JOYCE KILMER WILDERNESS AREA EXTENSIONS
Updated 1/6/07
Joyce Kilmer was established as Wilderness under the 1975 Eastern Wilderness Act. It is part of the South Tennessee Wild Area Cluster.
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| Taken from a 1993 Forest Service map of bear habitat,
shown in green.
The orange line shows NC Mtn Treasures proposed Wilderness extensions. Gray shows private and, on the W, Cherokee National Forest land. Major trails are shown as dashed lines. |
Location: Graham County, NW of Robbinsville, adjacent to Joyce Kilmer WildernessAccess: From Tapoco at Cheoah Dam, S on US 129 to Slick Rock Road,(FS Road 62), then SW up to Big Fat Gap at edge of Wilderness Area. From here FS Trail 56 follows ridge (Hangover Lead) N to the upper reaches of the Yellowhammer Branch potential wilderness addition. To reach the NW border of the Rough Branch/Indian Grave finger, take FS 62 from US 129 about 1.5 miles to junction with gated logging road (Barker Creek Road) running SSW. After about 1 mile this road parallels the NW border of the wild area. The SE border of this finger is roughly parallelled by the Deep Creek Road, (FS Road 445) in the Deep Creek valley to the Deep Creek Hunter Camp, beyond which the road is gated. FS 445 splits ESE from 62 about 800 ft. from US 129. Just to the SE of 445, on the other (SE) side of Deep Creek is the NW border of the third finger, a ridge from which flow Blackgum, Laurel, and Persimmon Branches. This finger is also accessed from its S side via Cty 1127 (out of Robbinsville) which ends at the Maple Springs Observation Point about 800 ft. past the trailhead for FS Trail 53, which climbs up the extreme SW corner of this wild area finger to the wilderness boundary.
USGS Topographic Quadrangles: Tapoco. See also the 1980 USFS Trail Map for the Joyce Kilmer/Slickrock Wilderness, and the 1973 Sierra Club Totebook, "Hiker's Guide to the Smokies".
Features/Description/Potential:
Wild area consists of three NE/SW-running fingers and one smaller strip of land (Obadiah/Goldie Deaden) connected to existing Joyce Kilmer/Slickrock Wilderness on the SW in the Santeetlah Creek Valley. Joyce Kilmer Wilderness abuts the Citico Wilderness in Tn. From NW to SE the proposed additions are the upper basin of Yellowhammer Branch (the original RARE II area, still uncut); a broken ridge area from which Indian Grave and Rough Branches drain; and another broken ridge area from which flow Blackgum, Laurel and Persimmon Branches. These fingers are logical extensions to existing Joyce Kilmer/Slickrock wilderness. They offer a potential corridor for wildlife to GSMNP. All have been partially logged (and therefore roaded at least with temporary roads), some as recently as 1980. No 100+ year stands are recorded in FS data. Terrain is steep in general. Only the northernmost of these potential additions, the old RARE II Area, is protected in the 1994 amended Plan.
A severe windstorm or tornado in Feb.1993 led to extensive blowdowns in the upper Rough Branch cove, along Deep Creek at the junction of Rough Branch with Deep Creek, and along Laurel Branch just SW of FS Road 2516 (the gated extension of Gold Mine Road, Cty 1129). Salvage sales led to reconstructed and new roads in the first and last of these areas. Timber sales were being planned in the Blackgum/Avey Branch area (the Southmost prong of wild area outside Wilderness), and the lower Bear Creek area (E of the old RARE II area) for 1993.
The Obadiah Gap/Goldie Deaden on the SW side of Joyce Kilmer is also threatened with timber sales in 2002.
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, established in 1936, is immediately adjacent to the Joyce Kilmer Wilderness Area. It is an outstanding example of a Southern Appalachian virgin forest, with many poplar and hemlocks over 300 years old, some over 20 feet in circumference and over 100 feet tall.