OVERMOUNTAIN VICTORY NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL
A Travelogue on the OVNHT in North Carolina
From Tennessee Line to Morganton

This mountain road sweeps around the sides of Roan Mountain through Avery County. The county seat, Newland, is the highest county seat in the Eastern U.S. All around you are mountains. Watch for Roaring Creek coming down from Yellow Mountain Gap to flow into the North Toe River. On the west, the river was the Doe. Here on the east, it's the Toe. Curiously, both end up in the Tennessee, then the Ohio, then the Mississippi, and then finally the Gulf of Mexico.

If you've time, turn right onto Roaring Creek road and climb the flank of Roan Mountain. As you get up high, the pavement will end. Don't go past the Forest Service gate, even if open. You are right below the Yellow Mountain Gap at almost 5,000 feet. In 1780, the men crossed the mountain in an early snow storm. They mustered in the Gap and test fired their rifles. The air was so thin, one man reported, there was little noise from the reports.

The mountain is named for the tulip trees (tulip or yellow poplar) covering its slopes. In the fall, just after the time when the Overmountain men crossed, the trees blaze yellow and gold. Watch for the campsite where the army spent its second night out from Sycamore Shoals.

The route twists and turns. In Avery County, don't be afraid to go slowly. The drop off down the mountain is steep. You may be rewarded by deer, turkey, foxes, or quail along side the road. The roadsides are covered with lush green rhododendron and mountain laurel.

Watch carefully between Roaring Creek and Spruce Pine. The modern highway is over top the original route, the Yellow Mountain Road, also later called Bright's Trace. Remnants of the older road are visible here and there.

The highway passes through a string of small towns and cities that are a mix of the old and the modern. In Elk Park, the railroad track and station stood right in the middle of today's highway. On your left is the old main street, still looking much as it did in the 1930's.

Cranberry was once an industrial giant in the middle of the mountains. The iron under the mountains brought the narrow-gauge railroad. The mine and a smelter brought workers. Don't miss your turn to the right by the old Cranberry High School. Look to your right just past the school and you may see the skeleton of the mine complex. The ore gave out and the mine closed in the late 1920's. The railroad held on until 1950, but the closing of the mine doomed the railroad, too.

Minneapolis is smaller than the Minnesota town of the same name, but the people are just as friendly. Don't speed or you'll miss the turn and end up in the river or the school!

Plumtree was another industrial center, preparing mica mined from the mountains. It still has the charm of a snug mountain town. It's hard to see, but Plumtree is a movie town. The chilly tale of "The Winter People" was filmed here. They changed things all around, so you may not recognize the setting. But look at the mountains. That scene hasn't changed.

Farther along at a wide spot, you'll see the Sunny Brook Store. Now they sell books, but once this was community center, supplying necessities to the surrounding valley. Near here, Robert Sevier died seven days after being wounded at Kings Mountain. He is buried among the tall summits.

Spruce Pine is a growing retirement and vacation area. There are shops and restaurants to explore. You've got golf, too.

You'll climb up to the Blue Ridge Parkway on an easy, but straight grade. Notice the golf course on your right. The Patriot army camped here their third night on the trail. Farther along you can try your hand at finding gemstones at one of the commercial mines.

At the junction with the Blue Ridge Parkway, be alert. Traffic mixes from the Mineral Museum and the Parkway's maintenance facility, from NC 226, and NC 226A. Don't miss your turn just after going under the Parkway. If you go straight ahead on NC 226A, you twist and turn through Little Switzerland. Don't worry about getting lost, for you'll end up rejoining NC 226 farther down the mountain. In fact, you'll have the right-of-way!

Of course, the trip down NC 226 is not easy, either. From the Blue Ridge Parkway down to the junction with U.S. 221, this is a narrow, steep, winding mountain road. This mountain downgrade is dangerous. Keep your speed down and don't ride your brakes. Don't stop at the runaway truck ramp near the midpoint. A truck might need to come in while you're parked!

But you'll like the view as you descend.

Marion is an old mountain town with a secret store of interesting buildings and people. Here's a chance for a leisurely meal and some shopping. You'll go right by the post office, so here's a chance to send a card home.

Marion is the seat of McDowell County. But the name is not for the McDowells of Quaker Meadows. Joseph McDowell was a cousin to Charles and Joseph McDowell of Quaker Meadows. McDowell County's Joseph McDowell was often called Pleasant Gardens Joe for his home. You passed the site at the traffic light where U.S. 70 crossed U.S. 221 and NC 226. His father, Hunting John, was an uncle of the Quaker Meadows brothers.

There's only one more range of mountains to cross into the piedmont. You'll sneak through into the Linville and Catawba River valleys on these two roads. NC 126 is a scenic, winding road. Keep your eye out for spectacular views of Linville Mountain to your left and the high Black Mountains on your right. Within the Blacks is Mount Mitchell, at over 6,000 feet the highest peak east of the Rockies. But it's hard to pick Mount Mitchell out from all the other mountains rising above 5,000 feet.

As you approach the bridge across the Linville River, do you feel adventurous? Turn left up the dirt road just before the bridge. About a mile up, you can look up into Linville Gorge with the wooded slopes of Linville on your left and magnificent Shortoff Mountain on your right. Most views of the gorge are from above or from down below looking up. This view is at river level up into the gorge.

You'll continue to have magnificent views as you drive along the shore of Lake James, a hydroelectric impoundment of the Linville and Catawba rivers. Little trace remains, but the fort used in filming the movie "The Last of the Mohicans" was built on the edge of the lake. Stop at the boat ramp and look back at Shortoff and you'll see the view seen in the canoe race.

When you enter Morganton, turn left at the stop sign onto Jamestown Road. The large school is Freedom High School. There's a public fitness trail on the school grounds that's open to the public in the evening. All of the bottom land you see along the river was part of the McDowell property at Quaker Meadows.

Notice the golf course on the other side of North Carolina 181 as you turn. The Council Oak once stood here. Reportedly the militia met under its spreading limbs. Unfortunately, this magnificent tree fell several years ago in a big storm.

The first settlement here was called McDowell's Station after a fortified house and store built by Charles McDowell's father. No one is sure where that building or the house of 1780 stood.

The seat of Burke County, Morganton is the midpoint of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail. The Wilkes-Surry segment joins the main route here. Both routes come downtown to the square in which the Old Burke Courthouse sits. This is the headquarters of the Historic Burke Foundation. Stop in to see their collection, tour the courthouse, and ask about historic houses around the county.

Morganton includes restaurants, motels, and a wide choice of shopping.

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