Road to Nowhere Tunnel

This tunnel is figuratively and literally a road to nowhere. Its history is complicated, starting in the 1930s. It was meant to appease the nearby communities who had to give up their homes so that Fontana Lake and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park could be created. Halfway through construction it was found that the rock contained high levels of sulfur and, thus, would taint the nearby streams and rivers. A very expensive mistake as it turns out since the federal government now owed Swain County $52 million. The last installment was finally paid in 2018.