1. Spearfinger
An old Cherokee legend is told about an old witch known as “Spearfinger ” who had one long finger made out of a deadly sharp rock, who roamed along the Norton Creek Trail.
She had the ability to change her appearance into anything, and would often change her shape to resemble a family member, or friend. After she cast a spell on the victims, especially children, she used her finger, to stab them and cut out their livers.
So, the next time you’re in the area, take a late afternoon hike along the the scariest trail in the Great Smoky Mountains. It’s the Norton Creek Trail on the north shore of Lake Fontana. Here you will find the greatest concentration of supposedly over 200 known cemeteries that remain inside the GSMNP. If you’re really feeling brave you can spend the night at one of the backcountry camping sites in the vicinity. Just cover your liver, and keep a sharp eye out for Spearfinger lurking in the shadows.
2. The Cussing Cover
Another one of our favorite Smoky Mountain ghost stories is “The Cussing Cover”, and the shocking tale of Mavis and Basil Estep.
Long before the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Basil and Mavis lived in a two-room cabin in Cades Cove. The Esteps enjoyed their simple life in the valley, but Mavis suffered from an unconventional fear: she was petrified of being struck by lightning. Mavis was born during a thunderstorm, so she felt that she also was destined to be killed by a bolt of lightning. Due to her phobia, Mavis never allowed Basil to buy a metal bed for their home.
It wasn’t a thunderstorm claimed Mavis’s life, but rather a persistent illness. When she was on her deathbed, Mavis made Basil promise her two things:
(1.) that he would never sell any of her beloved handmade quilts and
(2.) that he would never place any of her quilts on a metal bed. Basil swore that he would follow her wishes and she passed away soon after.
A number of months after Mavis’s death, Basil married Trulie Jane Lawson, a much younger woman who also lived in the cove.
Before long, Basil and his new wife were sleeping on a metal bed, because Trulie Jane was too large for Mavis’s old wooden frame.
On one frosty night, Trulie asked Basil if they could sleep with one of Mavis’s beautiful quilts, and he gave in to her wishes. Trulie chose a quilt that Mavis had called the “Cussing Cover” because the pattern contained a piece of a shirt that Basil had worn during their first marital spat.
Later that evening, Trulie Jane was awoken by a tremendous flash of light that burst into the cabin and knocked her right onto the floor. The room filled with smoke and a burning smell permeated the air. When all of the smoke cleared away, Trulie found that Basil had been charred to a crisp and the metal bed was completely disintegrated. Strangely enough, the Cussing Cover was in perfect condition and there was no other damage to the cabin.
Legend has it that the Cussing Cover was eventually sold to a collector in the Smokies. So, if you ever come across a quilt with a piece of red flannel in it at a shop in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge, don’t buy it!
3. The Enchanted Lake
Before white settlers came to the mountains, the Cherokee people lived in the area they called “Land of Blue Smoke.” A number of Cherokee legends about the Smokies have been preserved, including a story about Atagahi, an enchanted lake that humans cannot see.
In one story, a young Cherokee man spent days fasting and praying with the hope that Atagahi would be revealed to him. The young man did not want to hunt at the oasis, he simply wanted to witness the beautiful wildlife and scenery that were rumored to exist at the lake. The man’s spiritual devotion finally paid off when Atagahi emerged from the forest right before his eyes.
The magical lake had a stunning violet color and it was teeming with waterbirds, fish, bears, and even more animals. When his vision ended, the man decided to mark the location of the hidden lake with a pile of rocks.
A few months later, a brutal winter arrived in the Smoky Mountains, bringing the Cherokee to the brink of starvation. Desperate to find somewhere that he could hunt during the snowstorm, the young man returned to the spot he marked in the forest.
Upon entering Atagahi, the man took aim at a black bear with his bow and sent an arrow through the animal’s heart. Rather than dropping to the ground, however, the bear fell into the violet water of the lake and quickly emerged from the water without a single scratch on his body. In a booming voice, the resurrected bear declared that the young man had betrayed them, and all of the bears at the lake descended on the hunter.
In the days following the storm, hunters from the young man’s village found his body in the snow, but there were no tracks left by the bears that mauled him.
According to Cherokee tradition, Atagahi is now impossible to find, but visitors to Clingmans Dome can sometimes see morning mist rising from the magic lake.
4. Lucy at Roaring Fork
Lucy, a beautiful young woman died in a cabin fire around 1909. About a year later a young man who was in need of a wife, spotted a beautiful hitch hiker in the woods and shared his horse with her.
Barefoot on a cold winter’s night, he found it odd that Lucy was abnormally warm, and enraptured by her beauty, he fell in love with her and proposed marriage. When he went to seek her parents approval, they informed him that she had died in the fire the year before.
It is said that Lucy still looks for rides along the road, and many have claimed to have seen her in the woods near where her cabin burned to the ground.
Be careful out there driving thru Roaring Fork at night.
Dare to visit Ripley’s Haunted Adventure
