Swain County is a county located on the far western border of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,117. Its county seat is Bryson City.
Bryson City is a town in Swain County, North Carolina in the United States. The population was 1,424 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Swain County.
The Cherokee National Forest is a United States National Forest located in the U.S. states of Tennessee and North Carolina that was created on June 14, 1920. The forest is maintained and managed by the United States Forest Service. It encompasses an estimated area of 655,598 acres (2,653.11 km2).
Fontana Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Little Tennessee River in Swain and Graham counties, North Carolina, United States. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s to satisfy the skyrocketing electricity demands in the Tennessee Valley to support the aluminum industry at the height of World War II; it also provided electricity to a formerly rural area.
The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad is a freight and heritage railroad based in Bryson City, North Carolina, United States. Since late 1999, the railroad is currently owned and operated by American Heritage Railways, Inc., which also owns and operates the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNG) in Colorado. The railroad operates excursion trains on the former Southern Railway Murphy branch line between Dillsboro and Nantahala, North Carolina. Since then, the GSMR became one of the most popular tourist railroads in the United States, with about 200,000 passengers each year.
The Nantahala National Forest (/ˌnæntəˈheɪlə/), is the largest of the four national forests in North Carolina, lying in the mountains and valleys of western North Carolina. Second to the Pacific Northwest, the Nantahala is the wettest region in the country. Due to its environmental importance and historical ties with the Cherokee, the forest was officially established on January 29, 1920 by President Woodrow Wilson. The word "Nantahala" is a Cherokee derived, meaning "Land of the Noonday Sun." In some spots, the sun reaches the floors of the deep gorges of the forest only when it is high overhead at midday. This was part of the homeland of the historic Cherokee and their indigenous ancestors, who have occupied the region for thousands of years.
Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) is a commercial outdoor guide service and retail store located at 13077 Highway 19 West, Bryson City, NC 28713. It opened in 1972 when Payson and Aurelia Kennedy and Horace Holden Sr. took over the old Tote 'N Tarry Motel. NOC is based in western North Carolina near Bryson City, near the Great Smoky Mountains on the Nantahala River. NOC is surrounded by Nantahala National Forest. The Appalachian Trail crosses the Nantahala River on a bridge next to the outfitter.
The historically important Murphy Branch is the westernmost part of what was the Western North Carolina Railroad, later the Richmond and Danville, Southern Railway, the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) and today the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad. The branch runs between Asheville, North Carolina in the east and Murphy in the west.
North Carolina Highway 28 (NC 28) is an 81.2-mile-long (130.7 km) primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The highway runs north–south through the Nantahala National Forest in Western North Carolina.
Mount Collins is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. It has an elevation of 6,188 feet (1,886 m) above sea level. Located along the Appalachian Trail between Clingmans Dome and Newfound Gap, the mountain is a popular destination for thru-hikers. A backcountry shelter and a major trail junction are located along the mountain's northeastern slope. The mountain's summit is located amidst the Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest that covers much of the upper elevations in the central Smokies.
Fontana Lake is a reservoir impounded by Fontana Dam on the Little Tennessee River, and is located in Graham and Swain counties in North Carolina. The lake forms part of the southern border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the northern border of part of the Nantahala National Forest. Depending on water levels, the lake is about 17 miles (27 km) long. The eastern end is the Tuckasegee River near Bryson City. It has an average depth of 135 feet (41 m) and reaches a maximum depth of 440 feet (130 m), making it the deepest lake in North Carolina. The lake has many inlets into coves and many islands formed from former mountain peaks, especially near the eastern end. As with most dam-impounded lakes, the steep banks are exposed when water levels are low. Many towns were submerged shortly after the creation of Fontana Lake, such as Proctor and Judson.
Wesser Bald is a summit located in Macon County, North Carolina, near the community of Wesser. A wooden fire tower at the summit provides hikers with unimpeded views of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and also the Nantahala Mountains. The Appalachian Trail traverses the summit from roughly north to south with the Nantahala Outdoor Center lying to the north within the Nantahala Gorge and Tellico gap just to the south. Tellico gap has unimproved road access. The climb from Tellico Gap takes an average of 20 minutes. Also, a third route, the blue trail, departs from the end of Wesser Creek Road and follows Wesser Creek up to a point just south of the summit to a fork with the Appalachian Trail. The summit is located at 4,627 ft (1,410 m). and is within Nantahala National Forest. A map detailing the highway routes to access Tellico Gap is available at the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Observable landforms include Wayah Bald, the Nantahala Gorge, and Clingmans Dome among others. The Wesser Fire Tower provides 360 degree views of the Smokies in a short 1.5 mile hike from Tellico Gap on the Appalachian Trail, with an elevation gain of about 767 feet. The Fire Tower was originally reported as destroyed during the forest fires which ravaged the Nantahala Forest in November, 2016 but it was later learned that it survived.
U.S. Route 19 (US 19) traverses 145 miles (233 km) across Western North Carolina; from the Georgia state line, at the community of Bellview, to Cane River, where US 19 splits into US 19E and US 19W, which take separate routes into Tennessee.
U.S. Route 441 (US 441) is a north–south United States Highway that runs from Miami, Florida to Rocky Top, Tennessee. In the U.S. state of North Carolina, US 441 travels for 64.5 miles (103.8 km) from the Georgia state line near Dillard, Georgia to the Tennessee state line in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. US 441 is a primary route connecting the cities of Franklin, Sylva, and Cherokee in western North Carolina. The highway runs concurrently with other U.S. highways for much of its routing in North Carolina including US 23 from the Georgia state line to Dillsboro, US 64 in Franklin, US 74 from Dillsboro to near Qualla, and US 19 in Cherokee. US 441 has two business routes in North Carolina, in Franklin and Cherokee.
The Bryson City Island Park is a small island located in Bryson City, North Carolina. It is located in the Tuckasegee River, at the mouth of historic Deep Creek, which flows from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Nantahala Township is located in North Carolina, United States in the part of Macon County which is west of Wayah Gap. It has a population of 1,711. "Nantahala" is a Cherokee word which means "Land of the Noonday Sun." The area fits its name because in a few spots, the sun's rays only reaches the floors of the Nantahala National Forest when it is directly overhead during the middle of the day.
Almond is an unincorporated community in Swain County, North Carolina, United States. Almond is located on the Little Tennessee River and North Carolina Highway 28 7.9 miles (12.7 km) west-southwest of Bryson City.
The Oconaluftee River drains the south-central Oconaluftee valley of the Great Smoky Mountains in Western North Carolina before emptying into the Tuckasegee River. The river flows through the Qualla Boundary, a federal land trust that serves as a reservation for the Eastern Band of the Cherokee (EBCI), the only federally recognized tribe in the state of North Carolina. They bought the land back from the federal government in the 1870s, after having been pushed off and forced to cede it earlier in the nineteenth century. Several historic Cherokee towns are known to have been located along this river.
Great Smoky Mountains Railroad 1702, is an S160 class 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive built in September 1942 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally for the U.S. Army Transportation Corps during World War II. After the war ended, the No. 1702 locomotive worked on three different railroads in Arkansas and Nebraska.
