Guide 01
Lake Santeetlah Basics: 2,881 Acres and 76 Miles of Shoreline
The numbers behind Graham County's lake, and the reason most of its shoreline will never be built on.
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Guide 02
Tail of the Dragon: A Driver's Guide from Lake Santeetlah
318 curves in 11 miles of US-129, starting at Deals Gap. How to drive it, and when it is quietest.
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Guide 03
How Lake Santeetlah Was Made: The 1928 Dam on the Cheoah River
Alcoa needed power for aluminum. Graham County got a lake. The 1925 to 1928 build, explained.
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Guide 04
Cherohala Skyway Guide: 43 Miles, 15 Overlooks, No Gas
A 43-mile ridge road between Robbinsville and Tellico Plains that took 34 years and $100 million to finish.
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Guide 05
Fishing Lake Santeetlah: Smallmouth, Walleye, and When to Go
What lives in the lake, where it holds, and how the fishing changes with the seasons.
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Guide 06
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest: 400-Year-Old Poplars on a 2-Mile Figure-Eight Trail
An uncut 3,800-acre forest of 400-year-old tulip poplars, set aside in 1936 as a memorial to the poet Joyce Kilmer, a short drive from Lake Santeetlah.
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Guide 07
Fontana Dam and Lake: 480 Feet, the Tallest Dam in the Eastern U.S.
TVA built the 480-foot dam in under three years during World War II, and the town it built to house the workers is still there as a resort.
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Guide 08
The Town of Lake Santeetlah: 38 Residents, 200 Homes, One Long Water Fight
How a Florida developer's resort colony on Lake Santeetlah became one of North Carolina's smallest towns, with 38 residents and more than 200 houses.
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Guide 09
The Nantahala River: Rafting the Gorge, the NOC, and 50-Degree Water
Eight miles of dam-fed Class II and III water through the Nantahala Gorge, cold in every month of the year, with the Nantahala Outdoor Center at the take-out.
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Guide 10
Junaluska, Tsali, and the Snowbird Cherokee: Graham County's Cherokee History
The documented Cherokee story of Graham County: an ally deported, a farmer executed so others could stay, and a community at Tutiyi still speaking Cherokee.
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Guide 11
Cheoah River Release Days: Class IV-V Whitewater Below Santeetlah Dam
On roughly 20 scheduled days a year, the quiet river below the dam becomes one of the hardest whitewater runs in the Southeast.
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Guide 12
Moonshiner 28: NC-28 from Deals Gap Past Fontana Lake to Bryson City
NC-28 starts at the same crossroads as the Tail of the Dragon and runs 103 miles, but the 35 miles along Fontana Lake are the part to know.
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Guide 13
Waterfalls Near Robbinsville, NC: Yellow Creek Falls, Snowbird Creek, and Bald River Falls
One short hike near the lake, four falls on one long backcountry trail, and a 90-foot roadside falls across the Skyway.
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Guide 14
Boating on Lake Santeetlah: Santeetlah Marina, Public Ramps, and Boat-In Campsites
One marina, free public ramps, and more than 50 free shoreline campsites on a lake where 80 percent of the shore is national forest.
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Guide 15
The Lake Santeetlah Drawdown: Why the Lake Drops Each Winter and What It Means for Docks
The drawdown is written into Santeetlah Dam's federal license, and it is the only season when seawalls and docks can be repaired.
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Guide 16
Dark Skies Over Lake Santeetlah: Stargazing, the Milky Way, and Meteor Showers
About 8,500 people in the whole county and forest along most of the shoreline means the lake goes properly dark after sunset.
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Guide 17
A Smoky Mountains Day Trip from Robbinsville: Oconaluftee, Newfound Gap, and Kuwohi
The park borders Graham County but the entrance is at Cherokee, so this is a full day: gorge, elk meadow, and the highest point in the Smokies.
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Guide 18
Fall Color Around Lake Santeetlah: Peak Timing by Elevation and a Drive That Climbs Through All of It
One road out of Robbinsville climbs 3,400 feet, so a single October drive passes through several stages of fall at once.
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Guide 19
Stecoah Valley Center: Bluegrass in a 1926 Rock Schoolhouse, and Eating Local in Graham County
A rock schoolhouse the valley built by hand in 1926 is still Stecoah's center of gravity; the music just replaced the classes.
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Guide 20
48 Hours at Lake Santeetlah: A Weekend Itinerary
Two days is enough for the old-growth forest, a mile-high skyway, and the Dragon, if you put them in the right order.
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