The Road to Nowhere might conjure thoughts of 80s alt-rock. But it’s a real place that offers unrivaled opportunities for exploration.
If you thought such a destination didn’t exist outside vinyl records, think again.
Today, we’re cruising the Road to Nowhere to bring you the history of this unique location.
Let’s hit it!
About the Road to Nowhere
Just outside of Bryson City, North Carolina, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, you’ll find the Road to Nowhere. While the byway won’t get you far by car, it opens up many possibilities for folks on foot, bike, or horseback.
Also known as Lakeview Drive, this highway remnant takes you into the protected area. It ends at the mouth of a stone-lined tunnel. But this is where the adventure begins!
Multiple hiking paths lie just beyond the dark passage, with another shortly before. The first one you’ll come across is the Noland Creek Trail. Take it south to reach the water. Going north will take you just over four miles to the Springhouse Branch Trail, which leads another 90 minutes to the Noland Divide path.
You’ll have even more options if you stop just before the tunnel.
Folks who walk through the underground passageway and continue straight will be on the Lakeview Trail. This 33.5-mile trek takes you all the way to Fontana Dam.
Hikers looking for a day trip might want to take the Tunnel Bypass Trail. Just after the start, you can merge onto the Goldmine Loop. It’s a bit of a walk and meets the lake about halfway through.
All of these paths offer a peek into the past. You might see agricultural remnants or towering stone fireplaces.
Add these to your road trip playlist: 10 Country Songs About the Road
What Is the Story Behind the Road to Nowhere?
In the 1930s and 40s, much of Swain County was sacrificed to create Fontana Lake and the national park. This incident displaced more than 1,000 families. To make matters worse, a whopping 27 cemeteries became utterly unreachable.
Federal officials vowed to replace Highway 228, now at the bottom of the reservoir, and build a new route connecting Bryson City and Fontana.
However, things didn’t go as planned. After construction began in the 1970s, environmental issues made completion impossible. It was simply too expensive to finish it. Lakeview Drive ended at the tunnel and earned its unofficial name, “the Road to Nowhere.”
Fortunately, after years of debate between Swain County and the federal government, they’ve come to a solution. In 2010, the Department of the Interior agreed to pay the county $52 million for the debacle. While this may not compensate for the displaced families’ hardship, it’s certainly a start.
They’ve also devised a creative solution for visiting those old burial grounds and paying their respects to those who came before.
Did you know The Road to Hell Really Exists?
When Is Decoration Day?
While many people around the country celebrate Memorial Day each year, folks in the Smoky Mountains choose to acknowledge Decoration Day instead. With the help of the North Shore Cemetery Association and the Great Smoky Mountains Association, locals gather annually to clean up the remote burial grounds.
A ferry shuttles crews from the mainland to the otherwise unreachable cemeteries. They haul scrub brushes and buckets to tidy up tombstones and collect rubbish from the sites.
The modern tradition began in the 70s, about 30 years after they’d been cut off from their deceased loved ones. Many who made the early trips were alive when the fiasco took place.
Today, the pilgrimage consists of volunteers and people looking to discover the graves of family members they never met.
However, Decoration Day dates back much farther than the ill-fated Road to Nowhere. The people buried in those remote graves may have participated in the event, cleaning the final resting places of their own ancestors. They just didn’t need a boat to do it.
Many appreciate connecting with their roots and stepping back in time. This practice is a way to explore a heritage that might be lost to time without them.
Explore more: Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Hiking, Camping, Scenic Drives
What Is the Meaning Behind the Talking Heads Song “Road to Nowhere”?
Talking Heads frontman David Byrne wrote their hit song, Road to Nowhere, in 1985. It appeared on the album Little Creatures.
In a statement, Byrne said, “I wanted to write a song that presented a resigned, even joyful look at doom.” And he did just that. His gloomy lyrics about the passage of time and the ever-looming presence of death are sung over an upbeat, toe-tapping melody.
The group enlisted help from fellow musicians. Jimmy MacDonell played the accordion, Lenny Pickett played saxophone, and Andrew Cader played the washboard with a pair of spoons.
A year after its release, Road to Nowhere was nominated for Best Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Sadly, Dire Straits beat them to #1 with Money for Nothing.
While the song may not have anything to do with the bedeviled highway in North Carolina, we’re willing to bet many locals could commiserate with the tune.
Where Is the Road to Nowhere, Oklahoma?
North Carolina isn’t the only home to an unfortunately named highway. There’s also an unincorporated township in central Oklahoma with a similar issue. It’s about an hour and a half from Oklahoma City.
Legend has it that a couple moved from California to a remote location in Caddo County. The wife lamented that her husband had taken her to the middle of nowhere, and the name was so fitting they decided to keep it.
To be fair, she wasn’t wrong.
Nearby, Fort Cobb State Park features a 4,000-acre lake where you can fish and swim. You’ll also find a great burger at Ski-Boy Drive Inn, a local hole-in-the-wall. But otherwise, it’s farmland and open fields as far as the eye can see.
Of course, plenty of streets can get you into and out of town. OK-146 is the main drag. Through a series of back roads, it’ll connect you to I-40 to the north and I-44 to the south. Both interstates run east and west, so from here, the US is your oyster.
If you drive through town, hop out of the car and get a picture at the welcome sign.
There’s Plenty to See On the Road to Nowhere!
A series of unfortunate events and bureaucratic blunders led to the creation of North Carolina’s Road to Nowhere. But locals made the best of a bad situation and turned the area into a haven for hikers, cyclers, and horseback riders.
We highly recommend a trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. When you visit, it’s worth swinging through Bryson City to see what the ill-fated roadway is all about!
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