SNOWBIRD WILD AREA
Updated 10/25/07
Snowbird, most of which is a Wilderness Study Area,
is part of the larger South
Tennessee Wild Areas Cluster.
The only reason it was not recommended for Wilderness
by the Forest Service
in the 1987 Forest Management Plan was political,
the strong local opposition to Wilderness at that time.
|
Taken from a 1993 Forest Service map of bear habitat,
shown in green.
The orange line is the area proposed for protection in The Wilderness Society's "NC Mountain Treasures. Gray and very dark green show private land. Major trails are shown as dashed lines. |
To See Pictures
Location: Graham Co., to the south of Joyce-Kilmer Wilderness and the new Robbinsville/Tellico Plains Cherohala Parkway. Meets NC/TN line at Laurel Top in extreme NW portion.Access: From Robbinsville, W and S on County 1127 to 1115 to FS Road 75, then W to parking area at end of road. The Tellico Plains/Robinsville Cherohala Parkway gives access to the western rim of the area.
USGS Topographic Quadrangles: Santeetlah Creek, Big Junction, (Marble). Also see FS trail map of Snowbird.
Features/Description/Potential:
Watershed basin of Snowbird Creek with three good waterfalls (Upper, Middle, and Big). Major tributary on S is Sassafrass Cr., which also has a nice falls. It is a rugged mountainous area with elevations varying from 2600 to 5400 feet, steeper near the rim than at the creek. Geologically, the rocks are mainly metasandstone ans schist, very old and much deformed by great heat and pressure. Old logging railroad grade runs up Snowbird Cr., with many old stone bridge abutments where the railroad crisscrossed the creek. Native trout fishery. Very popular area for fishing, hunting (feral pigs, deer, turkey), and hikers. Good wildflowers. Has been heavily lumbered in past. Some old trees on high ridges. FS Trail 64 follows Snowbird Creek from the parking area at the junction with Owl Camp Branch W to the western rim. FS Trails 65 and 65A fork to the W from FS64 and follow Sassafras Creek past Sassafras Falls. From the falls, FS65 climbs Burntrock Ridge Ridge and rejoins 64, while 65A continues W to the western rim of the WSA. FS Trail 63 climbs Firescald Ridge NW to the western rim.
Forest Service, in 1994, completed a Draft Environmental Impact study of Snowbird Creek for National Wild and Scenic River designation, concluding that the creek qualifies. The 8.7 mile portion in the wild area, from Owl Camp Branch to the headwaters near Mitchell Lick, would qualify as a Wild River.