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The National Park Service has closed off eight miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway after reports that visitors were "feeding and attempting to hold a young bear."
Officials said that the portion of the scenic route from milepost 367.6 near the Craggy Gardens Picnic Area to milepost 375.6 at Ox Creek Road will remain closed until further notice.
Visitors will still be able to access the Craggy Gardens recreational area from the north by using NC80. However, the Craggy Gardens Visitor Center will remain closed.
"We are closing this section of the road temporarily for the safety of both the bear and park visitors," said Superintendent Tracy Swartout. "When people intentionally attract bears with trash and food, it can lead to very dangerous situations. 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 Blue Ridge Parkway is a 470-mile scenic route that begins in Waynesboro, Virginia, and ends in the Great Smokey Mountains near Cherokee, North Carolina.
The closure comes at a busy time for Blue Ridge Parkway as visitors flock to the scenic route for breathtaking views as the leaves change color in the fall.
According to CNN, Blue Ridge Parkway had 15.71 million visitors last year, making it the most-visited National Park Service site in 2022