Fontana Lake Overlook

Fontana Lake Overlook is a roadside pullout on Lakeview Drive, with a quick view across the lake to the wooded Smokies ridges. The overlook is at mile 3.2; the whole paved drive is an 11.4-mile round trip from Bryson City, and it continues to the Road to Nowhere Tunnel at mile 5.7. It is an easy stop if you are already driving the road, but not a full outing by itself. A Smokies parking tag is required if you park for more than 15 minutes.

Eight parking spaces serve the overlook, alongside a picnic table and trash can. A paved walkway follows the guardrail above the lake. For a photo, keep the narrow bend of water low in the frame and the wooded slopes on both sides; the layers of ridges give the view its depth. Accessible parking spaces are available, but the walking route to the viewpoint is not specifically described as accessible. No food or drinking water is listed at the overlook. The nearest restroom is at Deep Creek Picnic Area, which is seasonal.

Fontana Lake formed when Fontana Dam flooded the Little Tennessee River. The dam was completed in 1945, submerging communities including Proctor, Judson and Fontana and displacing more than 1,000 people; wartime power from the dam also served Oak Ridge and the Manhattan Project. A 1943 agreement promised a road along the lake's north shore so displaced residents could reach cemeteries and community sites. Construction of the road, then called North Shore Road, began in the 1960s and stopped in 1972 because of unstable slopes, cost and environmental challenges. The tunnel at the end of Lakeview Drive is the unfinished remnant of that plan.