quot;The End of the Road to Nowherequot; is actually just that; the end of a promise made to the people of the region in 1943.br/ br/ The Road to Nowhere, also called Lakeview Drive, is located just outside the city of Bryson, North Carolina in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. When the park was formed in 1939, thousands of residents were quot;displacedquot;. (That is a nice way of saying, quot;kicked outquot;.) Soon after when construction for the dam of Lake Fontana was begun in 1943 more locals were forced to move off their land as well. They were paid a modest sum, usually below market value, for their properties but still suffered from the emotional loss of their lands. The state of North Carolina turned over 44,000 acres of land to add to the national park in return for the land to build Lake Fontana. The residents on this new park-owned land would no longer be able to access their old town sites or the cemeteries of their loved ones because the only road to the region was to be cut off by the newest and deepest lake in the state. Part of the agreement in turning over the land to the park service was that a road was to be constructed through the park to allow the past residents to care for the graves of those they lost even though their buildings would be destroyed.br/ br/ North Carolina built a road up to the park boundaries and the park service started on their portion finishing a couple miles of road, a bridge, and a 1,200-foot tunnel through a mountain. Then everything stopped. Lack of money and environmental concerns halted progress on the road until 2010 when an agreement was made after a long lawsuit. It was decided that North Carolina would be paid $52 million from the Department of the Interior in settlement for not finishing the road. So far, only part of the money has been paid.br/ br/ Now, as in the past seventy-five years, the only way for the old time residents and their kin to visit their ancestors is a ferry ride across Lake Fontana provided by the park service once a year. A sad story to be sure.br/ br/ This image was taken at the exit side of the tunnel. The local youth have added a bit of color in spray paint and language to help set the mood of this place. It seemed most appropriate that the vegetation at the end of the road is dead looking, I think, and that the road winds off into the distance. Like life, one never knows what is around the next bend.br/ br/ I love the park and all it has to offer but it should be remembered that the privilege we enjoy in experiencing this wonderful place came about because others paid dearly in both financial and emotional suffering.