Skip to main content

NC 226A - The Diamondback

Image
By

Matt Steffora, the former webmaster of ncroads.com, once described NC 226A as "No other road's like it."  With 11 miles of curves, 190 in total, NC 226A is a motorcyclist, performance car, or pleasure driver's treat.  Known as 'The Diamondback,' the curves of NC 226A are called 'Down & Dirty,' 'O'Dear Corner,' 'Off The Deep End,' and 'Post Office Sweeper,' among others.

It is a scenic drive that showcases mountain vistas, stunning fall scenery, and waterfalls. The highway serves the summer mountain resort town of Little Switzerland and also the small community of Turkey Cove.

For all of its curves, the history of NC 226A/The Diamondback has a few twists and turns of its own.

History:

The story of NC 226A would not be possible without the formation of the "Switzerland Company" and the town of Little Switzerland by North Carolina Justice Heriot Clarkson.  In 1910, Clarkson purchased nearly 1100 acres of land to start a summer resort community.  A year later, the Switzerland Inn opened. Then, Clarkson and his fellow investors convinced the Carolina, Clinchfield, and Ohio Railroad to construct a station near Gillespie Gap - about four miles east.

The Switzerland Company then constructed a four-mile toll road connecting the station to Little Switzerland.  The road was called the Etchoe Pass Road.  Visitors to Little Switzerland would pay local hack drivers to transport them to Little Switzerland for 60 cents per adult, 30 cents per child, and 60 cents per trunk. (1)

The Etchoe Pass Road was a predecessor to what would become NC 226A.

Tolls on the Etchoe Pass Road wouldn't last long - and by 1921 - was added to the newly created state highway system as state highway number 19.  The now-christened NC 19 continued past Little Switzerland down the escarpment and eventually south into Marion.  In the late 1910s, McDowell County had paved the entire mountain road with gravel. (2)

Map of NC 226, 226A, US 221 and the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Etchoe Pass Road ran from the rail station to just outside of Little Switzerland. (Adam Prince)

Yet, even in those early days of the automobile, nearby residents and officials wanted to build a more direct connection between Marion and Spruce Pine.  The proposed route would run directly from Woodlawn north to Gillespie's Gap, bypassing Little Switzerland.  The new alignment would reduce the travel by about seven miles, have less severe grades, and decrease the travel time between the two communities.

However, two key political figures had specific interests in Little Switzerland that kept then-NC 19 routed on Etchoe Pass Road into the resort community, the founder of Little Switzerland, Justice Clarkson - who was an influential supporter of Governor Cameron Morrison and his 'Good Roads' campaign - and Harriett Morehead Berry.  Berry, a leader of North Carolina's Good Roads Movement, had a cottage in Little Switzerland. (3)  Clarkson and Berry influenced the early State Highway District Eight Commissioners, John C. McBee, and A.M. Kistler, to keep the routing as is. (2)

As viewed from NC 226A, NC 226 still is a windy road as it approaches Gillespie Gap.

It wasn't until after World War II that the more direct connection to Gillespie Gap was constructed and opened to traffic.

It was at that time that the old twisty highway became NC 26A.  NC 19 was renumbered NC 26 in 1934.  Finally, in 1961, NC 26 was redesignated as NC 226.  The old mountain road became NC 226A, as it is known today.

The Drive:


Undoubtedly, The Diamondback is more treacherous when driving South/downhill.  However, it's still a challenging drive North/uphill, which I did in March 2024.

NC 226A winds past Turkey Cove Baptist Church.

After it branches off of NC 226 near Woodlawn, 226A starts tame as it gently rolls and curves towards Turkey Cove. It is at Turkey Cove Baptist Church - known as Church Corner - where the fun begins.

Turkey Cove Cemetery

Further up the highway, near a series of switchbacks known as the Buchanan Bends, sits the Turkey Grove Cemetery.  Just across the cemetery entrance is a waterfall along Buchanan Creek.

Buchanan Creek Waterfall

Here, the highway begins to climb towards Little Switzerland, and many curves and steep drop-offs on the roadway's shoulders become too numerous to count.

NC 226A is so twisty that even the signs can stay on straight!

After navigating through O'Dear Corner and passing the Alpine Inn, the Diamondback travels into Little Switzerland, offering occasional glimpses of the landscape below.

Downtown Little Switzerland

Little Switzerland embraces The Diamondback. The town is a popular summertime escape for numerous North Carolinians, whether as a day trip or an extended stay.  Its small downtown sits yards from the historic Switzerland Inn and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

From here, NC 226A curves along the top of the escarpment while paralleling the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It passes a few more inns, cabins, and viewpoints before returning to NC 226 at Gillespie Gap.

The Diamondback is about a 30-minute drive in total.  Add more time if you wish to stop and explore Little Switzerland or around Turkey Cove.

All photos taken by post author - March 29, 2024.

Site Navigation:

Sources & Links:


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Old US Route 60/70 through Hell (Chuckwall Valley Road and Ragsdale Road)

By
Back in 2016 I explored some of the derelict roadways of the Sonoran Desert of Riverside County which were part of US Route 60/70; Chuckwalla Valley Road and Ragsdale Road. US 60 and US 70 were not part of the original run of US Routes in California.  According to USends.com US 60 was extended into California by 1932.  US 60 doesn't appear on the California State Highway Map until the 1934 edition. USends.com on US 60 endpoints 1934 State Highway Map Conversely US 70 was extended into California by 1934, it first appears on the 1936 State Highway Map. USends.com on US 70 endpoints 1936 State Highway Map When US 60 and US 70 were extended into California they both utilized what was Legislative Route Number 64 from the Arizona State Line west to Coachella Valley.  LRN 64 was part of the 1919 Third State Highway Bond Act routes.  The original definition of LRN 64 routed between Mecca in Blythe and wasn't extended to the Arizona State Line until 1931 acc...
3 comments
Read more

When was Ventura Avenue east of downtown Fresno renamed to Kings Canyon Road? (California State Route 180)

By
California State Route 180 was one of the original Sign State Routes designated in August 1934.  The highway east of Fresno originally utilized what was Ventura Avenue and Dunlap Road to reach what was then General Grant National Park.  By late year 1939 the highway was extended through the Kings River Canyon to Cedar Grove.   In 1940 General Grant National Park would be expanded and rebranded as Kings Canyon National Park.  The Kings Canyon Road designation first appeared in publications circa 1941 when the California State Route 180 bypass of Dunlap was completed.  Kings Canyon Road ultimately would replace the designation of Dunlap Road from Dunlap to Centerville and Ventura Avenue west to 1st Street in Fresno.   The Kings Canyon Road would remain largely intact until March 2023 when the Fresno Council designated Cesar Chavez Boulevard.  Cesar Chavez Boulevard was designated over a ten-mile corridor over what was Kings Canyon Road, remaini...
Post a Comment
Read more

The last 1956-63 era California Sign State Route Spade?

By
Along southbound California State Route 170 (the Hollywood Freeway Extension) approaching the Hollywood Freeway/Ventura Freeway interchange a white California State Route 134 Sign State Route Spade can be observed on guide sign.  These white spades were specifically used during the 1956-63 era and have become increasingly rare.  This blog is intended to serve as a brief history of the Sign State Route Spade.  We also ask you as the reader, is this last 1956-63 era Sign State Route Spade or do you know of others?  Part 1; the history of the California Sign State Route Spade Prior to the Sign State Route System, the US Route System and the Auto Trails were the only highways in California signed with reassurance markers.  The creation of the US Route System by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926 brought a system of standardized reassurance shields to major highways in California.  Early efforts to create a Sign State Route ...
Post a Comment
Read more