Golf in Ducktown

Ducktown is a small Polk County community in the Copper Basin, one of the most geographically and environmentally distinctive sites in the eastern United States. For over a century, copper smelting here generated sulfur dioxide emissions that stripped the surrounding hills of vegetation and left a denuded, rust-colored landscape visible from satellite imagery — a remarkable transformation in the heart of Appalachia. The copper industry is long gone, and revegetation has restored much of the basin, but the area's legacy is unusual and the geography — high, remote ridges in the extreme southeastern corner of Tennessee near the Georgia and North Carolina borders — remains striking. The nearby Ocoee River, site of the 1996 Summer Olympics whitewater events, draws paddlers and outdoor recreationists to the broader Polk County corridor.