Continuing northwest, the highway becomes aggressively curvy, steep, narrow and in a couple of locations is a gravel road.

NC 281 crosses back into Jackson County at Owens Gap (3,590 ft (1,090 m), highest point on route), near Round Mountain to the northeast.

[2][3] The overall route shows the very best of what the Nantahala National Forest has to offer, but it is not recommended for commercial trucks, recreational vehicles or buses.

[6] In 1980, NC 281 was extended west along US 64 overlap, from Lake Toxaway to near Sapphire, and then along new primary routing to the South Carolina state line.

[7] Purpose of the route's extension was to connect visitors to the Whitewater Falls overlook area, maintained by the United States Forest Service.