The Cherohala Skyway took more than thirty years to build, which is the kind of fact that makes the final result feel slightly miraculous. The idea was to link Robbinsville, North Carolina, with Tellico Plains, Tennessee, across the high ridges of the Unicoi Mountains, and when the road finally opened in 1996, it was as a forty-three-mile ribbon of smooth asphalt through some of the most remote forest in the southern Appalachians. The name blends the two national forests it crosses, Cherokee and Nantahala. Huckleberry Knob is one of its best viewpoints, a grassy bald reached by a short, steady walk from a parking area on the ridge.
The bald itself is a puzzle. Naturalists are not sure what keeps these grassy summits open in a region otherwise covered in forest, though fire, grazing and an old Native and settler presence have all been suggested. At Huckleberry Knob the open top offers a view across ridge after ridge, with the deep valley of the Cheoah below and the old-growth forest of the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest not far off. In summer the blueberries and huckleberries ripen on the slope, as the name suggests, and in spring the rhododendron and flame azalea bloom in orange and pink.
The skyway is designed for riders. The curves are long, banked and consistent, the surface is excellent, and there is no commercial traffic, only the odd cyclist and a lot of other motorcyclists. The road climbs to nearly 1,700 metres in places, high enough for cold mornings, fast-moving cloud and rain squalls, and sometimes fog so dense that the overlooks become theoretical. Autumn colour is spectacular, and winter ice can close the road.
What the skyway does not have is services. Robbinsville, a small mountain town in North Carolina, and Andrews are the closest places to fill up, and Tellico Plains in Tennessee is on the other end. Fill the tank on either side, bring a snack, and take layers. If you stop at Huckleberry Knob, bring good boots, since the path can be wet and rocky.