Each year, the Swannanoa Valley Museum sponsors the Old Toll Road Caravan, a 4-wheel drive convoy along what once was the bed of the Mount Mitchell logging railroad to the site of an old lumber camp on Mount Mitchell, highest peak east of the Mississippi.

The bed was originally laid for logging, but in 1915, the narrow gauge railway began accommodating tourist excursions. When logging ceased in the 1920s, the rails were removed and the route became a toll road, serving motorists until the opening of the Blue Ridge Parkway in 1935. The Old Toll Road, as it is known today, is no longer open, and much of it crosses private property.

In its heyday, the Old Toll Road was a popular tourist attraction. Travelers would line up in Black Mountain for the one-way drive up to the former logging site named Camp Alice. The road rises 4,000 feet in elevation over its 18.5 mile length.

At Camp Alice, they would picnic or have lunch at the restaurant, hike to the peak of Mount Mitchell, and enjoy the breathtaking views. In the afternoon, all would resume their caravan and wind back down the mountain to Black Mountain.

The Museum’s trek up this Old Toll Road is one of the organization’s major fundraisers and one of its most popular events.

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For more information on this event or any other events, exhibits or ways to support the museum please contact us at 828-669-9566 or send us an e-mail.