Heart of the Cowees - A Geographic Overview

Mountain scene in the Cowees

Close perusal of a topo map is a good way to launch this quest for the heart of the Cowees, in Jackson, Macon and Swain Counties, North Carolina. The Cowee Mountain range divides the watersheds of the Little Tennessee and Tuckasegee Rivers. Until the 1940s, those rivers converged at a point several miles west of Bryson City, North Carolina, but upon completion of the Fontana Dam, the point of their confluence is deep beneath the waters of the Fontana Lake.

If we call this the “lower” end of the Cowee Range, then it would take a crow’s flight of about 35 miles to the southeast to reach the “upper” end of the range: Highway 64 between Cashiers and Highlands, NC passes through Cowee Gap. Specifically, the gap is where the boundary between Jackson and Macon Counties intersects with the Eastern Continental Divide (ECD).

On one side of the ECD, waters flow to the Atlantic, and on the other, waters flow to the Mississippi River and, ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico. Facing south from Cowee Gap, you can view the impressive Whiteside Mountain and the headwaters of the Chattooga River, in the Savannah River watershed.

Looking south from Cowee Gap, Whiteside Mountain is at right

Look northward from the ECD, and you’ll see upper reaches of the Tennessee Valley watershed. The headwaters of the Little Tennessee are to the west of the Cowee ridge, and the headwaters of the Tuckasegee are to the east.

The crest of the Cowee range is easy to follow on a map. Why? When Jackson County was carved out of Macon County in 1851, the new boundary followed the divide between the Little Tennessee and the Tuckasegee. I enjoy tracing this county border on a good topo map and reading the names along the dotted line that runs from peak to peak.

If only, I tell myself, if only a hiking trail followed this line. What a great adventure it would be to hike the full extent of the Cowee Crest, from Cowee Gap to Fontana Lake! The Nantahala National Forest includes vast swaths of the Cowees, but intervening tracts of private land would render the construction of a continuous ridegetop trail all but impossible. Still, it is fun to imagine how such a trail would have changed perceptions of the Cowee Mountains, and an “identity” for the range as a whole might have entered the public consciousness.

Lookout tower at Yellow Mountain, highest point in the Cowees

Fortunately, one well-maintained trail does wind along several miles of the Cowee ridge, leading to the highest point on the range at Yellow Mountain (5127’ elevation). This is arguably the best hike in the Cowee Mountains and is in the top tier of the most outstanding hikes in the entire Southern Appalachians.

There’s no better place than the historic fire lookout tower atop Yellow Mountain to contemplate the question, “Just what makes the Cowee Mountains the Cowee Mountains?” In subsequent installments, I’ll be proposing some possible answers to that question.