NC to TN / Panther Top Lookout
Driving from Nantahala National Forest, NC to the Natchez Trace Parkway in TN | Hiking to the Panther Top Lookout Firetower | Whispering Giant Statue in Cleveland, TN | Driving & Camping on the Natchez Trace Parkway | March 2026
Today started off bright and early, waking up in our campsite in Nantahala National Forest and enjoying a light breakfast before getting back on the highway and going a few miles West. We had quite a bit of driving we needed to do today, but we wanted to start the day off right with a short hike. Unfortunately we weren’t able to pull off a second hike up a prominent peak for Curtis’ hiking goal, but the hike he picked out turned out to be a great one: Panther Top Mountain, which is on the North Carolina fire tower peak list.
West of Murphy, we took NC-294 to Panther Top Road and followed it back to the trailhead. The forest road was pretty well maintained, though a little narrow, but luckily not busy this early. We were able to make it all the way to the lookout tower road which made our mileage and elevation gain less than expected. From there, we walked just under a mile to the top, following the service road the whole way up. It had a consistent elevation gain the whole way up, and went through a prescribed burn area, but the worst part was that it was near a shooting range so most of our walk was just listening to shots echoing through the woods. It was an easy enough walk though, and a great way to get some movement in this morning. The lookout definitely proved to be worth the hike, with 360 degree views and a cute little fire tower. We noted how it looked pretty hazy in some directions, hopefully just from more prescribed burns.
Once we made it back to the van, it was time to make some more progress on our drive. We took US-74 West through the mountains, crossing into Tennessee, then following the very scenic Ocoee River. Curtis tried to recall memories he had from going whitewater rafting here back in 2011, and we reminisced on the last time we were in this area in January of 2023. It was a beautiful stretch of drive, and soon enough we were entering a new county and the town of Cleveland, TN.
We made one stop in Cleveland to see another one of Peter Wolf Toth’s Whispering Giant statues. It was located in front of the Museum Center at 5ive Points in the downtown area. We weren’t quite sure what the museum was (maybe an event center?) but it seemed pretty busy this morning, so we got our pictures, admired the flowering trees, then got back on the road. This giant is pretty old — it was completed in 1973, and it has held up very well!
Next, we continued West through Chattanooga, then got off the interstate and took US-64 across Southern Tennessee. We briefly left the highway to get one extra county that would have been difficult to get later on, but other than that we stuck to this highway which ended up being quite a pleasant drive. It was a 4 lane divided highway through rolling hills and farmland with hardly any other traffic on the road — an easy and enjoyable way to get 6 new counties across the bottom row of Tennessee!
When we came to the Natchez Trace Trail, we departed from US-64 and started making our way North. When researching for this trip, Curtis had struggled to find a good campsite for cheap or free in central Tennessee — which isn’t unusual for the Eastern half of the US, as most nomads who travel in this direction will tell you that the only free camping is in Walmart or Cracker Barrel parking lots. We like to challenge that opinion though and are always on the hunt for better places to stay. I happened to remember that there were free campsites along the Natchez Trace Parkway, and we realized that if we changed our route from going across the North half to the Southern half of TN, we could drive a part of the parkway that we missed last time and sleep in a free campsite out in nature, right off the parkway!
We arrived at the Meriwether Lewis Campground in the mid afternoon, and managed to claim one of the last spots available. We had sort of guessed it would be busy, considering it’s so close to Nashville, it was a beautiful spring weekend, and as I mentioned, one of the only free campsites in Tennessee outside the more mountainous areas. We got set up, immediately putting up window shades and turning on our fan because it was 85 degrees here! After resting and having some snacks and a cold drink, we decided to walk the trails over to the visitor center (it may have been hot, but we couldn’t drive or else we’d be giving up our campsite in the now-full campground).
After walking a ways down the road, we started off on one of the trails through the park. However, after less than a quarter mile, we had started to notice there were a lot of trees down. I didn’t want to be dramatic, but after having to climb over 3 trees and already feeling hot, I was over it and suggested that we just walk the road. Since the road was shorter anyway, Curtis agreed and we walked until we met up with the Trace trail which we took to the Meriwether Lewis Monument, and then the visitor center. At the visitor center, we chatted with the ranger a bit, who told us that the fallen tree situation was way worse than we could have imagined, and that it happened because of an ice storm in January. Driving wise the parkway was fine, but none of the trails in the area had been cleared, so our walks for this evening would have to be entirely on roads.
We got our stamps, and then walked through the museum, learning about Lewis’ life and the personal struggles he went through in his final days. We had visited this spot previously in 2022, but the museum had been closed and our stop had been rushed because of an incoming storm. It was worth revisiting to see how they are honoring Lewis’ life and all he did with his short time on earth.
We made our way back to the campground, then had a relaxing evening in our spot. Thankfully it cooled down considerably so we could enjoy a quiet and comfortable night in the van.
Our first time visiting the Natchez Trace in March 2022
