ROAD TO NOWHERE NC HOW TO
How to get there: The Road to Nowhere is about a 15-minute drive from downtown Bryson City, located about six miles into Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The federal government promised to rebuild the road at the time, but over time, it proved too expensive and posed environmental challenges so the “Road to Nowhere” remained. Explore the Road to Nowhere, a unique abandoned tunnel in North Carolina One of the best decisions my family has ever made was to move to North Carolina.With three distinct and geographically diverse regions, North Carolina has natural beauty and recreation opportunities that are nearly endless. This little six-mile gem has quite a history. The road got its name from a dispute in the 1930s and 40s when Swain County decided to give up its land to the. Last post by mcummins 5:14 PM - 4 days ago T21:58 Migration to Tapatalk. Road to Nowhere in North Carolina leads to a 1,200-foot tunnel that you can explore. Residents were forced to move and the road that once connected the tunnel was buried. Looking for a new adventure Try the Road to Nowhere and hope you return. The Road to Nowhere always leads to Liason. The graffiti-filled tunnel to you-guessed-it nowhere is a quirky, but fun tourist attraction a little over three hours west of Charlotte.īackstory: Around the time of World War II, Swain County gave a majority of its land to the federal government to build the Fontana Lake (and dam) and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Jim Parham includes the Tunnel Loop in his Wildflower Walks & Hikes guide, due out in the spring of 2018.Īs you go, remember you’re taking a walk into history.If you’re looking for North Carolina’s famous “Road to Nowhere,” just follow the dead end signs in the outskirts of Bryson City. We parked and walked a small section of the Noland Creek. It’s also worth it to take a flashlight if you have one, Bernstein recommends, because it’s dark in the middle and otherwise you’ll literally be relying on the “light at the end of the tunnel.” And don’t forget to sing–the reverb is amazing. If you’re a wildflower enthusiast and continue along the trail, you can expect to see various plants in bloom in spring, summer, and fall. The Road to Nowhere is literally that - a road that simply stops in the middle of the wilderness. The Road to Nowhere tunnel allows foot travel only, and it’s worth it to walk through.
ROAD TO NOWHERE NC FREE
For those who wish to visit cemeteries where their ancestors are buried, the Park service provides free boat transportation across the lake and a shuttle as close as vehicles can get to the cemeteries.” Compensation to Swain county is slow in coming. Though the Park is now protected and the North Shore Road will never be built, Congress still has to approve the funds to settle the 1943 agreement. It provides spectacular views of Fontana Lake and the Appalachian Mountains and was originally named Lakeview Drive, but since the road was never completed (as the government promised) residents.
“In December 2007,” Bernstein writes, “the Department of the Interior decided on a $52 million monetary settlement to Swain county instead of a road through one of the most pristine and untouched areas in the East. Bryson City, NC - The Road To Nowhere, as most local residents call it, is a 6-mile scenic drive into the North Carolina side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park where it dead-ends. The tunnel, she says, “is at the end of the “Road to Nowhere,” a remnant of Lakeview Drive, originally intended to replace NC 288,” the road into to the newly added northern end of the park which was flooded when TVA built Fontana Dam during World War II, creating the “north shore.” In the early 1960s, 6.2 miles of the replacement road were built from the tunnel entrance to the Park, but the project was halted when road builders hit acid-bearing rock that would cause serious water contamination. Nine miles outside of town, that tunnel is 365 feet long and leads directly to the 33.5-mile Lakeshore Trail, which approximates the route of the North Shore Road, a proposed auto route through the Park that was never built. A section of Lakeshore Trail is also part of the longer Benton MacKaye Trail.ĭanny Bernstein writes about the tunnel, and the trail, in Hiking the Carolina Mountains. Perhaps most well known is Bryson City’s Deep Creek Campground and trailhead, but did you know there are two entrances to the Park at Bryson City? The second one doesn’t have a campground, but it does have a tunnel through the mountainside. The North Carolina side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park is often called its quiet side. Allegedly the workers building the tunnel dug into an old indian burial ground and people starting dying/experiencing paranormal happenings, so they ceased.
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