It's An Adventure - The Frozen Cullasaja

The Frozen Cullasaja River Gorge

 

The Cullasaja River is a short river located entirely in Macon County, North Carolina. A tributary of the Little Tennessee River, into which it flows near the county seat of Franklin, it originates to the southeast, near Highlands, where it flows from man made Lake Sequoyah. A two-lane curve filled highway called Mountain Waters Scenic Byway, (aka The Gorge Road) is the combined route of U.S. 64 and NC 28, through the Cullasaja Gorge. This gorge is mostly protected as part of the Nantahala National Forest. Several former Cherokee towns were located along the Cullasaja River. "Cullasaja" is a variant spelling of the Cherokee town name "Kulsetsi". This Cherokee town's name is also the origin of the name "Sugar Fork". One of the largest and most important Cherokee towns, known as Nikwasi or Nucassee, was located at the confluence of The Cullasaja River with The Little Tennessee River, which runs along the Little Tennessee River Greenway, where Franklin sits today.

I have been driving this stretch of road for over 20 years between the town of Franklin (where I reside) and the town of Highlands, which is a small, very upscale resort town. The river has several waterfalls that can be viewed directly from the road (even from your car without getting out) or at least a short walk to an overlook (as is the case with Dry Falls). Then there are those places that hide secret or hidden waterfalls as they lie deep down in the gorge, far from the road above. If you are brave (or crazy as the case may be) you can stumble upon some great locations that others may never see. An adventure for sure as we scrambled our way down a (probably 85 degree embankment) with slippery ice covered leaves to the river where we found what I call "Hidden Falls". Well worth the ride down on my butt to get there. The climb out, however, was a bit more of a challenge but I made it in tact without crashing any equipment or my behind. This is a gallery of photos of The Cullasaja River after being gripped in two weeks of near freezing or below temps.

The Frozen Cullasaja River Gorge