Sites of Geologic Interest: US 441 and Vicinity

If you're traveling north from Atlanta to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cherokee, Cataloochee / Maggie Valley, Lake Junaluska, Tuckaseegee River, Chattooga River, Dillard, Clayton, Black Rock Mountain, or Tallulah Falls, then US Highway 441 is the way to go. Here are a few rocks to look at on the way:

Macon - Jackson County line, North Carolina

Where US 441 crosses a ridge at the boundary between Macon and Jackson Counties in North Carolina, a roadcut exposes dark, contorted gneiss.
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Between Tallulah Falls and Clayton: Gneiss

A bit farther north of the roadcut listed below, another fresh cut exposes pristine -- for now -- felsic gneiss.
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Between Tallulah Falls and Clayton: Schist

A bit north of Tallulah Falls, a recent roadcut exposes fractured schist.
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Tallulah Gorge

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the resort town of Tallulah Falls attracted crowds of tourists to eponymous waterfalls on the Tallulah River. Like much of that river, the falls now lie submerged beneath a Georgia Power lake. Downstream of the Tallulah Falls dam, the remaining gorge is . . . well, gorgeous: a steep, rugged, narrow canyon cut into Blue Ridge rock. Georgia Power and the State of Georgia co-operate recreational facilities around the gorge and lake; for a strenuous treat, you can hike into the gorge.
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