Park access restored
Temporary road allows visitors to launch
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Before the boat launching ramp was reopened to visitors last Friday at Anderson County Park, these two fishermen on Friday morning chose to launch their boat in the park’s campground area, which normally is reserved for use by campers only. - G. Chambers Williams III
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This temporary access road to reach the main boat launch area, beach and picnic area at Anderson County Park was opened to traffic on Friday (March 7). The area had been closed since part of Park Lane slid down the bank of Norris Lake on Feb. 21, forcing the park staff to close the entrance temporarily. - G. Chambers Williams III
Anderson County Park reopened to visitors Friday afternoon after a park crew completed a temporary access road and opened it to traffic to allow people to bring boats to the launch area, and to use the picnic and beach areas, Park Manager Ben Taylor said Monday.
“It’s working out well so far,” he said. “There was a fishing tournament out here Saturday, with about 25 boats coming in.”
The entrance to the main park area had been closed since Friday, Feb. 21, when a short section of Park Lane collapsed along the bank of Norris Lake near the entrance to the park.
That did not affect the campground, whose entrance is just before the collapse area.
On Friday morning before the temporary access road opened, some visitors were launching their boats at the ramp in the campground, even though signs there say it’s open to campers only.
Just the northbound lane, on the lake side, collapsed down the bank, but there were concerns that more of the road could fall as well, which led park officials to close the road rather than allowing traffic to try to use the unaffected lane to bypass the collapsed section.
Although no cause was given for the collapse, it did occur after the previous week’s heavy rains caused Norris Lake to fill to more than three feet above its normal summer water level, creating some flooding in low-lying areas.
On Sunday, however, the lake was back at its winter level, ready to catch the runoff of the usual spring rains.
