A subdivision was to overlook Great Smoky Mountains National Park. But not anymore

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is beloved for vistas spanning miles, but a very real threat to that emerged when developers began pitching a “large-scale subdivision” along the park’s North Carolina border.

It’s an idea that progressed to the point of some sites being platted, but years of delays have played into the hands of conservationists.

In late February, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy snatched the land out from under developers when it purchased 407 acres in Haywood County.

It came at a cost of $2,840,670, but means ridges viewed from the park — the most visited national park in the country — will never be lined with rows of houses.

“This property possesses more than two miles of boundary with GSMNP and the Pisgah National Forest,” conservation director Hanni Muerdter said in a news release.

“The land is visible from a variety of locations around the Pigeon River Gorge along I-40, and from the Appalachian Trail where it runs through GSMNP. The White Oak Mountain ridgeline can be seen from many prominent points in the Smokies, including Mt. Sterling, Kuwohi, and more.”

The property will be held “for the short term” by the conservancy, then transferred to the state for game lands managed by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, officials said.

What the state will get is a pristine tract that has no hint of human occupation. There are no known structures, an “undisturbed” Chestnut Oak Forest is found among the hardwoods, and a dozen “headwater stream corridors originate on the property,“ officials said.

It’s also a key feeding ground and “important movement corridor” corridor for elk and bear.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, which conserves land for elk and other wildlife, pitched in a $250,000 grant for the purchase, hoping to “prevent future conflict” with private development, foundation managing director Jenn Doherty said in the release.

An additional $1.56 million will come in the form of a grant from the North Carolina Land and Water Fund once the property is transferred to the state, officials said.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park covers 522,427 acres evenly split between Tennessee and North Carolina, the National Park Service says. Its boundaries were drawn in the 1930s, and federal officials did not take into account the ridge-line development might occur overlooking the park, conservancy officials said.

The mountains are now a popular location for vacation homes, and a portion of the 407 acres was first slated for development in 2006, conservancy officials said.

“The White Oak Mountain property had already been platted for subdivision into a large-scale development,” Muerdter said in the release.

“Then, when the 2007 financial recession hit, the development stalled. With the location adjacent to the national park boundary, such development would have been highly visible in the surrounding landscape. It also would have created increased fragmentation in an important wildlife corridor.”

The conservancy seized the delay as a chance to begin its own negotiations with the property owner, and it took four years to craft a deal, officials said.

This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 9:12 AM with the headline "A subdivision was to overlook Great Smoky Mountains National Park. But not anymore."