Location
The Little Tennessee River flows for 135 miles (217 km) from its source in the mountains of northern Georgia to its mouth along the Tennessee River opposite Lenoir City, Tennessee. Fontana is located 61 miles (98 km) above the mouth of the Little Tennessee, in a remote area where the westward-flowing river bends briefly to the south. Fontana Dam is a 30-mile (48 km) drive from the three nearest cities — Maryville, Tennessee to the west, Bryson City, North Carolina to the east, and Robbinsville, North Carolina, to the south, although the small resort of Fontana Village (which has its roots as the temporary village where many of the workers constructing the dam were housed) has developed just south of the dam. The Great Smoky Mountains rise to the north and the Yellow Creek Mountains (mostly protected by the Nantahala National Forest) rise to the south. Fontana is the uppermost of five dams on the Little Tennessee River, with Cheoah Dam being 10 miles (16 km) downstream, followed by Calderwood Dam, Chilhowee Dam, and Tellico Dam.
Along with a 29-mile (47 km) stretch of the Little Tennessee, Fontana Lake also extends across the lower 11 miles (18 km) of the Tuckasegee River (which flows southward from Cherokee and Bryson City) and the lower 5 miles (8.0 km) or so of the Nantahala River, extending into the scenic Nantahala Gorge. Several rapid-flowing mountain streams— some of which drop several thousand feet from the crest of the Great Smokies in just a few miles— empty into Fontana's north shore. The most notable of these streams — Eagle Creek and Hazel Creek — form substantial embayments just upstream from the dam.
North Carolina Highway 28 (which crosses a bridge downstream from the dam) provides the only major road access to the Fontana Dam area. At Deals Gap, 11 miles (18 km) west of the dam, the road intersects U.S. Route 129, which then continues westward to Maryville. East of the dam, NC-28 follows the lake's south shore for about 25 miles (40 km) before intersecting U.S. Route 74. As part of the Fontana Project, the National Park Service agreed to build a road along the lake's north shore, connecting the dam directly to Bryson City, although due to financial issues and environmental concerns this road was never completed, and remains one of the Fontana project's most enduring controversies.
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