Pave the Appalachian Trail

The Stecoah Gap Bed & Breakfast has just been announced for construction to begin in the first quarter of 2009. Thanks to the generous funding from our supporters and the $250,000 grant from the city of Robbinsville, the beauty that makes up Stecoah Gap will be carried over into a brand new, 150-room all suites bed and breakfast.

Plans will soon be announced for the opening day construction ceremony, and will be followed by a 30-day deadline to build an onsite asphalt plant, to greatly reduce construction traffic to and from the Appalachian Trail.

Volunteers will be allowed to help construction efforts. Volunteers must be over 15, and proof of age will be required. Volunteers must also include a signed work-release waiver along with their Volunteer Initiation Badge and any applicable volunteer fees. Please check with us for more details.

The Wayah Bald Grille is the only Wayah to dine in style! Wayah Bald is a beautiful part of the Nantahala National Forest, and is a very popular hiking destination during the summer.

Restauranteurs will particularly appreciate the 5-star dining menu, and our unique, 3 waitress-per-table system. Not only will you be dining like a king, but you’ll feel like one too!

Known for its lack of trees, Wayah Bald, whose name derives from the Cherokee word wa ya, meaning wolf. Wayah Bald was named so because of the large population of red wolves that were banished by excessive hunting and poaching.

In 1937, the CCC constructed a stone observation tower for fire detection. It also really makes this a great hike! Due to the generous funding by the Pave the Appalachian Trail foundation in early 2007, construction crews were finally given the go-ahead to demolish the shaky stone tower eyesore and rebuild the Wayah Bald Grille. Workers were careful to reuse stones from the original tower and put them to better use on the Wayah Bald Grille’s signature fireplace.

Note: The Wayah Bald Grille serves only rare meat, due to restrictions in this jurisdiction. For patrons not accustomed to meat cooked rare, guests will have first come, first serve access to our outdoor grills. Charcoal and lighter fluid are available at the Wayah Bald Gift Center.

Welcome to Max Patch along the newly paved Appalachian Trail! The Max Patch Eatery is a cafeteria-style restaurant that is sure to fill the hungriest hiker’s belly. With over 194 available dish combinations, the Max Patch Eatery brings all things wonderful about Max Patch to the table.

What makes the Max Patch Eatery so special? Just like the town of Max Patch, you can get both Pepsi AND Coke products! When funding originally stalled for the eatery, a bidding war broke out between Pepsi Co. and Coca Cola. When bidding was tied at 1.7 million dollars, Dr. Joseph B. Banks jokingly stated that both companies should win, and both should equally deck out the Max Patch Eatery. Although the joke turned serious when the Max Patch Family Preservation committee thought it was a fantastic idea, and contacted the local city council.

After a 5-4 vote, the city concluded that both companies could indeed bid, compete, and win the project.

One year later, The Max Patch Eatery remains the only eatery in the contiguous 48 states to serve two major brand soft drink lines.  We pride ourselves for this achievement, and owe a great deal to Dr. Banks for his efforts.

Roast beef sandwiches are the specialty at the Broad River Deli. Using only the freshest locally-bred beef and digitally-calibrated diamond tip slicers, the folks at the Broad River Deli will treat you as one of their own.

The Broad River Deli is the southeastern United States only dining establishment using solar power to heat commercial gas ranges, thus contributing to the lowest possible carbon footprint score on the Broad River.

Unlike many of our finer establishments, hikers can come as they please and dine in crisp air-conditioned delight and refuel those empty bellies.