I convinced my wife to take this drive with me last week and we did a little hiking along the way. The Cherohala Skyway is like a mini-Blue Ridge Parkway, just 40 some miles long vs over 400 miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It crosses the Unicoi Mts on the Tennessee/North Carolina border rising to an elevation of around 5400 feet. The name is a combination of Cherokee and Nantahala, the 2 National Forests that straddle the border. It's located just below the southern border of the Great Smoky Mt NP. There are some nice waterfalls to see, of which Bald River Falls on the Tennessee side is one of the highest. There are numerous short hikes that usually lead to rounded open summits often called "Balds" or "Knobs". At the eastern (NC) end of the Skyway is the Joyce Kilmer/Slickrock Wilderness with some virgin old growth forest and trees that are 400-450 years old. We did a number of short hikes, easy by rocky NH White Mt standards, but we walked about 15 miles in 3 days. The highest point is called Huckleberry Knob and sits at 5560 feet. There is a memorial on top to a couple of hunters who died there in December of 1899 after consuming an excess of whiskey. Temperature dropped and they froze to death. On our first hike, we walked up to an elevation of 5000 feet and ended up at a place called Whigg Meadow, a big grassy field. We met some volunteers who were banding migratory birds there. This trail is actually part of the Benton MacKaye Trail. Since we were relatively close by, we dropped down into NW Georgia and bagged Brasstown Bald, 4784 feet, the Georgia high point on the final day.
to keep him out so we ended our hike at Fontana Dam. As a side note it's interesting to note that while dogs are not permitted in the park it is possible to take a horse on the Benton Makaye trail in the park.
