North Carolina/Tennessee drive to Roaring Fork falls in the Smokey Mountains
The Road to Nowhere | Smoky Mountains
The Road to Nowhere located in The Great Smoky Mountains. The nearby town is Bryson City, North Carolina.
Music=The Other Side _ Suspense & Horror Film Score Music _ Royalty Free Background Music
The Road to Nowhere
The Story Behind “The Road to Nowhere”
In the 1930s and 1940s, Swain County gave up the majority of its private land to the Federal Government for the creation of Fontana Lake and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Fontana Lake is actually a reservoir for Fontana Dam, which was built as a TVA project during World War II to produce electricity for ALCOA aluminum plants in Tennessee as well as for Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manhattan Project. Hundreds of people were forced to leave the small Smoky Mountain communities that had been their homes for generations. With the creation of the Park, their homes were gone, and so was Old Highway 288 the road to those communities. The old road was buried beneath the deep waters of Fontana Lake.
The Federal government promised to replace Highway 288 with a new road. Lakeview Drive was to have stretched along the north shore of Fontana Lake, from Bryson City to Fontana, 30 miles to the west. And, of special importance to those displaced residents, it was to have provided access to the old family cemeteries where generations of ancestors remained behind.
But Lakeview Drive fell victim to an environmental issue and construction was stopped, with the road ending at a tunnel, about six miles into the park. The environmental issue was eventually deemed too expensive and the roadwork was never resumed. And Swain County’s citizens gave the unfinished Lakeview Drive its popular, albeit unofficial name “The Road To Nowhere.”
On weekends throughout the summer, the Park Service still ferries groups of Swain County residents across Fontana Lake to visit their old family cemeteries for Decoration Days and family reunions.
The legal issue of whether to build the road was finally resolved in February, 2010 when the US Department of Interior signed a settlement agreement to pay Swain County $52 million in lieu of building the road. In 2018, the last payment was made in the settlement. The State of North Carolina manages the principal and the County receives the interest each year.
Road to Nowhere: Bryson City, NC (Great Smoky Mountains National Park)
This is a walk through the tunnel of the Road to Nowhere in Bryson City, NC. This road leads into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and, although it began construction in 1943, it was never completed. Shortly before you encounter this tunnel you must park your vehicles. Immediately after the tunnel the road abruptly ends.
Unfortunately people feel the need to vandalize this tunnel with spray paint. You can tell that previous graffiti has been covered but it just keeps reappearing. People suck. Well, I featured some of it with my flashlight in this video. Recorded with a GoPro Hero 4 Black.
Music by the Talking Heads, Road to Nowhere. Seems appropriate, eh?
Abandoned Route 288 in North Carolina (Lakeshore West Trail)
This section of the Lakeshore Trail near Fontana Lake in North Carolina was once part of the old Route 288. In the 1930’s and early 1940’s, Route 288 was the road along past towns, settlements and farms on the north shore of the Little Tennessee River. In the 1940’s Fontana Dam was built and the river was filled in. Fontana Lake was created submerging several villages in this area and many residents were displaced. Today some portions of the old road remain as part of the hiking trail known as the Lakeshore West Trail. The other side of the lake has a trail that connects known as Lakeshore East Trail and is known as the road to nowhere. Besides the interesting history here the trail leads you through some scenic places with views of the lake. Please be respectful of the history that remains and check out these links to learn more about the area.
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Tunnel to Nowhere, or Path to Opportunity
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I discovered Bryson City by accident in the middle of winter almost twenty years ago when I had to exit the Blue Ridge Parkway because of weather. I needed a place to stay until morning and then find an alternate route back to the Tennessee Valley. The locals were extremely friendly and helpful. I complimented them on their amazing town and how it seemed so unique, and we struck up a conversation, and that’s when I first heard about the road to nowhere.
Since then, I’ve heard countless tales about the infamous road to nowhere, rather, The Tunnel to Nowhere. It took me twenty years to get back to Bryson City, but I had to see for myself and find out the real story behind Bryson City’s dead end attraction.
Now the story is true, and this is a conspiracy free zone, and keep in mind there are two sides to any story, but I will do my best to explain both sides when possible. Thank you for watching, and please like and share this video! Information links will follow music credits.
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Tuba Waddle by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (
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Open Road by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (
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Dead Drop by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (
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Darkness Speaks by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (
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90 Seconds of Funk by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (
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Echoes of Time by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (
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Doh De Oh by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (
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Look Busy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (
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Information Links
1. The Road to Nowhere (Bryson City Site)
2. Eminent Domain
3. Fontana Dam Facts and History
4. The Miracle in the Wilderness
5. Atomic Heritage Foundation
6. Appalachian Adventure Unguided Tour
7. Fontana Dam (Shane Hayman)
8. National Park Traveler
9. Tony Lee Glen (YouTube) Tony has a great YouTube channel, and it’s worth your time to check it out!
10. Aluminum on the March, Public domain film from the US National Archives. Posted by Jeff Quitney
11. Wildlife South, NC 288, Fontana Dam, and The Road To Nowhere
12. North Shore Cemetery Association and North Shore Historical Society (Swain County, NC)
13. Ariel View of an Atomic Bomb Explosion, Atom Central,
14. On the Trail; Decoration Days CBS
The road to nowhere, Bryson City, NC. huge abandoned tunnel
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The Road To Nowhere - ABANDONED Mountain Tunnel
- PLEASE SUBSCRIBE - Joined by Jacob from I ventured to the mountain of North Carolina to check out the Road to Nowhere and the tunnel that still exists. Enjoy
Check out The Carpetbagger article.
Interstate 40 Tunnel Smoky Mountains
Fun in the Smoky Mountains, North Carolina/Tennessee
Short weekend; hiking and whitewater rafting, exploring Cataloochee Valley, Gatlinburg, Cherokee, and the road to nowhere.
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Instead of going to the beach or keeping it local and recently losing a weekend job, I decided to that I wanted to spend my 26th birthday in the mountains. My from Greenville, Sc, my girlfriend and I as well as two other friends venture out to the Smoky Mountains with a pit stop at Cataloochee Valley. Here we saw a few preserved buildings such as a home, barn, and school as well as a nice creek and a great view of the mountains surrounding us. Next stop right passed the state border into Tennessee, I crossed off another item off the bucket list: whitewater rafting. We did some whitewater rafting on the Pigeon river for a bout two hours before we made our way to our place of stay, our timeshare, Wyndham Smoky Mountains. That evening we grabbed dinner, grabs a few beers, and rode some Go-Karts in Gatlinburg.
Early next morning we drove through Gatlinburg and into Great Smokies National Park to the motor trail to hike up to Grotto Falls. Besides seeing the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, the rest of the day was spent relaxing.
Our final day, we left Wyndham and set off for Cades Cove, a picturesque valley west of Gatlinburg driving higher into the mountains to Clingmans Dome, the highest point of the Smoky Mountains. After a 15 minute heavy rainfall, we decended back into North Carolina into Cherokee Indian territory to check out another waterfall, Mingo Falls. Driving south into and out of Bryson City we reached out final stop, the road to nowhere, an unfinished government project that leaves an long abandoned tunnel and incomplete road to nothing.
Footage captured with with an iPhone 4s and GoPro3
Compiled with Final Cut Pro
Music Credit:
Mother Maybell Carter - Wildwoof Flower
Royalty Free Music - Cattle Drive
Sourwood Mountain Cover
The Head and the Heart - Down in the Valley (Cover)
A Scenic Fall Drive in the Great Smoky Mountains - the Road to Nowhere in Bryson City, NC
The Road to Nowhere — With so much to see and do in the Bryson City area, it is hard to imagine a day when you might have nowhere to go. But should that happen, there is always the Road to Nowhere, a scenic mountain highway that takes you eight miles into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and ends at the mouth of a tunnel. On the map, it is called Lakeview Drive, but to the citizens of Swain County it is The Road to Nowhere — A Broken Promise.
The Road to Nowhere: A lost Highway in the North Carolina Mountains
A long creepy tunnel in the mountains of NC that is literally down a long dead end road which is actually called the road to nowhere. It was used to film a great scene in alien abduction where a family in a SUV is traveling and find all of these abandoned vehicles in the tunnel!
The Smoky Mountains NC Travel Video | TheLills.com
The Lills (Alex & Lara Lill) travel to The Great Smoky Mountains where they board The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad, brave the Nantahala River white water rapids with Carolina Outfitters, enjoyed Pizza by the River & Sack's Barbecue, The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, found the Road to Nowhere, road horses with Lonesome Dove Stables and stayed at Bryson City Cabins. See more travel videos and follow the adventure at TheLills.com
1 of 7 Bigfoot Signs in Smoky Mountains
This is a new series of discoveries, after a sighting of a White Sasquatch in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Blue Ridge Parkway and Other Mountain Roads - RV Travel to the Smoky Mountains National Park
In search of those fall foliage colors, I drive the Blue Ridge Parkway, the sinuous Tail of the Dragon, the Road to Nowhere, the Foothills Parkway and through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
We travel aboard a 2015 Winnebago Micro Minnie 1706FB travel trailer. You are more than welcome to tag along in our travels by subscribing to this channel.
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House of Fairies Twin Creeks - Cherokee Orchard
Springhouse built by Louis E. Voorheis on his estate circa 1928-30 in the Twin Creek area in Cherokee Orchard- Gatlinburg, TN. Called it the House of Fairies. Look closely for the fairies towards the end.
Road Trip Part III: Great Smoky Mountains
The road trip is finished off camping and hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Music:
The Rope River Blues Band - Capulet
Gable - humm ok
Candlegravity - Tomies Bubbles
Tate Peterson - Theme in G
Road to Nowhere
In the 1930s and 1940s, Swain County gave up the majority of its private land to the Federal Government for the creation of Fontana Lake and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Hundreds of people were forced to leave the small Smoky Mountain communities that had been their homes for generations. With the creation of the Park, their homes were gone, and so was the road to those communities. Old Highway 288 was buried beneath the deep waters of Fontana Lake.
The Federal government promised to replace Highway 288 with a new road. Lakeview Drive was to have stretched along the north shore of Fontana Lake, from Bryson City to Fontana, 30 miles to the west. And, of special importance to those displaced residents, it was to have provided access to the old family cemeteries where generations of ancestors.
But Lakeview Drive fell victim to an environmental issue and construction was stopped, with the road ending at a tunnel, about six miles into the park. The environmental issue was eventually resolved, but the roadwork was never resumed. And Swain County's citizens gave the unfinished Lakeview Drive its popular, albeit unofficial name The Road To Nowhere.
On weekends throughout the summer, the Park Service still ferries groups of Swain County residents across Fontana Lake to visit their old family cemetaries for Decoration Days and family reunions.
The legal issue of whether to build the road was finally reolved in February, 2010 when the US Department of Interior signed a settlement agreement paying Swain County $52 million in lieu of building the road. Congressman Heath Shuler, a Bryson City naitve, was the driving force in bringing the settlement to fruition.
Driving Through the Mountains in North Carolina
Here's a video of us driving up highway 80 to the Blue Ridge Parkway via Marion, NC. I held the camera up out of the sunroof to get a good angle. It's probably the most boring video ever but it was a really nice drive.
Sorry for the watermark in the middle of the screen. I didn't want to spend $45 to register the video conversion software. LAME, I know. ;)
Video taken on July 4, 2013.
Rolling into North Carolina and the Great Smoky Mountains on a rainy morning
Rolling into North Carolina and the Great Smoky Mountains on a rainy morning on Interstate 40 Eastbound. To find out where I am right now, see my LIVE truckcams, maps, blog and more, visit Http://18wheelsacrossamerica.net To learn more about BigRigTravels, visit these links:
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