Tellico Plains, Tenn.: A mountain town worth exploring—especially on two wheels

The central square of Tellico Plains is tucked away amid a small gathering of shops and restaurants. Though there’s not much by way of hustle and bustle, one can happily spend an afternoon in town.

Start with a late breakfast or early lunch at Tellico Grains Bakery. Forget eggs and sausage, grab one of the bakery’s bananas foster or blueberry scones, saucer-sized cinnamon buns, ham and cheese croissants, a Benton’s bacon and cheddar biscuit, or fresh quiche.

Signature sandwiches are offered fro 11 to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday—the day the bakery gives its wood-fired oven over to pizzas. Everything that comes from Tellico Grains is extraordinary, and yearning taste buds will inevitably draw one back for more.

Shops begin to open around 10 or 11 a.m. Scott Street Gallery is just across the way from Tellico Grains and features the work of Sheila Sanford Holbo, who draws her inspiration from the East Tennessee landscape. Other artists work also graces the working studio and frame shop. Don’t miss the Tellico Arts Center where more than 70 talented artisans’ unique work is on display from large-scale paintings to intricate beadwork. A memento for home from the Arts Center is a must. Down the street, Stone Cottage Shops and Gardens blends antiques and décor in a house originally built for Doc Rogers, after whom the field where modern gold miners go to try their luck also was named. Explore the several rooms of milk glass lamps, crystal cups, and collectible art works, but be sure to visit the garden. The Bookshelf sells books both new and used, and is one of few places anywhere to still offer book repair.

Get a little lunch at the Tellico Square Café and a scoop of Mayfield Ice Cream from the Down Town Creamery, or head out to local institution, Tellico Beach Drive-in, where a chili dog and a shake won’t put a dent in the wallet and children of all ages frolic in the river. There’s even a rope swing.

The Charles Hall Museum, located next to the Cherohala Skyway Visitor Center, is half an antique shop and half dedicated to the evolution of the telephone and Bellsouth. The museum’s collection comes almost entirely from former Tellico Plains mayor Charles Hall, who served for forty years. Hall was an owner of the Tellico Telephone Company, which explains the vast number of wall phones, rotary phones, phones in all shapes and sizes and colors, telephone insulators, telephone switchboards, telephone linemen safety kits, and, in general, more telephone related items than one can shake a stick at. There are also displays of guns, coins, tools, furnishings, and numerous treasures of local history. It is a museum unique enough to seek out.

A sunny day should be spent in the Tellico Ranger District of the Cherokee National Forest, which encompasses 145,000 acres and where elevations range from 5,400 feet at Haw Knob to 900 feet in Tellico Plains. The ranger station is located by the Tellico River on a road just off the Cherohala Skyway. Staff there can provide information about camping, fishing, hunting, and hiking—it’s also where serious gold miners go for permits to sluice or dredge. Multiple river access spots are located along the road, allowing for at least a temporary claim to part of the river for swimming and sunning. Farther on, one of the best waterfall views from a vehicle there is can be had at Bald River Falls. Keep going up the road to get to the fish hatchery. Head to wherever the pickup truck is parked and ask the hatchery staff for a handful of feed for the fish. And remember, when planning one’s day out, call ahead to Tellico Kats where they will fix up a picnic to go.

Back in town close out the night with dinner at Tellicafe, where the fried trout fills a plate, or Nut N’ Fancy, where there’s outdoor dining and chicken wings. Other restaurants such as the Tellico Fish Camp and Walt’s BBQ, tend only to be open on the weekends.

There’s gold in them there hillsGold—the very word captures the imagination. Treasure hunters made first their way in the Coker Creek area in the 1800s but still today are panning the clear mountain streams and dredging up dirt in search of the elusive precious metal.

It doesn’t take much to try one’s hand at panning for gold. At the Coker Creek Welcome Center, located on Highway 68 south of Tellico Plains, hopefuls can purchase for less than $15 a pan, vial, suction dropper, and small guidebook that explains the basic process.

“There are a few facts about gold the beginner must know,” the guidebook reads. “The most important is that gold is very heavy… If you pan properly, the gold will be the last thing to try to work its way out of your pan.”

The welcome center staff point panners in the direction of Doc Rogers Field where a short walk leads to the creek. Even if one does little more than get wet and muddy, the fun lies in the possibility and the joy of being outside on a beautiful day. Children will love the excuse to play in the water and are sure to expend bounds of energy.However, those with serious intent are best advised to contact Coker Creek’s resident gold panning guide found at Bill’s Pit Stop adjacent to the welcome center. Bill isn’t always in, but he can be reached by phone to schedule an outing.

The history of gold in Coker Creek dates back to 1827 when the land still belonged to the Cherokee. Gold was one of the main motivating factors behind the Indian Removal Act of 1830, approved by President Andrew Jackson, which provided for the removal of all Indians to the West. The Cherokee were the last of the Native tribes to be forcibly removed. General Winfield Scott’s 7,000 troops moved into Cherokee country in May 1838, and began disarming the Cherokee; however, gold diggers already were settled in the Coker Creek area. The time is regarded the country’s first gold rush.

Though Coker Creek is a tiny community, there are spots worth visiting. Seven Sisters Honey Acres features a variety of local mountain honey, bee products, creative arts, handcrafted gifts, gourmet coffees, cheeses and jams. Designs by Baerreis, located next to the welcome center, features locally made woodwork including spoons, intricate boxes, barrettes, as well as handmade jewelry. Old Coker Creek Cemetery’s graves date back to the 1700s and Ironsburg Cemetery contains Civil War graves.

Fort Loudoun: Colonial ties in Tellico Plains

Throughout the South, historic forts and reenactments tend to call the Civil War to mind. But the Fort Loudoun State Historic Area brings to life another time period altogether—the French and Indian War.

The French and Indian War lasted from 1756 to 1760. Fort Loudoun was constructed to ally the Overhill Cherokee Nation with the British Colony of South Carolina, which felt threatened by French activity in the Mississippi Valley.

The Cherokee and British military forces fought against the French, but the unity between the two broke down and in August 1760 the Cherokee captured Fort Loudoun and its garrison. The story is of course much more intricate and best told by the fort’s interpreters, who embody the fort’s history. Seasonal interpreters include Robert Rambo as Atta-Kullakulla, who was also known as The Little Carpenter and as a powerful peace chief of the Cherokee Nation, lived with the British military commanders at the fort. In addition there are several British soldiers who also serve as a surgeon’s mate, blacksmith’s helper, and whitesmith, among other positions.

The fort has been dutifully recreated and is a place where any history buff or imaginative youth will enjoy spending a day among the barracks and behind the cannons. Those less inclined will enjoy the scenery, as the fort overlooks the flooded valley that forms Tellico Lake.The historic site has been further developed so that there are other amenities that make Fort Loudoun well worth a visit. There are three hiking trails that range from an easy .5-mile loop to moderately strenuous 2.25 miles. A small boat dock allows for canoes or the like to made their way into Tellico Lake, or simply take a dip and enjoy a picnic among the 30 available tables or shelter, which may be reserved for groups. A handicap accessible fishing pier offers anglers a chance to try their luck.

Fort Loudon will host the 18th Century Trade Faire on Sept. 10 and 11. The faire will feature hundreds of re-enactors as soldiers, settlers, and Cherokee; artillery and musket drills, skirmishes and battles; 18th century music, entertainment, and food; and historical presentations.

Fort Loudoun State Historic Area shares an island that was created by the damming of the Little Tennessee River with the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum. The museum celebrates Sequoyah who gave the Cherokee a system of writing their language. He was born circa 1776 at the village of Tuskeegee, which was very near where the museum is today. Sequoyah was a silversmith by trade but was among those Cherokee who enlisted on the side of the United States under General Andrew Jackson to fight the British troops and the Creek Indians in the war of 1812. After the war and after having seen how, unlike white soldiers, the Cherokee were unable to write letters home or record happenings, he began work on creating a Cherokee language. In 1821, after 12 years working on the new language, he and his daughter introduced his syllabary to the Cherokee people. Within a few months thousands of Cherokees became literate.

Like Fort Loudoun, the vast museum grounds offer a chance to explore on foot and see Lake Tellico.

For more information about Fort Loudoun, visit fortloudoun.com or call 423.884.6217.

For more information about the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, visit sequoyahmuseum.org or call 423.884.6246.

A path through time and Tellico

Archaeological records indicate that Tellico Plains’ has been inhabited for more than 10,000 years, and was—more recently—an important Mississippian Mound Builders site a thousand years ago. Tellico Plains became a been a crossroads linking trade routes from the South to the Ohio River and coastal areas. The Unicoi Trail, also known as the Overhill Trading Path or Tellico Path, passed through the town.

Spanish explorers are believed to have traveled the trail in the 16th century. In the early 1700s huge volumes of deer hides and furs were transported along the trail as Cherokees traded with Europeans for mass-produced goods. The route also served as a military and diplomatic link between the British headquarters in South Carolina and the Cherokee capital at Chota (Tennessee).

The Cherokee joined forces with the British in the fight against the French, which lasted from 1756 to 1760. However, relations between the Cherokee and the British broke down. The Cherokee overthrew the British garrison at Fort Loudoun, and sixteen years later the British returned in conquest of native lands. The Unicoi Trail remained a primary route in the early American-Indian Wars, the Revolutionary War, the Trail of Tears, and the Civil War until in 1813 it was improved and turned into a wagon trail running across the Cherokee Nation from the Tugaloo River in Georgia to the Little Tennessee River in Tennessee.A 2.5 mile section of the Unicoi Trail that runs from Vonore, Tenn., to Murphy, N.C., has been developed and opened for public use. The trail is designed for public education and recreation, and to provide those who visit with the experience of following the footsteps of thousands of people through time. Interpretive signs along the trail tell part of the trail’s story. The trail also links up with the Benton MacKaye Trail, which starts on the Chattahoochee National Forest in north Georgia and travels through the southern portion of the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee connecting with the Appalachian Trail in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

For bikes, the best of the best

At first glance Tellico Plains, Tenn. is a sleepy little town tucked away at the end of the Cherohala Skyway, but this is motorcycle country—a place where curvy roads and mountain views attract bikers from all over the country and even around the world.

Tellico Plains provides access to both the Cherohala Skyway and the infamous Tail of the Dragon. The 36-mile long Cherohala winds its way from North Carolina into Tennessee, crossing through the Cherokee and Nantahala National forests. The peak elevation is 5,390 at the Santeetlah Overlook. Overall, it is a gentle drive with long, sweeping curves and long-range scenic views, drawing comparisons to the Blue Ridge Parkway, though less traveled.

The Tail of the Dragon, US 129, is Cherohala’s mean second cousin. Boasting 318 curves in 11 miles, the Tail of the Dragon has become a proving ground for adventuresome drivers and bikers. It is ill advised for any but accomplished riders and drivers to make their way along the Dragon. Each year accidents abound with speed, carelessness, and inexperience with sharp and sloping curves coming into play. Pull outs to allow other drivers and riders to pass can be found along the road.A loop can be made from Tellico Plains up Tennessee 360—a lovely and peaceful ride through rural East Tennessee and up past the Fort Loudoun State Historic Site and Sequoyah Birthplace Museum—over to Tennessee 72 via US 411, into North Carolina by the Dragon and back via the Cherohala Skyway. A worthwhile detour includes the Foothills Parkway, which runs from the Tennessee end of the Dragon toward Townsend, Tenn. where Tennessee 73 runs into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park not far from Cades Cove. Taking 73 to US 441 affords options of heading into Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge or cruising through the mountains and across the state line toward Cherokee, N.C., which is the southern terminus of the Blue Ridge Parkway—469 miles all on its own. The Parkway travels up to Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park. There is seemingly no end for wheeled entertainment in these mountains.

Towns along preferred motorcycle routes have come to embrace riders. In Tellico alone there is Cherohala Skyway Harley-Davidson and the in-town Tellico Motorcycle Outfitters. Restaurant marquees feature the words “Bikers Welcome” above the day’s specials, and the Cherohala Skyway Visitor Center sells trip souvenirs geared toward those on two wheels.

Stay and play

There is perhaps nowhere more motorcycle friendly than The Lodge at Tellico, located one mile from the Cherohala Skyway. Three room options—basic, deluxe, and premium—offer king beds, soaking tubs, fireplaces, microwaves, refrigerators, and porches overlooking the well-landscaped grounds. Garage parking for motorcycles is included with the premium rooms and can be purchased for $5 in connection with deluxe and basic rooms. Towels are designated just for grubby boots, an outdoor pavilion and fire pit make room for gathering, and a game room is great for rainy days or late nights. Walt’s BBQ, the lodge’s restaurant, is open to anyone but only open on weekends. Accommodation rates range from $79 to $95 per night. For more information, visit lodgeattellico.com or call 423.253.2506.