A Stay With a Story

Fly over the Smoky Mountains and one thing becomes apparent: This is a wild place. That wildness calls us to come visit. Towns across the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains began as vacation retreats for the wealthy who traded the heat and humidity of piedmont summers for mountain breezes and crisp nights. But before their resorts and manor houses began to pop up, there were towns and enclaves here. Throughout the national park, visitors can walk and drive among the remnants and homesites in several places; others are lost to time and water as they sit at the bottom of the manmade lakes surrounding the park. On the southern tip of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, two such places stand today: Tapoco Lodge and the Road to Nowhere.

The Tapoco Lodge has entertained visitors to this part of the Smoky Mountains since 1930. It started as a company retreat for the Tallassee Power Company and was built on the site of the town of Tapoco, which sprang up to support the Cheoah Dam Workers in the 19-teens. Over the years it changed hands, closed, reopened, and changed hands again. In 2014, investors from Gatlinburg and Knoxville took over the property and have taken to ushering it into the modern era while retaining the splendor of its original incarnation. 

The Lodge sits on 120 acres along the Cheoah River and offers guests a taste of rustic luxury in eight cabins, six lodge rooms, and three lodge suites. On the grounds, Tapoco River Grill serves outstanding food; you can, and should, dine on the river terrace. The food is simple—brick-oven pizzas, fish tacos, grilled trout, steaks—but exceptionally prepared, and the terrace is home to the popular Cheoah River Bash, a white-water event that packs the terrace with onlookers cheering on paddlers who challenge the high water provided by the dam’s annual water release. It takes place on October 1, and it books up quick, so make your reservations for next year if you can’t get a room this year. 

While the white water draws a certain kind of visitor, others come to explore the area. Close to 10 miles of hiking trails start on the property and one leads to Bear Creek Falls; the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest is a short drive away and it’s home to some monumental trees. Anglers visit for the fly-fishing, which is some of the best in the Southeast. Film buffs come to see where The Hunger Games filmed in Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and where Harrison Ford leapt from the Cheoah Dam in The Fugitive. Two-lane enthusiasts come for the curves and the thrills to be found on the Cherohala Skyway (connecting North Carolina and Tennessee) and the Tail of the Dragon, an 11-mile road with 318 curves. But they all come to see and stay and sup at Tapoco.

You can’t drive the Road to Nowhere because, well, it goes nowhere. It enters the national park, follows a winding course for a few miles, goes through a tunnel, and ends. Just stops in its tracks. The road was part of a proposed Parkway—Lakeview Drive—that would skirt the banks of Fontana Lake and provided families displaced by the building of the lake access to family cemeteries. Support for the project dropped and funding fell through. The road became what it is now: two paved lanes curving through the Smoky Mountains and a tunnel. 

For a while it was a place of controversy, but much of that has died down; today it’s a tourist attraction, a strange place with a strange name and a strange history. Still, hikers, anglers looking for a trout stream, mountain bikers, and a few family members willing and able to make a tough trek to family graves show up and hit the trail. 

The trails starting at the Road to Nowhere go almost anywhere. If you’re looking for a challenge, lace up and head to Clingman’s Dome, a big overnight trip. If you’re looking for stunning photo opportunities (think leaves in full color reflected in the lake), just follow the trail along the lake and take any spur out to a bluff or beach to find your beauty shot. Shorter hikes are more popular, so if it’s solitude and quiet you seek, go far. 

But wherever you go here, whether it’s a hike to the shore, a leisurely ride along the trails, or off to some stream for a day of fly-fishing, take a moment to look around and remember this place used to be home.