Graham County Museum of Prehistoric Relics/The Hike Inn, Fontana Dam – North Carolina Thursdays October 3, 2019

Updated October 10, 2019 to correct some link issues.

I generally find looking for theme posts the most challenging. Not always as sometimes I will check out one of my favorite sites (Roadside America, Atlas Obscura, etc.) and a choice will pop out right away. I switched to going with different areas of the state for the state theme posts.

Last week, I was in central/eastern North Carolina. This week I decided to focus on far western North Carolina. I went to Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_in_North_Carolina to see what was in Cherokee County, nothing sparked my interest so I checked out Graham County. To my surprise, I found Graham County Museum of Prehistoric Relics; it’s not listed with links on Wikipedia. That was intriguing as usually there’s a link to a website even if there’s not a Wikipedia article. It’s located in Fontana Dam, North Carolina. I chose Graham County Museum of Prehistoric Relics/The Hike Inn as this week’s North Carolina Thursdays post.

The Inn is cash or personal check only. Initially, it was hard to find information on my least favorite search engine about the museum. Note: the Inn is only for hikers and requires reservations. It is pretty small (4 rooms with 1 – 2 hikers/room). It is not a hostel.

Not seeing a lot on the museum.

Not to be confused with Hike Inn in Georgia: https://hike-inn.com/.

Official website: http://www.thehikeinn.com/ (seems to be broken when I tried it on my laptop and cell phone) Wayback Machine to the rescue yet again – https://web.archive.org/web/20190102113646/http://www.thehikeinn.com/. According to one of the Wayback Machine links, don’t use Car or Truck GPS based on the Street Address – GPS coordinates below under Location; I used the street address on Google Maps: Google Maps Fontana Dam, North Carolina (Street View available that shows how small it is).

Related site, based on information from the Wayback Machine: http://main.nc.us/graham/

Location:

3204 Fontana Road
Fontana Dam, NC 28733

The Hike Inn is located on Highway 28 just 3.5 miles north of the intersection of Hwy 28 and 143.

Please do not use THE HIKE INN address for “Car or Truck GPS units”; as they are not accurate here in the mountains. We will gladly email you directions, just ask!!!

Actual G.P.S. Coordinates: N35′-24.948 W83′-43.498

Hours: Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (for the museum)

For the Inn:

Q: What time is check-in and check-out?
A: For section/day hikers; arrival between 3 p.m. and by 9 p.m. unless prior arrangements are made. For long distance/thru hikers, we begin pick up for new arrivals at 11:30 a.m. till 3:30 p.m. with return to the dam from 7 a.m. till 9 a.m.. Check-out for ALL hikers is by 9 a.m. (no exceptions).

Phone: 828-479-3677  or To inquire about our Shuttle Services call 828-479-3677 or email hikeinn@graham.main.nc.us

Asheville Guidebook: http://www.ashevilleguidebook.com/wnc/cultural-attractions/graham_county_museum_of_prehistoric_relics.htm (some information needs updating!)

Atlas Obscura: No listing located https://www.atlasobscura.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hike-Inn/1006351842736761

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=Graham%20County%20Museum%20of%20Prehistoric%20Relics&epa=SERP_TAB (not seeing much)

 Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=Hike+Inn%2C+Fontana+Dam%2C+NC

Foursquare: No listing located https://foursquare.com/

Google Maps: Google Maps Fontana Dam, North Carolina (same link as above)

Historical Marker DataBase (HMDB): No listing located https://www.hmdb.org/; closest was this one for Fontana Dam: https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=11084

Inspirock: No listing located https://www.inspirock.com/; closest thing was the Fontana Store: https://www.inspirock.com/united-states/fontana-dam/fontana-general-store-a8268991247

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/1006351842736761/hike-inn/ (mix of Hike Inn in Fontana Dam, NC and the Georgia Hike Inn)

Linkedin: No listing located http://www.linkedin.com/

Museums.us: https://www.museums.us/state/north-carolina/fontana-dam/graham-county-museum-of-prehistoric-relics

Only In Your State: No listing located https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/,

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=Hike%20Inn%20Fontana%20Dam&rs=typed

Roadside America: https://www.roadsideamerica.com/ (No location listed)

RoadTrippers: No listing located https://www.roadtrippers.com/

Silly America: No listing located https://sillyamerica.com/

Smoky Mountain News: https://www.smokymountainnews.com/travel-guide/item/23989-wnc-museums

Snapchat: No listing located https://www.snapchat.com/

Strange Carolinas: https://www.strangecarolinas.com/ (No listing located)

This is my South: No listing located https://www.thisismysouth.com/

Trip Advisor: No listing located https://www.tripadvisor.com/; closest was https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1238248-d124637-Reviews-Fontana_Dam_Visitors_Center-Great_Smoky_Mountains_National_Park_North_Carolina.html and https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g49140-d226731-r661503930-Fontana_Village_Resort-Fontana_Dam_North_Carolina.html

Tumblr: No listing located https://www.tumblr.com/

Twitch channel or search: No listing located  – https://www.twitch.tv/

Twitter: No listing located, but for the Dam https://twitter.com/search?q=Fontana%20Dam&src=typed_query

Vimeo channel or search: https://vimeo.com/355155187 (close)

VisitNC: https://www.visitnc.com/listing/AJUb/the-hike-inn

Waymarking: http://www.waymarking.com/

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/ (no listing located)

briefly mentioned on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_in_North_Carolina (same link as above)

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/hike-inn-fontana-dam

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Hike+Inn+Fontana+Dam (may have to look through as some are the Georgia Hike Inn and others are the North Carolina Hike Inn)

Past North Carolina Thursdays posts: https://upsdownsfamilyhistory.wordpress.com/tag/north-carolina-thursdays/

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