North Carolina Highway 143 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

North Carolina Highway 143 is a primary state highway

State highway

State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...

in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

of North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

. It runs from the Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

state line to NC 28, near the community of Stecoah. It is best known for its 18 miles (29 km) section of the Cherohala Skyway

Cherohala Skyway

The Cherohala Skyway is a National Scenic Byway that connects Tellico Plains, Tennessee, to Robbinsville, North Carolina in the southeastern United States. Its name is a portmanteau of Cherokee and Nantahala, the two national forests through which it passes...

, shared with Tennessee State Route 165.

Route description

NC 143 begins at the Tennessee

Tennessee

state line at Beech Gap, along the Unicoi Crest. For the next 18 miles (29 km), known as the Cherohala Skyway

Cherohala Skyway

, the highway stays along mostly the north-side of the Johns Knob, Little Haw Knob, Haw Knob, Hooper's Bald, and Cedar Top, before descending at the Santeetlah Gap. The overall driving experience is similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway

Blue Ridge Parkway

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. It runs for 469 miles , mostly along the famous Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains...

; it has the same max speed of 45 mile per hour, and during winter the road is not maintained against snow and ice.

The next 11 miles (17.7 km) of highway is completely different, as NC 143 goes around south of Lake Santeetlah

Lake Santeetlah

Lake Santeetlah, part of the Tennessee River watershed, was created in 1928 when Alcoa dammed the Cheoah River as a means of generating hydroelectric power in Graham County, North Carolina. The reservoir is largely surrounded by the Cheoah District of the Nantahala National Forest...

to Robbinsville

Robbinsville, North Carolina

Robbinsville is a town in Graham County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 747 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Graham County. Robbinsville High School is the only high school in Graham County...

. It has a lot of twist and turns, though (luckily) not much on elevation changes. In Robbinsville, it is overlapped with US 129 for a few miles before continuing east to Stecoah.

The last 3.6 miles (5.8 km) of NC 143 feature steep elevation changes. From Orr Branch Road (elevation 2300 feet (701 m)), the road climbs ups the southwestern side of the Cheoah Mountains. At Stechoah Gap, the NC 143 peaks at an elevation of 3165 feet (964.7 m) (this is also where the Appalachian Trail

Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...

meets). The highway goes north along the eastern side of the Cheoah Mountains, reaching NC 28 at Johnson Gap (elevation 2523 feet (769 m)).

Scenic byways

Cherohala Skyway
Cherohala Skyway
The Cherohala Skyway is a National Scenic Byway that connects Tellico Plains, Tennessee, to Robbinsville, North Carolina in the southeastern United States. Its name is a portmanteau of Cherokee and Nantahala, the two national forests through which it passes...

is an 18 miles (29 km) byway and National Scenic Byway

National Scenic Byway

A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for its archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and/or scenic qualities. The program was established by Congress in 1991 to preserve and protect the nation's scenic but often...

in western Graham County

Graham County, North Carolina

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 7,993 people, 3,354 households, and 2,411 families residing in the county. The population density was 27 people per square mile . There were 5,084 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile...

. It is known as a connector between the Cherokee National Forest

Cherokee National Forest

The Cherokee National Forest is a large National Forest created on July 19, 1936, by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, operated by the U.S. Forest Service and encompassing some 640,000 acres .-Location:...

and the Nantahala National Forest

Nantahala National Forest

The Nantahala National Forest, established in 1920, is a national forest located in the American state of North Carolina. The word "Nantahala" is a Cherokee word meaning "Land of the Noonday Sun." The name is appropriate as, in some spots, the sun only reaches the floors of the deep gorges of the...

, thus the name Cherohala. The entire route offers scenic views of unspoiled forested mountains in Western North Carolina.

Junction list

The entire route is in Graham County

Graham County, North Carolina

.
{| class="wikitable"
!Location
!Mile
!Destinations
!Notes
|-
|rowspan=2|
|18
|Santeetlah Road
|East end of Cherohala Skyway
|-
|style="background:#ddffdd"|28
|style="background:#ddffdd"|, Maryville

Maryville, Tennessee

Maryville is the county seat of Blount County, Tennessee, in the Southeastern United States. The city is located south of Knoxville. Maryville's population was 27,258 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Maryville has received a number of accolades for its...

Robbinsville, North Carolina

|29
|
|
|-
|style="background:#ddffdd"|29.5
|style="background:#ddffdd"|
|style="background:#ddffdd"|South end of US 129 overlap
|-
|Stecoah
|38.3
|
|NC 143 ends

Business Loops

NC 143 has one business loops:

Robbinsville
Robbinsville, North Carolina
Robbinsville is a town in Graham County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 747 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Graham County. Robbinsville High School is the only high school in Graham County...

– Established in February, 1997, the 1 miles (1.6 km) route goes through downtown Robbinsville via North and East Main Streets. It meets back with NC 143 (unsigned) on Rodney Orr Bypass. Historically, NC 143 has never been routed through Robbinsville; though US 129 has before the bypass.

History

In 1979, NC 143 was established as a new primary route between Robbinsville and Stecoah, on already existing roads. Topography maps of Graham County in the early 1990's show an incomplete Cherohala Skyway already numbered as NC 143; however, this was not official until October 12, 1996, when NC 147 was extended to a completed Cherohala Skyway and its current western terminus at the Tennessee state line.

The Cherohala Skyway segment dates earlier than NC 143 (1962), but was not completed until 1996 with a total cost of $100 million over the whole 34 years of construction.

Alternate names

Though the highway is commonly known as "NC 143" or the "Cherohala Skyway" throughout the state, the highway does have other known names it uses locally in areas.