The Great Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains
Your guide from the Hemlock Inn, Bryson City

Great Smokies: Intro | Deep Creek (Waterfalls) | Catalochee | Great Hikes | Oconaluftee | Newfound Gap/Clingmans Dome | Gatlinburg | Great Drives Blue Ridge: Bryson City | Dillsboro | Cherokee | Franklin | Maggie Valley | Asheville Waynesville | Joyce Kilmer Forest | Blue Ridge Parkway | Fontana Lake/Dam | Fishing Whitewater Rafting | Biking | Great Smoky Railroad | Biltmore Estate

Fontana Dam (and Lake)
The highest dam in the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) system, Fontana ranks among the most beautiful in the world.  Surrounded by the extraordinary beauty of the Smoky Mountains, the adjacent national forests, and deep river gorges.

Fontana was not designed as an overflow dam so it has a somewhat distinct appearance. Its length is accentuated by the fact that no water spills over the top.   As the reservoir reaches capacity, water is released through spillways downstream from the base of the dam.

Built just as America was entering World War II, Fontana supplied electricity to fuel the war effort. In peacetime, Fontana helps improve navigation on the Tennessee River and controls flooding that once reached as far as Chattanooga.

Built in just over three years, during a time of historic shortages of steel and manpower, the Fontana project is a fascinating account of dam construction in the remote reaches of deep forest and tall mountains.

The Visitors Center at Fontana Dam is designed to offer an entertaining and educational introduction to hydroelectric power, and the history associated with the building of Fontana. The Powerhouse, reached by Fontana's Incline Tram, is open for tours, and both the Observation Deck and the Overlook provide exceptional views of the dam, the unusual discharge tunnels, and the mountain scenery.

The Appalachian Trail, which extends over 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine, crosses the top of Fontana Dam. Trail hikers named the nearby trail shelter the "Fontana Hilton", for the welcomed hot showers available to them at TVA's Visitors Center. Picnic tables and camping accommodations are available in the area.

Boat docks and launching ramps are located at various sites on the lake for Fontana's visitors. Many types of fish are abundant in Fontana Lake, including rainbow, brown, and brook trout, large and smallmouth bass, walleye, pike, perch, sunfish and crappie.

What was once the construction village is now a resort offering recreational activities such as boating, horseback riding and crafts.

Directions: Take Hwys. 19 South and 74 West to Hwy. 28 West, south of Bryson City. (Hwy. 28 forks to the right at the end of the four lane section of 19/74.) Follow Hwy. 28 to Fontana Dam.

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Hemlock Inn
Adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
P.O. Box 2350, Galbraith Creek Rd, Bryson City, NC 28713
phone: 828-488-2885 / fax: 828-488-8985
Reservations taken from 7:30 AM until 11:00 PM EST
e-mail: hemlock@dnet.net

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