North Carolina Highway 209 (NC 209) is a primary

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the U.S. state of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. The highway runs north–south from

Lake Junaluska Lake Junaluska is a census-designated place (CDP) in Haywood County, North Carolina, United States, and a manmade lake in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lake Junaluska is named after nearby ...

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

Route description

NC 209 is a two-lane mountain highway that begins at a busy intersection with US 19/ US 23/ US 74/ US 23 Business in Lake Junaluska. Going north, it crosses over

I-40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

and through some valley farmlands. The road bends east at Max Patch Road and begins some curvy climbing on and around Hebo Mountain, entering Madison County at Betsy's Gap (, highest point on route). Entering the Spring Creek Valley, it passes through the communities of

Luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...

and

Trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

, before reaching

Spring Creek A spring creek is a type of free flowing river whose name derives from its origin: an underground spring or set of springs which produces sufficient water to consistently feed a unique river. The water flowing in a spring creek may additionally be ...

; from there the remaining becomes an aggressively winding road, and is not recommended for commercial trucks. Once past all the twists and turns, travelers arrive in Hot Springs, where the highway ends at US 25/ US 70. From just north of where the highway crosses the Pigeon River to NC 63, NC 209 forms the eastern border of the

Pisgah National Forest Pisgah National Forest is a National Forest in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. It is administered by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. The Pisgah National Forest is complet ...

. North of NC 63, the highway is completely within the borders of the forest to its northern terminus.

Scenic byway

NC 209 is part of one scenic byway in the state (indicated by a Scenic Byways sign). The Appalachian Medley is a byway from near Lake Junaluska to

Walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

; it is known for several recreational areas, the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tr ...

, and its scenic mountain drive. NC 209 forms the main part of the scenic byway, connecting with US 25/US 70, in Hot Springs, where it continues the rest of the route.

History

Established in 1921 as an original state route, it went from NC 10, in Lake Junaluska to NC 20, in Hot Springs. In 1954, NC 209 was extended a south to its current southern terminus.

Junction list

References

External links

{{Attached KML
NCRoads.com: N.C. 209

209 Year 209 ( CCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Commodus and Lollianus (or, less frequently, year 962 '' Ab urbe cond ...

Transportation in Haywood County, North Carolina Transportation in Madison County, North Carolina