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WCU - Great Smoky Mountains - A Park for America

Auto trip not practical in N. C. area of Smoky National Park

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Item 1 - Auto trip not practical in N. C. area of Smoky National Park
wcu_great_smoky_mtns-11100.jpg

Auto trip not practical in N. C. area of Smoky National Park

GSMNP_10184_25_11_01
wcu_great_smoky_mtns-11101.jpg

Auto trip not practical in N. C. area of Smoky National Park

GSMNP_10184_25_11_02
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Item’s are ‘child’ level descriptions to ‘parent’ objects, (e.g. one page of a whole book).

  • Gatlinburg Is really the beginning of the new Tennessee highway across the main Smoky ridge. It is twelve miles, up the Alum Cave rive, and the west side of the ridge to New Found' gap- the point where soon the Tennessee road will join the North Carolina road. The Tennessee road has already been graded, and part of it has been surfaced. Tire two automolist found tho first five miles in good shape. The last seven were not so good, for the surface was poor and construction was still going on. They had littje difficulty, however, in reaching the gap. Then trouble began. Stops Abruptly In reality, the highway from Tennessee stops abruptly just as it reaches the crest. There is a great pile of rock on the North side. Persons who have already forced automobiles across, have laid out a sort of automobile path slantwise down the mountain from the gap to connect at a sharp angle with an old trail. The two weren't familiar with the proper procedure. They started the automobile down the mountain head, first, when they should have backed. They tried to get around the sharp angle, and the car slid around in the dark slick humus. They tried backing and pushing, all to no avail. Went For Help Then they left the automobile and went to the Champion Fibre company camp for help. Six husky men straightened them out, and they were off down the North Carolina side toward Smokemont, with only one other difficulty before them. They experienced it on another such curve but managed to get around it by running forward and up the mountain a few hundred feet to a point where they would turn the automobii: • around. They learned there that they should have started down from the gap backwards, taking the switchback as though they were on a logging train. By ths time the trip had been resumed, it was almost dark, and the way to Smokemont is exceedingly rough. From Smokemont, they took a state highway back to Bryson City and civilization. Know the Terrain The two men are perhaps the greatest experts on the North Carolina side of the Smokies in the western part of the state. Mr. Kephart camped in the mountains many years, wrote of them, and regularly makes trips to the mountains. Masa has tramped through them and has photographed the hills and the valleys from every conceivable angle. A few weeks ago they heard from the state highway commission that it was now easy to make automobile trips into the mountains. They went to find out, and they believe they did. The would-be Smoky mountain au- tomobilist should not lose hope, however. Within a week or so, this state will get to work in earnest on the grading of the state highway from Smokemont to New Found gap. And soon, the Tennessee part will be surfaced. The stone seen by the two is on the state line not far from Mt. Sterling. On one side the rock, about 30 inches high, bears the letters, "N. C. 1821", and the other side "Ten. 1821." Recently the U. S. Geological survey has put a mark on the end showing the elevation at that point to be 2,009 feet. It is one of the lowest points on the Smoky divide within the park area. Actually, it is almost the eastern boundry of the park.
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Great Smoky Mountains - A Park for America

This digital collection was created to contribute to the public's understanding of the forces and ideas that led to the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1934. The most vi...

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