Waterways

  • Blue Ridge Parkway is 469 miles of scenic roadway that connects the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee. For more information call (828) 298-0398.
  • Cherohala Skyway crossing through the Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests, from which it gets it’s name, this National Scenic Byway connects Robbinsville in North Carolina to Tellico Plains in Southeast Tennessee. For more information call (800) 470-3790.
  • Fontana Lake & Dam, located 35 miles West of Bryson City, is the highest dam in east of the Rockies. Towering 480 feet in height this dam backs water for 30 miles and provides a major source of energy. For more information call (828) 498-2226.
  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park, established in 1934, covers 520,408 acres of land with heights ranging from 840 feet at Abrams Creek to 6,643 feet at Clingmans Dome. For more information call (423) 436-1200.
  • Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest is a tribute to a hero whose poem “Trees” inspired millions. The Forest Service inaugurated the Little Santeelah as the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in 1935. For more information call (828) 479-6431.
  • Mountain Waters Scenic Byway takes you from from Highlands, NC to the Fontana Lake at Almond, NC. The Byway follows U.S. 64, old U.S. 64, SR 1310 (Wayah Road), and U.S. 19. Approximately 61 miles of nationally-recognized byway  winds through southern Appalachian hardwood forests, by numerous waterfalls and lakes and through two river gorges.For more information call (828) 526-3765.
  • Nantahala National Forest lies in the mountains and valleys of western North Carolina with elevations as high as 5,800 feet at Lone Bald in Jackson County, to a low 1,200 feet in Cherokee County along the Tusquitee River.For more information call (828) 479-6431.
  • Pisgah National Forest consists of over half a million acres of forest surrounding Mt. Pisgah. James Hall, a Presbyterian minister, named Mt. Pisgah for the mountain Moses saw the promised land from after wondering forty years in the wilderness.For more information call (828) 877-3265.