Southern Highland Reader

Panthertown loved too well?

Last modified on 2008-12-15 21:48:25 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

PANTHERTOWN VALLEY-Jackson County’s Panthertown Valley is a rare place. A 6,295-acre high-altitude valley northeast of Cashiers, Panthertown is home to rare species, rare topography and is prized with rare passion by lovers of the outdoors who are familiar with it.

Panthertown is situated at 3,600 ft., and features many granite domes and sheer faces, and these features must’ve seemed city-like to early settlers who named the place. Panthers were, of course, a known quantity in the mountains at that time. Two streams — Greenland Creek and Panthertown Creek — join in the valley to form the east fork of the Tuckaseegee River, which flows northwestward out of the area through evocatively named gorges such as “Devil’s Elbow” and “Bonas Defeat”.

The valley floor is flat, which is odd for that elevation, and so features bogs and accompanying water features that are more common outside of the mountains.

Like most of the region, Panthertown has been treated poorly over the years. Heavy logging, wildfires and subsequent erosion have taken a toll. In the 1980’s Duke Energy placed a major power corridor through the area, in the face of considerable opposition. Eventually, though, the Nature Conservancy acquired the tract, and subsequently sold it to the US Forest Service. In September, 2003, Panthertown Valley was officially designated the James and Elspeth Clarke Forest. Clarke, a Democrat, served three terms in the US House of Representatives and led the 1987-88 effort to obtain funding to transfer Panthertown Valley to the Forest Service.

Panthertown’s location held its popularity in check for awhile, but improving roads and an influx of visitors and new residents have begun to cause stress.

A confusing tangle of trails makes the valley a challenge for hikers, and a broad range of uses, from bicycling to horseback riding to hiking, wears at the landscape. The Forest Service recently announced a trail management plan for the valley. Both the Smoky Mountain News and the Franklin Press offer coverage, and more information is available from the Jackson-Macon Conservation Alliance and the US Forest Service.

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