Fontana Lake is a reservoir impounded by
Fontana DamFontana Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Little Tennessee River in Swain County and Graham County, North Carolina, USA. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s to accommodate the skyrocketing electricity demands in the Tennessee Valley at the...
on the
Little Tennessee RiverThe Little Tennessee River is a tributary of the Tennessee River, approximately 135 miles long, in the Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States.-Geography:...
located in
GrahamGraham County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2000, the population was 7,993. Its county seat is Robbinsville.- History :...
and
SwainSwain County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2000, the population was 12,968. Its county seat is Bryson City.Swain County is home of the Nantahala River...
counties in
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
. The lake forms part of the southern border of
Great Smoky Mountains National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North Carolina runs northeast to...
and the northern border of part of the
Nantahala National ForestThe Nantahala National Forest, established in 1920, is a national forest located in the American state of North Carolina. The word "Nantahala" is a Cherokee Indian word meaning "Land of the Noonday Sun." The name is appropriate as, in some spots, the sun only reaches the floors of the deep gorges...
. Depending on water levels, the lake is about long and its eastern end is the
Tuckasegee RiverThe Tuckasegee River flows in western North Carolina, USA. It begins its course in Jackson County, at the confluence of Panthertown and Greenland Creeks. It flows in a northwesterly direction into Swain County, where it enters the Little Tennessee River.The name Tuckaseegee is an anglicization...
near
Bryson CityBryson City is a town in Swain County, North Carolina in the United States. The population was 1,411 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Swain County.-Geography:Bryson City is located at...
. The lake has many inlets into coves and many islands formed from former mountain peaks, especially near the eastern end.
Fontana Lake is a reservoir impounded by
Fontana DamFontana Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Little Tennessee River in Swain County and Graham County, North Carolina, USA. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s to accommodate the skyrocketing electricity demands in the Tennessee Valley at the...
on the
Little Tennessee RiverThe Little Tennessee River is a tributary of the Tennessee River, approximately 135 miles long, in the Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States.-Geography:...
located in
GrahamGraham County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2000, the population was 7,993. Its county seat is Robbinsville.- History :...
and
SwainSwain County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2000, the population was 12,968. Its county seat is Bryson City.Swain County is home of the Nantahala River...
counties in
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
. The lake forms part of the southern border of
Great Smoky Mountains National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North Carolina runs northeast to...
and the northern border of part of the
Nantahala National ForestThe Nantahala National Forest, established in 1920, is a national forest located in the American state of North Carolina. The word "Nantahala" is a Cherokee Indian word meaning "Land of the Noonday Sun." The name is appropriate as, in some spots, the sun only reaches the floors of the deep gorges...
. Depending on water levels, the lake is about long and its eastern end is the
Tuckasegee RiverThe Tuckasegee River flows in western North Carolina, USA. It begins its course in Jackson County, at the confluence of Panthertown and Greenland Creeks. It flows in a northwesterly direction into Swain County, where it enters the Little Tennessee River.The name Tuckaseegee is an anglicization...
near
Bryson CityBryson City is a town in Swain County, North Carolina in the United States. The population was 1,411 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Swain County.-Geography:Bryson City is located at...
. The lake has many inlets into coves and many islands formed from former mountain peaks, especially near the eastern end. As with most dam-impounded lakes, the steep banks are often exposed when water levels are low. Many towns were submerged shortly after the creation of Fontana Dam, such as
ProctorProctor is a former town located in Swain County, North Carolina, U.S.A. It was on Hazel Creek. It is named after Moses Proctor, first white settler to this area. The town was flooded with the creation of Fontana Lake and remains submerged unless lake levels are very low.-References:*...
and
JudsonJudson was a small town in Swain County, North Carolina. It was submerged when the Fontana Dam was built, creating the Fontana Lake reservoir. Some structures can be visited when the lake is at its yearly low....
.
Waters of the lake provide some of the only access into the most remote areas of the National Park. When water levels are normal, and indeed barring any water levels so long as the individual is able to traverse the cold and unstable creek and lake bed up into the coves, a boat may be used to access such remote trailheads as Noland Creek. From the observation tower of Clingman's Dome, on a clear day the lake can be seen over a mile below, which has a normal surface elevation of . NC 28 roughly parallels the southern shore of the lake and US 19 between Bryson City and Wesser/Lauada briefly skims an inlet at the extreme southeastern edge. The planned Lakeview Drive would have roughly paralleled the lake's remote north shore, although completion of this road has been stalled for several decades by funding issues and staunch opposition from environmentalists.
North Shore Road controversy
The construction of Fontana Dam led to the flooding of most of North Carolina Highway 288, which connected Deals Gap and Bryson City. The
National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
, after gaining possession of Fontana's north shore tracts, reached an agreement with Swain County to replace the north shore road in the 1940s. By 1972, however, funding issues had continuously stalled construction, and just of the road had been completed (just outside of Bryson City). In the 1970s, environmental concerns completely halted the road's progress, and locals mockingly nicknamed the unfinished road "The Road to Nowhere". After North Carolina's U.S. Senator
Jesse HelmsJesse Alexander Helms, Jr. was a five-term Republican United States Senator from North Carolina who served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001...
secured funding for the road in 2000, the park service conducted an environmental impact study (released in 2007) that determined that toxins released during the road's construction would pollute nearby
streamA stream is a flowing body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, kill, lick, rill, river syke, bayou, rivulet, or run...
s, and would thus be in violation of the park's general management plan. With the help of Congressman
Heath ShulerJoseph Heath Shuler is a businessman, politician and former American football player. He is currently a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing since 2007. The district includes most of the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina...
, the park service negotiated a cash settlement with Swain County in 2007, ensuring the road will likely go unfinished.
Name
Fontana is named after a Montvale Lumber Company logging town that was once situated at the mouth of Eagle Creek on the lake's north shore. The name is derived from the Italian word for "fountain".
External links