The hardwoods that clothe today's Cherokee hide a lot of old battle scars. In the 19th century, the ancient forests of these mountains were ravaged by wholesale timbering and poor agricultural practices. In 1911, Congress passed the Weeks Act, which allowed the purchase of land for national forests. After the law was enacted, the first land acquisitions were made for what eventually became the 633,000-acre Cherokee National Forest, named for the Cherokee Indians (they made their ancestral homeland in these parts).

Today the Forest is healthy and rich with plant and wild animal life, and offers a large variety of outdoor activities. About 10 percent of the Forest is designated wilderness, offering opportunities for solitude and primitive, unconfined recreation experiences. Among the northern districts' wilderness areas are Big Laurel Branch Wilderness, on Watauga Lake, and Unaka Wilderness, which borders on the Unaka Mountain Scenic Area. In the southern districts, Little Frog Wilderness lies along a stretch of the Ocoee River and borders the Cohutta Wilderness in Georgia; the Citico Creek Wilderness. Between these wild areas and the world-class outdoor playgrounds - hiking on the Appalachian Trail, kayaking the raging Ocoee, fat-tire biking around Johnson City, or fly fishing the Tellico - the Cherokee National Forest has a lot to offer.