Nantahala Outdoor Center

From Spearfish Lake Tales Wiki

The Nantahala Outdoor Center ("Nanty") is in western North Carolina near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

"Nantahala" means "River of the Noonday Sun," according to the tourist brochures, but no one is sure what it really means. The river lies deep in a narrow, spectacular rock-strewn gorge along US-19. The Nantahala is a small, friendly stream as whitewater rivers go, and on warm days in the summer it is packed with a colorful collection of kayaks, rafts, inflatable kayaks and tubes. There are several places where people congregate to watch the action. ^DW9

The URL is NOC

The NOC also refers to the Outfitter's Store and Welcome Center, which in the stories was managed by Leon and the staff at times included Scooter Whitsell. Its location was close to the Appalachian Trail and many AT thru-hikers would stop, visit and shop when passing through.

The NOC was where Scooter stopped her first Appalachian Trail attempt, leading to her subsequent employment there. Duane MacRae also worked at NOC at different times before moving on to Canyon Tours.