BLUE BOAR LODGE
Off l he Beaten Path
In the Heart of the Mountains
JOYCE KILMER ROAD
ROBBINSVIM.K. N. C.
• Mountain Stream & Lake Fishing
• Private Showers • Home Cooking
“ Linger Longer. You’ll Live Longer"
• Fish — Eat — Sleep — Relax
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GOOD FOOD
AT ITS BEST!
• Everything that can he done to
assure your dining pleasure you'll find
at The Towne House, when you visit
us in Wayncsvillc this summer.
• We invite you to enjoy the finest
quality of foods, prepared with the
superlative skill and care of home
cooking . . . served with attentive
thoughtfulness in an attractive, cheer¬
ful dining room.
APPROVED BY AAA —
DUNCAN IIINES
Open Year Around
THE TOWNE HOUSE
WAYNESVH.I.K. N. C.
Mrs. Sam II. Jones
Mrs. James T. Jones
Main Street Phone lll-M
ШШТШ
MOUNTAIN CRAFT SHOP
DISPLAY & MARKETING
CENTER
SOUTHERN HIGHLAND
HANDICRAFT GUILD
The finest and most complete selection
of baskets, wood-carving, jewelry,
wrought iron, pottery, weaving, etc. —
all handmade in the Southern Moun¬
tains. Write for descriptive folder
and price list.
16 College Street Asheville. N. C.
“Across from SAW Cafeteria”
North Carolina side. A steep, wind¬
ing. but quite decent gravel road will
take you to the settlement of Relief,
where there is hard surface. Continue
on this to 197, thence to 19-E near
Burnsville.
This indubitably is the best trip in
the Unakas; one of the nicest any¬
where.
The Unaka chain is all contained in
the Roan Mountain guadranglc of
the Geological Survey.
The Bald Mountains
The Bald Mountains are so diverse
that they are for everyone; tours easy
or difficult; serene or wild.
After the Unaka range shows its
powerful potential in the Roan mass,
it rides mildly through the Unaka
(Iron) range to the Nolichuckcy
River. Then the Balds commence, ris¬
ing quickly to Flattop, itself, a true
bald, almost 5.0(H) feci. The range
moves southward and has an early
climax at the Big Bald. 5.200 feet, con¬
tinues with quite erratic, though not
extreme, altitudes along the state line
until it terminates at the Pigeon River
in Haywood County. At Max Patch, it
junctions with the southeasterly trend¬
ing Newfounds.
Many readers — perhaps most —
have seen the Bald Mountains and
traveled through one of their numer¬
ous usable gaps. When you go next
time, take a day or so extra so as to
enjoy them more thoroughly.
A Long Range
They run for around 25 air miles,
their crest for the most part forming
the boundaries between Yancey and
Madison counties and Tennessee.
The range also is a broad one,
throwing off humps and ridges to the
east which themselves are formidable,
notably the Walnut Mountains and the
Spring Creek Mountains, both rising
to 4.000 feet.
The French Broad River splits the
Balds squarely in two, but docs not
do for this country what it docs for
the alluvial lands in its upper course
around Asheville and Brevard. Here,
pressing on to its destiny, it sets fever¬
ishly to the work of churning its way
out of its basin, creating deep gorges,
rather than valleys, in the land. When
the river departs at Paint Rock, it has
lowered its bed to 1.264 feet, a drop
of 700 feet from its altitude at Ashe¬
ville.
Consequently the Balds, especially
in Madison, arc comprised alternately
of steep farmlands and hardwood for¬
ests. with only rarely an acre of flat
country. The inhabitants appear to be
intruding in a scmi-cicarcd frontier.
But access is extremely easy. The
most traveled route, of course, is over
U.S. 70-25, which crosses the crest at
the state line just west of Hot Springs.
This is one of the best highway en¬
trances into North Carolina from the
west, and is heavily used by vacation¬
ists and travelers going from the mid¬
west to Florida.
T hree Platforms
We suggest three platforms from
which you can see a good portion of
the range. The most accessible is the
fire lower of Rich Mountain (the
Madison County one). This is reached
from U.S. 70-25 by turning north onto
a good gravel forest road a few miles
cast of Hot Springs. While Rich Moun¬
tain is not high (3.643 feet), it is not
hedged in by rivals. Here is almost
360-degree unlimited vision, and a
great part of that section of the state
comes under observation. If you make
this trip, you can come down the other
side of the mountain on a good road
through a heavily timbered section of
Pisgah Forest, which leads you back
to hard surface on a circle trip.
Another view is to be had from Flat-
top. on the northern end of the range,
a trip described in the Unaka section.
SOLO AT LEADING STORES EVERYWHERE
BUY SOME TODAY!
PACKED BY MOUNT OUVS PtCXU CO. INC
MOUNT OtVS. NORTH CABOUNA
22
THE STATE. MAY 30. 1953
