Mountain Waters Scenic Byway National Forest Scenic Byway
Route information
Maintained by NCDOT
Length	64.5 mi[1] (103.8 km)
Component highways	US 64 (Highlands–Franklin) US 19 / US 74 (Beechertown) NC 28 (Almond)
Major junctions
South end	US 64 / NC 28 in Highlands
North end	NC 28 in Almond
Location
Country	United States
State	North Carolina
Counties	Macon, Swain
Highway system
Scenic Byways National National Forest BLM NPS North Carolina Highway System Interstate US State Scenic

The Mountain Waters Scenic Byway is a 64.5-mile (103.8 km) National Forest Scenic Byway that traverses through the Nantahala National Forest, in Western North Carolina. It features two river gorges, hardwood forests and countryside vistas.

Route description

The first part of this 64.5-mile (103.8 km) byway follows the combined route of U.S. 64 and NC 28 from Highlands, North Carolina to Franklin, North Carolina and features views of the Cullasaja Gorge, the Cullasaja River and numerous waterfalls, including:

• Bridal Veil Falls, actually from a tributary creek
• Dry Falls, which visitors can walk behind without getting wet
• Quarry Falls, also known as Bust-Yer-Butt Falls
• Cullasaja Falls, the major cascade of falls

From Franklin, the Mountain Waters Scenic Byway follows SR 1442 to the west, climbing through Wayah Gap (elevation: 4,180 ft) on the way to Nantahala Lake and then to the community of Aquone. From Aquone, SR 1442 follows the Nantahala River to Beechertown, where it joins U.S. 19/74, which the byway follows to its ending point in the community of Lauada. The route from Aquone to Lauada features the Nantahala Gorge.^[2]

History

Junction list

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Macon	Highlands	0.0	0.0	US 64 east / NC 28 south – Cashiers, Walhalla	Scenic byway southern terminus
		0.3	0.48	NC 106 south (Dillard Road) – Dillard
	Franklin	17.1	27.5	US 23 north / US 441 north / NC 28 north – Sylva	North end of US 23/US 441/NC 28 overlap
		19.3	31.1	US 23 south / US 441 south / US 441 Bus. north – Clayton, Atlanta	South end of US 23/US 441 overlap
	​	23.1	37.2	US 64 west – Hayesville, Murphy	West end of US 64 overlap
	Beechertown	51.2	82.4	US 19 south / US 74 west – Andrews, Murphy	South end of US 19 and west end of US 74 overlap
Swain	Almond	63.3	101.9	US 19 north / US 74 east / NC 28 south – Bryson City	North end of US 19, east end of US 74 and south end of NC 28 overlap
		64.5	103.8	NC 28 north – Robbinsville, Fontana	Scenic byway northern terminus; continuation as NC 28
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus