| State: | NC |
| Type: | US |
| Route: | 129 |
| Map Custom: | yes |
| Map Notes: | US 129 highlighted in red |
| Length Mi: | 63.5 |
| Length Round: | 1 |
| Established: | 1934 |
| Direction A: | South |
| Direction B: | North |
| Terminus A: | at the Georgia state line |
| Junction: | |
| Terminus B: | at the Tennessee state line |
| Spur Of: | 29 |
| Spur Type: | US |
| Counties: | Cherokee, Graham, Swain |
| Previous Type: | NC |
| Previous Route: | 128 |
| Next Type: | NC |
| Next Route: | 130 |
U.S. Route 129 (US 129) is a north - south United States highway that travels 63.5miles through the westernmost part of North Carolina. Traveling from the Georgia state line near Bellview, to the Tennessee state line at Deals Gap, it is known for its scenic mountain valley vistas and curvy mountain bends popular with motorcycle and sports car enthusiasts.
US 129, in concurrency with US 19, begins at the Georgia state line near the community of Bellview. At 3.8miles in, it reaches the community of Ranger, where US 129/US 19 links up with four-lane US 64/US 74, heading northeast. In Murphy, US 64 splits away, after crossing the Hiwassee River, and heads east towards Hayesville. Bypassing east of Murphy along Will Scott Mountain, the highway traverses along the banks of the Valley River to Andrews, where it bypasses the town to its north. East of Andrews, the highway narrows to two lanes as it makes its way along the Snowbird Mountains. At Red Marble Gap is the community of Topton, which straddles closely to Cherokee, Macon and Graham counties; here US 129 splits from US 19/US 74 as it continues into the Nantahala Gorge towards Bryson City.
Now ascending along the Snowbird Mountains, the highway curves west and begins to descend as it follows the Tulula Creek into Robbinsville. NC 143 shares a short concurrency with US 129 while in Robbinsville, here is where motorcycle and sports car enthusiasts begin to appear as they connect here from the Cherohala Skyway and heads towards the Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap. North of Robbinsville, US 129 curves along the banks of the Cheoah River until it reaches the Little Tennessee River at Tapoco. Crossing the Little Tennessee River and passing past the Cheoah Dam, US 129 connects with NC 28 before ascending again and crossing into Tennessee at Deals Gap.
US 129 also makes up part of Corridor K in the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS). Corridor K connects Interstate 75 (I-75) in Cleveland, Tennessee with US 23 in Dillsboro, North Carolina, overlapping 29.5miles of US 129. ADHS provides additional funds, as authorized by the U.S. Congress, which have enabled US 129 to benefit from the successive improvements along its routing through the corridor. The white-on-blue banner "Appalachian Highway" is used to mark the ADHS corridor.[1]
US 129 overlaps with two state scenic byways: the Nantahala Byway between Marble and Topton, and the Indian Lake Scenic Byway, between Topton and Deals Gap.[2]
The highway was established in 1934 as an extension from Georgia following US 19 to Topton, where it replaced NC 108 through Robbinsville and on into Tennessee. In 1979, US 19/US 129 were placed on new bypass routings east of Murphy and north of Andrews; its old alignment becoming US 19 business loops.[3]
On December 2, 2020, six miles of U.S. 129 in Graham County, from Yellow Creek near Robbinsville to the Swain County line, was designated Ronnie Milsap Highway.[4]