Near Bryson City — a small mountain town on the edge of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, home of a scenic railroad that runs a 'moonshine' excursion up the Nantahala Gorge.
Off to the north here sits the little town of Bryson City, and it's worth knowing about, because it's one of the main doorsteps to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — the most-visited national park in the whole country, its wild southern edge rising just beyond that ridgeline. If you've got days to spend out here, Bryson City is a fine base for the Smokies, the lake, and the gorge.
It's also home to a genuine old-time scenic railroad, the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, that runs excursions up through this very Nantahala country in vintage cars behind rumbling engines — including, I kid you not, a 'moonshine' ride, where they lean right into the heritage of this shine country with tastings of the legal stuff and the stories to go with it. Which tells you something: the outlaw history Boone keeps telling you about isn't just history anymore. It's become the region's proud identity — put on t-shirts, painted on the road signs, poured in the tasting rooms.
There's a nice symmetry to that. The thing these mountains once had to hide in the dark, they now celebrate in the daylight. The moonshiners would be astonished — and, I suspect, quietly delighted.
One heads-up for the road right here: coming up, our little two-lane 28 merges onto the bigger four-lane — US Highway 19 and 74 — and runs along with it for a few miles through the Nantahala country. Don't worry, you're still on 28; it just rides piggyback on the highway for a stretch. Stay with the main flow of traffic, keep an eye on the signs, and 28 will carry you on toward Franklin. Roll on.
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0
