Nantahala National Forest
National Forest · Asheville, North Carolina
The largest of North Carolina's four national forests, filling the far south-western corner of the state where Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas meet. Its name is Cherokee and means "Land of the Noonday Sun" - in the Nantahala Gorge the walls are steep enough that direct sunlight reaches the river only around midday. It is the second wettest region in the continental United States after the Pacific Northwest, and part of the Appalachian temperate rainforest.
160 Zillicoa Street, Asheville, North Carolina, 28801, United States
FREE and open year round, 24 hours, across more than half a million acres of far western North Carolina. Recreation areas and campgrounds are seasonal. The Nantahala Gorge rafting season runs roughly March to October and depends on dam releases. ⚠ FOREST ROADS CLOSE for winter and storm repair; check the forest alerts page before relying on any specific road, trail or put-in.
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