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 dark green show private land. Major trails are shown as dashed lines.

Location:  Macon County, adjacent to E side of Wayah Bald, S of Tellico Bald wild area.

Access:  From US 19 SW of Wesser, left on Cty 1310 to Wayah Gap, then left (N) on FS 69 to top of Wayah Bald.  Walk AT N into wild area.  Or walk AT S from Cty Road 1397 at Burningtown Gap on the N side of the wild area.

USGS Topographic Quadrangles:  Wayah Bald

Features/Description/Potential:
    Split Whiteoak Ridge on the NW joins the main N-S ridge of the Nantahala Mts. at 4680 ft.  The AT follows the main ridge N-S in the N portion of the wild area over Wayah Bald at 5352 ft.  Views from the observation tower on Wayah Bald are outstanding, though confined to the E and SE.  The Bartram Trail (FS 67) crosses Wayah Bald E-W.  (See John Ray's "Bartram Trail" for the Nantahala National Forest.  Obtain copies from Ray at 1190 Old Seneca Rd, Central, SC, 29630.  email: jrrarah@mindspring.com)Winespring Bald with its antenna farm on top is just SW of Wayah Bald.  The AT skirts Winespring Bald to the W, passing the fine water of the Wine Spring.  The roadless area here includes only the E slopes of the main ridge, including an extension E followed by the Bartram Trail along Trimont Ridge.  A lot of clearcutting has occurred W of the main ridge, W of FS 7132, which parallels the AT just 500 to 1000ft to the W.  The S boundary is on Buck Mt., just N of County 1310.  FS reports considerable number of 100+ yr. stands along main ridge and AT, and to E of Wayah Bald.  It is part of a larger bear sanctuary.

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