Places to stay near attractions in Copperhill

Copperhill, Tennessee is Polk County's border town, sitting directly across the Toccoa/Ocoee River from McCaysville, Georgia — the blue state-line stripe runs straight down Main Street, and the two towns operate as one small downtown. Copperhill and neighboring Ducktown grew up around the massive copper mines of the Ducktown Basin, whose century of sulfur-dioxide roasting created the famously barren "Copper Basin" moonscape visible from space in the mid-20th century. Decades of reforestation have brought the surrounding hills back to green.

The Ducktown Basin Museum in the old Burra Burra Mine site tells the mining and reclamation story, and the historic downtown is the northern terminus of the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway from Blue Ridge, GA. Copperhill sits at the northern edge of the Cherokee National Forest and roughly 8 miles above the Ocoee River whitewater put-ins, making it a common base for rafting weekends.

The Hiwassee Loop railroad — a spiral track that the L&N built in 1898 to gain elevation — and the confluence of the Toccoa and Ocoee are photogenic side trips within a short drive.