picnic lunch about a quarter of a mile away from their worksite, when they found that all of their equipment had been swallowed up by a gaping hole in the ground.

Geologists from the National Park Service were alerted immediately, and after a visit to the site in question, the pit was identified as a sinkhole. Located near the Bone Valley Trail, the hole was around 0.7 mile long, 0.13 mile wide, and 0.2 mile deep at the time of its discovery. Since then, the sinkhole has grown exponentially. At the time of the press release, the crater was 2.4 miles long, 1.64 miles wide, and 0.51 mile deep. The area surrounding the hole was already closed to the public for trail restoration work, so park officials opted to delay making an announcement until all of the data had been analyzed.

Sinkholes, also known as cenotes or dolines, are naturally occurring depressions in the earth that are caused by a collapse on the surface layer of the ground. In the Great Smoky Mountains, it is believed that millions of years of rainwater gradually eroded the slightly soluble bedrock found in large swaths of the national park’s land. Although the erosion process can take place over millennia, the actual collapse preceding the formation of a sinkhole can be sudden and unexpected.

A map showing the growth of the sinkhole in the Smoky Mountains over time.

A map showing the expansion of the sinkhole over the next 12 months.

Another Grand Canyon
Experts anticipate that the sinkhole will continue to expand at a brisk rate in the coming months. By the spring of 2019, the chasm will likely span hundreds of thousands of acres, with a projected width, length, and depth slightly greater than that of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Once it reaches this size, geologists expect the crater to stabilize and stop growing.

In the official press release, the National Park Service’s chief geologist, Dr. Ari Kerstein, explains that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is extremely lucky that the sinkhole is developing where it is:

“If we are going to have a sinkhole, it could not have originated at a better spot. We are so fortunate that the hole is growing in a relatively remote area of the park, away from popular areas like Cades Cove and Clingmans Dome, not to mention the cities of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.”

Dr. Kerstein goes on to assure the public that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is completely safe to visit, as long as hikers stay out of the clearly marked restricted zone around the sinkhole. Once the sinkhole has completely stabilized next spring, the National Park Service plans to open the area to tourists. Kerstein explains:

“This sinkhole is, in fact, a blessing in disguise. Last year, over 6 million people visited the Grand Canyon in Arizona, and soon, we will have our very own Grand Canyon right here in the Smokies. Millions of years of erosion have created breathtaking rock formations that will reveal themselves for the very first time. Personally, I cannot wait to see the fully formed canyon in 2019.”

Artist's rendering of the Great Canyon in the Smoky Mountains.

Artist’s rendering of the Great Canyon in the Smoky Mountains.

Tours of the Canyon
Although it will still be about a year before the sinkhole is ready for public viewing, the National Park Service is already planning tours of the so-called “Great Canyon.” Here are some of the tentative ideas mentioned in the press release:

• The park is considering installing a Glass-bottom Skywalk overlooking the sinkhole, similar to the one owned by the Hualapai tribe at Grand Canyon West. The Skywalk would provide incredible panoramic views of the Great Canyon.

• Assuming the naturally occurring pathways in the canyon are wide enough, the park plans to offer llama tours of the sinkhole. As hikers along the Grotto Falls Trail may know, llamas are already used in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to carry supplies to the LeConte Lodge at the top of Mount LeConte.

• If the National Park Service can find a local business to partner with, there will likely be a bungee jumping station at the Great Canyon. Visitors will have the chance to dive off of the Skywalk for an exhilarating plunge into the heart of the sinkhole.

For the latest information on the Great Canyon, don’t check back here. This entire story has been an April Fools’ Day joke! As far as we know, there aren’t any massive sinkholes hiding in the Smoky Mountains. To learn real facts about the national park, check out our guide to 9 Things You’ll Only Find in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Geezer in NH
04-01-2018, 08:31 PM
Note released on April First. Happy April Fools day I'll wager

SciFiJim
04-01-2018, 08:48 PM
Cool! A nearby large canyon to visit on both sides of the continent.

Mr_Sheesh
04-01-2018, 09:17 PM
Lucky for the volunteers that they were away for lunch, IF it's not a April 1st prank. Tools can be replaced...

starmac
04-01-2018, 10:05 PM
Well if it is not an Aprils fools joke, we have a bunch of scientist that are full of themselves.

Tom W.
04-02-2018, 12:04 AM
My wife and I love the GSMNP. I showed her this and she almost threw the tablet back at me!

Thin Man
04-02-2018, 05:49 AM
Wasn't this same message posted a few years ago, and even then on April 1? We live right beside the Smokies and would never trade their beauty for a permanent ocean side location, but like to visit those on occasion for a brief change of scenery. The beauty of the beach is that we always get to return to real beauty at home.

MUSTANG
04-02-2018, 09:35 AM
The gullibility of the Citizenry often amazes me. Only through being extremely young; or due to our poor education in Sciences, Math, and History could such a ridiculous story be accepted as fact. The Grand Canyon is almost 2,000 square miles in size, the impact to population would be immense if such a "Sink Hole" event occurs.

rancher1913
04-02-2018, 10:23 AM
you guys should reread the last paragraph. it was more believable with the photos but they did not transfer over with the text.

reloader28
04-02-2018, 10:40 AM
Obviously nobody on here finishes reading anything. It says April Fools at the bottom

Cosmic_Charlie
04-03-2018, 10:43 AM
And the blessed virgin was seen playing cards in the bottom!

10-x
04-04-2018, 08:35 AM
Didnt think about April 1 st when reading this but knew it to be total BS, have friends and family nearby and been going all my life, even had property there, just cant deal with Cold weather. " Arthur" keeps telling me, go south. Good one for folks that live way west.

bikerbeans
04-05-2018, 11:07 PM
It would great if this sinkhole was one, true and two, located inside the D.C. beltway.

BB

Circuit Rider
04-06-2018, 08:51 AM
bikerbeans, Double Ditto on that CR

Blackwater
04-06-2018, 02:16 PM
Wow! I wonder if it'll wind up with a lake at the bottom? The Smokies are one of, if not THE most beautiful places on this earth, IMHO. God ain't trough with us or this world YET! His hand carve amazing things that not even all of us together could ever conceive of, or accopmplish! Things like this are very, very humbling, aren't they?

Mr_Sheesh
04-06-2018, 03:15 PM
For the latest information on the Great Canyon, don’t check back here. This entire story has been an April Fools’ Day joke! As far as we know, there aren’t any massive sinkholes hiding in the Smoky Mountains. To learn real facts about the national park, check out our guide to 9 Things You’ll Only Find in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Twas an April Fools thing, Blackwater.