Hayesville North Carolina- Hayesville North Carolina is located in Clay county, and is one of the smallest counties in North Carolina. It is known for its white water rafting areas, Lake Chatuge, and the Nantahala National Forest. Two thirds of Clay County is controlled by the United States Forest Service and TVA.
Hayesville is the largest town in Clay County and is within a two hour drive to Atlanta, GA, Knoxville, TN, and Asheville, NC; the proximity to these three cities makes living in the Hayesville area very attractive. Lake Chatuge a 7,200 acres lake, sits halfway in Georgia and half in North Carolina and has 130 miles of shore line. This lake and surrounding mountains can be seen with a birds eye view from satellite photos by downloading the Google Earth browser.
The Nantahala National Forest is on two sides of the county. "Nantahala" is a Cherokee indian name meaning "Land of the noon day sun." It is over 500,000 acres, and is the largest of the four national forests in North Carolina. Hayesville allows many recreation access points including Fires Creek, Tuni Gap and Standing Indian which leads to the Appalachian Trail. Hayesville has 900 plus citizens as of the 2004 census.