Hazel Creek is a tributary stream of the Little Tennessee River in the southwestern Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.

The creek's bottomlands were home to several pioneer Appalachian communities and logging towns before its incorporation into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Hazel Creek flows southwest from its source near the summit of Silers Bald to its mouth along the Fontana impoundment of the Little Tennessee River, a journey of roughly 18 miles (29 km).

Both Welch and Jenkins, which run perpendicular to the crest of the Smokies, reach elevations of over 5,000 feet (1,500 m) for considerable stretches.

Two smaller ridges— the Pinnacle and Locust Ridge— parallel Hazel's northern banks, dividing the creek's valley from its upper watershed.

These three watersheds comprise the remote, roadless northern banks of Fontana Lake known locally as the North Shore.

The most prominent of these included: Proctor — located at the confluence of Shehan Branch and Hazel Creek, between what is now Campsite 86 and the ruins of the Ritter Mill.

The Fontana Marina's low-water Hazel Creek ferry rendezvous is located near the mouth of Cable Branch.

Ritter — located at the original confluence of Hazel Creek and the Little Tennessee River, now submerged under Fontana Lake.

The trail followed Shehan Branch, crossed the Pinnacle, and ascended Eagle Creek to Ekaneetlee Gap, a col just east of Gregory Bald at the crest, and descended into the cove.

Other less-used trails connected Hazel to Forney Creek on the other side of Welch Ridge to the east and the Tuckasegee River area around modern-day Bryson City.

The Proctors, who had briefly settled in Cades Cove, crossed the crest at Ekaneetlee Gap in 1829 and built a cabin on a hill in Possum Hollow.

Both Cable and Proctor probably wanted to take advantage of an old cattle road that ran from the North Shore area to the Parsons Turnpike.

[5] Although only a handful of families had settled on Hazel Creek by the 1860s, the Civil War still had a major impact on the valley's history.

Union supporters fleeing Confederate North Carolina often fled to Cades Cove via Hazel Creek and Ekaneetlee Gap.

The Halls passed on the vein's location to Mark Bryson, a local prospector, who in turn notified New York entrepreneur W. S. Adams.

After a 27-year legal battle, Adams was declared the rightful owner of the mine, although both he and Westfeldt were dead by the time the decision was handed down.

[8] In 1892, a logging firm known as Taylor and Crate (some sources claim it was Johnson and Harris) sent its agent Jack Coburn to buy up timber rights along Hazel Creek.

[9] In 1904, Horace Kephart, a librarian from St. Louis, arrived in Hazel Creek with plans to study the wilderness areas of the Southern Appalachian highlands.

Three members of the hunting party— Granville Calhoun, "Little John" Cable, and "Doc" Jones— were children of early Hazel Creek pioneers.

The hunting party stayed at a herding shack built by Jesse "Crate" Hall along the crest near Chestnut Bald.

The train, operated by Ritter's subsidiary Smoky Mountain Railway, offered passenger service to Proctor and Medlin.

[16] Lumpkin also rehashes the story of an entire herd of cattle freezing to death, similar to the legend behind the naming of Bone Valley.

The last families left Hazel Creek in November 1944, before the rising lake waters inundated the only major road out.

The Civilian Conservation Corps, which had been operating a camp at Proctor since the late 1930s, repaired bridges, tore down buildings, and improved trails along the creek's watershed.

Prior to the creation of the dam, those who owned land that was taken by the TVA were promised that there would be a road built to access to above water cemeteries and homesites, as well as to stimulate economic development in the region.

These promises resulted in a 1943 agreement which was signed by the TVA, Department of Interior, Swain County, and the State of North Carolina which stipulated that the road be constructed "if and when monies are appropriated".

[23] The Hazel Creek area remains one of the most remote regions of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, due largely to the fact that the North Shore Road was never completed.