DIRECTIONSGA.COM ACTIVITIES | 25
One stop
recently pressure-washed the bridge,
and plans to install more than two
dozen park benches around town.
Other improvements include new
streetlights, landscaping, and copper
mining artifacts and signage to share
the area’s history with visitors. A
4-acre park with exercise equipment,
walking paths and pavilions is also
planned for the area.
Small businesses, like Mountain
Attitude Designs, Escape the Line
Escape Room and Copperhill
Brewery, are doing their part to
draw tourists and locals back to the
area. Meanwhile, the old mall is
being completely renovated and
turned into the new Riverwalk Shops.
It’s scheduled to be occupied this fall
by three new restaurants (Cowanee,
Burra Burra Seafood Co. and
Concetta’s Riverside Bakery & Cafe),
plus Smelters Store and a full assortment
of new shops.
Area Fast Facts
→ McCaysville population = 996;
Copperhill population = 511.
→ McCaysville, Copperhill &
Ducktown are known collectively
as the Copper Basin.
→ Copperhill & Ducktown were settled
around 1843 when copper
was discovered in the area. It was
mined until the late 1980s.
→ Open smelting, timber harvesting
and the release of harmful gases
severely denuded the hills around
Copperhill. In 1939, the TVA and
the Tennessee Copper Company
began a long-term reforesting
project to help restore the area.
→ The Toccoa River flows north
from Blue Ridge to McCaysville.
As the Ocoee in Tennessee, it is
known for challenging Class III &
IV whitewater rafting rapids.
→ The Ocoee Whitewater Center off
Hwy. 64 was the site of the 1996
Olympic Summer Games Canoe &
Kayak Slalom competition.
continued on page 26
The old steel bridge
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