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 shows private land. Major trails are shown as dashed lines.

Location: Lies S of Cty 1310 and Wayah Gap about 8 miles W of Franklin in Macon County

Access:  From Wayah Gap, Wayah Crest Picnic Area on Cty 1310, take AT S across proposed roadless area to Winding Stairs Gap on US 64.

USGS Topographic Quadrangles:  Wayah Bald, Rainbow Springs, Topton

Features/Description/Potential:
    This area is the continuation of the long ridgeline from Wesser Bald S over Tellico, Wayah, Winespring, and Siler Balds to Winding Stairs Gap on US 64.  To the SW the area is roughly delineated by the Nantahala River.  While not big enough to be an official SPNM because of logging roads on both the SW (FS 7283, 7282) and NE(FS 388), sides of the AT, the area is valuable as a connector to the Boteler Peak wild area and to the So. Nantahala Wilderness.  The AT runs along the crest from Wayah Gap SE to Winding Stairs Gap, and then continues SE toward Albert Mt. and then into the So. Nantahala Wilderness.  A lot of 100+ year-old growth is reported by the FS along the AT corridor.  Siler Bald itself is just W of the AT.  Its N slopes near the summit have been cleared and part put into a grass crop and part left as scrub heath thicket, making the mountain quite identifiable from a long distance away.  There is a plaque to the memory of William Siler at the top.  There are good views, mostly to the N and NW, from the top, including views of clearcuts along FS Road 711.
    It is part of a larger bear sanctuary reaching N to Split Whiteoak Wild Area.
 

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