S.R. 66 today is a sleepy 4.7 mile-long highway located in Brasstown Valley in Towns County. Extending north of Young Harris into North Carolina, the highway continues then as a secondary state road to Old U.S. 64 in Warne. It is a scenic highway, located in the northeastern Georgia mountains and traveling south, the state's highest peak is visible from the road. HISTORY S.R. 66 has existed since 1921, and originally it was a more significant route prior to the relocation of U.S. 64 in North Carolina in 1958 on a more northerly route. Changes began on the route in the 1940's with the two bridges over Brasstown Creek replaced in 1940 with the original highway paved by the middle of the decade. Additionally, S.R. 66 also was extended not long after 1940 southward on the most rugged road in the state to the summit of Mount Enotah, better known as Brasstown Bald Mountain. When S.R. 66 was extended up to Brasstown Bald, it was an unpaved and deeply rutted road that was more of a primitive trail than a highway and was more likely used as a place to hide from the law than a scenic byway. The extended route began west of where S.R. 66 currently ends in Young Harris at U.S. 76 and climbed steeply up the mountain to where it joined what is today S.R. 180 Spur just below the summit. From there, the highway continued southward along what is today S.R. 180 to end at S.R. 75 south of Hiawassee. S.R. 66 proved to be a steep, deeply washed out, hard to maintain road between Young Harris and Brasstown Bald Mountain. This road, rarely traveled, became locally known as the Wagon Train Road, and maintenance was suspended on the route as early as 1950. Nevertheless, it remained on the state highway system as projected mileage for over 30 more years. According to a plaque on the trail to the summit, some work was done to improve the dirt road's condition in 1955 by convict labor, but apparently this was not enough to justify the re-establishment as a full highway. For years to come, this route would remain projected mileage. It is not known, though, if the road was open to traffic or maintained any prior to the later abandonment of the project. In contrast to the Young Harris to Brasstown Bald route, the southern approach to Brasstown Bald was maintained fully. On the southern approach, the highway east of S.R. 180 in the best condition. In all, this extension of S.R. 66 was not used so much for recreation, but as access to a fire tower built on top of the mountain. While the original firetower has since been rebuilt, the current tower there is still used by the Forest Service for the same purpose.
In 1959, progress was made to improve the road. At that time, the road from S.R. 180 to the summit was upgraded to a fully paved road extending all the way to the tower while east of S.R. 180 it remained unpaved in good condition. By 1962, paving was completed for the rest of S.R. 66 on the south section resulting in all portions on each side of the missing link fully paved. It should be noted, though, that the portion of the south section from the base parking lot of Brasstown Bald to the tower is not even two lanes wide. It is not part of the highway today, and now remains open only for shuttles to the top from the parking lot for those unable to hike the short, steep trail.
In regards to that now-closed narrow section, at one time it was its own interesting chapter. In 1964, this part received the designation of S.R. 66 Spur. However, S.R. 66 Spur lasted only a short time and was decommissioned in 1967. It was a re-designation of the narrow part of S.R. 66, which extended from the projected route to the very top of the mountain, and this portion was not planned as part of the main route of unbuilt S.R. 66. S.R. 66 was still projected mileage at that point along the Wagon Train Road, and likely the original roadbed was already long since closed to the public. By the early 1980's, the long delayed project to join the gap between the two separate sections of S.R. 66 reached its end when the long dormant project to complete the route was finally canceled in 1982. Oddly enough, the new seven-mile long route had already been selected, and it was planned to connect to U.S. 76 further west than the original routing. It is unclear what canceled the project, but undoubtably political and/or environmentalist pressures were the cause.
When the project to complete the missing link of S.R. 66 was canceled, S.R. 66 was retracted back to its original route from Young Harris northward. On the southern end, the portion east of S.R. 180 became an extension of S.R. 180, while the remainder with no other outlet became S.R. 180 Spur. S.R. 180 Spur did not include the portion past the parking area, though. That road was closed to all but shuttle traffic in 1987 shortly after the former routing of S.R. 66 from Brasstown Bald to Young Harris was forever shielded from future development. This is because in 1986, that area was designated as the Brasstown Wilderness Area. The wilderness designation basically meant that the chance of the S.R. 66 project along the Wagon Train Road ever being revived was none. Since 1982, what is left of S.R. 66 and parent-route S.R. 180 have seen no changes. Projects are planned to replace the two 1940-vintage bridges on the Young Harris-Warne portion, and S.R. 180 Spur is a regular fixture of winter newscasts for its routine winter weather closures. It is unclear if S.R. 66 will survive as a state route after the two bridge replacements are completed within the next five years. OTHER MAPS PHOTO GALLERY
TERMINI PHOTO GALLERY Southern Terminus: U.S. 76, S.R. 2/515 in Young Harris. All photos taken April 23, 2005.
Northern Terminus: North Carolina State Line (Clay County). Road continues as a Secondary S.R. 1112.
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