from Away.com

Related Guides

Popular Cities in North Carolina

Article Menu
Introduction

  Activities
Top Picks

Biking
Camping
Fishing
Hiking
River Activities
Sightseeing

Contacts & Links

Index

Ratings
View Rating
Submit Rating

Related Resources
GORP North Carolina

online favorites
December's Top Parks
Active Puerto Rico
Family Travel Blog
Ski Guide 2007
2008 Winter Buyer's Guide
from Outside Online
PARKS
Nantahala National Forest
North Carolina

The Indian word Nantahala means"land of the midday sun" — an appropriate name for a forest in which deep mountain gorges and valleys are illuminated only when the noon sun is directly overhead. At 5,800 feet, the Appalachian summit of Lone Bald is the highest point in the forest — it is but one vertebra in the 1,600-mile spine that stretches from Alabama to Quebec. Cascading waterfalls and mad whitewater rivers give the forest a wild, untamed atmosphere heightened by primeval oaks, hemlocks, chestnuts, and poplars that reach for the sky.

Nantahala National Forest
Kayaker on Nantahala River

For centuries, the Cherokee Indians roamed the forest before European settlers forced them deeper into the hills. In 1838, the U.S. Army escorted most of the tribe to an Indian reservation in Oklahoma — a mass deportation known as the"Trail of Tears." A few elusive Cherokee remained, but it wasn't until 1973 that negotiations were finally resolved, permitting them to legally own a portion of the land. A small section of the Cherokee Indian Reservation is located within the northern boundary of the forest — a larger area is situated just outside the forest northeast of Bryson City.


Return to * Top

RELATED GORP LINKS
* GORP North Carolina Resources
* GORPtravel Adventure Vacations



Related Southeast Trips

Road Trip Guides

National Park Guides

Hiking Guides

Today's Gear Guy

Gear Guides
[from Outside magazine]