Linville Gorge Amphitheater Access

Wondering if anyone has been down to the amphitheater in Linville gorge since the hurricanes? Looking at taking a trip this month but wanted to see if we could get down there before committing to the drive. 

A few people have been down there to ice climb in the past two weeks on the amp headwall. I assume the trail down to the base of the daddy and the prow is fine. Could just rap to get passed the top half of the scramble down but would still probably be faster to just scramble down. I'm sure you know but the road to Table is closed so you'll have to park at spence ridge and hike up. Adds about 1.5 miles both ways 

There are a lot of trees down on either side of the road and you have to hike up to table rock because the gate is closed. But honestly there are not that many trees down between the parking lot and the amphitheater. I think it’s because the trees on the ridge are so short. 

Does anybody know when the road to Table Rock will be opened?

Zach Giddenswrote:

Does anybody know when the road to Table Rock will be opened?

I feel like I remember the road always opens up sometime in March, maybe 3/1. I may just be talking out of my ass tho, it should open soon though.

April 1st

Someone asked about this in the WNC climbers group on FB and someone else replied:

"I talked with a ranger at the nebo office. They are not anticipating opening the gate on april first, they are hoping for mid summer. They had to cut in to get outward bound out after helene because they ignored the evacuation and closure orders and were trapped. From the above it sounds like they came in from the morganton side instead of ginger cake, I didnt ask. She said only a small section of the paved road was damaged and they already had it scheduled for repair. All of this was before valentine's day and the massive cuts so this information maybe less accurate now. The bigger problem was a large slide onto the paved road on one of the switchbacks. Given what I'm still seeing where I live in McDowell county having chainsaw in the back might still be a good idea because there are still quite a few falling."

So I guess call the rangers to check seeing as it's all up in the air this year?

Also heard from a guide that it will probably not open up on April 1st this year. You can get up to the regular gate right at the start of the paved part if you come in from the Morganton side. Some people have walked up that way this year instead of parking at Spence Ridge. On the Gingercake side, there's a gate right after Spence Ridge blocking you from continuing further.