Take A Two Hour Tour on Lake Glenville

A top rated Trip Advisor excursion that is fun and educatoinal

By Anne Duchac

Photos by carole shepardson

Without a boat or a home on the shores of Lake Glenville, access is somewhat limited to one public park and two Duke Energy provided boat ramps. However, seven years ago, Captain Mark Wise launched his exclusive Lake Glenville Scenic Waterfall Cruise, the only piloted tour of the iconic lake open to the public. Known to locals as Captain Mark, his daily excursions make cruising the lake possible for anyone, regardless of age or physical ability. The two-hour tour showcases the lake's spectacular beauty while sharing his vast knowledge of its history and the unique ecology of the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau. He gives passengers “The highlight experience of their vacation.”

One of the first things passengers learn is that they are on the lake's biggest boat, on the highest lake in the oldest mountains on earth; the Appalachian Mountains are about 450 million years old and were once taller than the Himalayas. Captain Mark’s narrated tour is not just a scenic journey but an educational experience that gives locals and visitors alike a new appreciation for the 26 miles of Lake Glenville’s shoreline and the entire plateau.

North Carolina, particularly the plateau, has more microclimates than any other state. The diversity of plant and animal life is astounding. From the rar mountain magnolia to the pair of bald eagles who return annually to nest; once-in-a-lifetime sights abound.

Mark explains that Plateau is part of the only temperate rainforest in the eastern U.S. That means the area experiences all four seasons and gets over 90 inches of rain annually. As one of the most ecologically biodiverse habitats on the planet, almost 22,000 recorded species live here, over 1,083 of which were previously unknown to science. The Smoky Mountain National Park All Taxonomic Survey found that in this ecosystem, there are 147 different kinds of trees and 1500 different plants, which is the secret to why fall is so beautiful. Colors can be so spectacular during leaf season that astronauts have seen this rainforest with the naked eye from space!

A highlight of the cruise is spotting the enormous bald eagles' nest safely perched in a tall pine tree on a private island owned by a single family. Each spring and into the summer, Captain Mark shares with his passengers the daily progress of the mated pair. Once eggs are laid, they work as partners tending to the nest until they have hatched, bringing fresh prey to the hungry clutch throughout the day. The eaglets quickly grow and then fledge, though sometimes a bit reluctantly. Several years ago, Wise observed the mother eagle circling the nest with a fat trout in her talons, teasing the loudly squawking eaglets. The mother used the eaglets’ voracious appetites and frustration to encourage them to take flight and finally learn to fend for themselves.

Bald eagles are the fastest-growing bird in North America, with an average lifespan of only 20 years in the wild. They mate for life, building the largest nest of any bird in the world. Fiercely territorial, the current pair has returned to the same nest for many years and claimed the lake as their exclusive hunting grounds. For now, when their offspring mature, they force them to find new territory. But, when the current mated pair dies, their offspring will likely assume the family territory.

Captain Mark’s 28-foot luxury pontoon boat is handicap-accessible and easily glides across the busy waters he shares with exuberant tubers and water skiers. He once hosted a family who came aboard with two sons, one in a wheelchair. After the trip, his mother came to Mark in tears, saying it was as if her son’s disability had gone away for those two hours. She told him it was a first for the family; their son did not feel he was holding them back. Another one of Captain Mark’s favorite passengers was a woman who was celebrating her 80th birthday. She had never been on a boat before and was terrified, but it was on her bucket list. So, her 60-year-old daughter surprised her with the cruise. When they docked, she said it was one of the most fun days of her life.

Captain Mark is a U.S. Coast Guard Master Sea Captain, which requires passing rigorous exams and being vetted by the Department of Homeland Security. He has decades of boating experience, including captaining sailboat charters from Key West to the Dry Tortugas and Charleston to the Bahamas. He also worked for Disney as Marina Operations Manager. In that role, he developed protocols to obtain a Coast Guard Safety License for the world’s first commercial use of amphicars (German convertibles with propellers that can be driven into the water).

But Captain Mark’s first love was singing, and after college, he worked for Universal Studios, performing with a Capella doo-wop group for five years. He next became a talent agent and show producer and even brought Earl Scruggs to the Cashiers Mountain Music Festival in 2009 and 2010. Mark started his cruise business in 2018 and says that this is his favorite job out of all of them. “I call this lake the Jewel of the Appalachians,” he says. “We’re 3494 feet above sea level, and it feels like we’re sitting in the Caribbean.”

Love of nature and the water runs in the family, as evidenced by daughter Katherine’s decision to go to work with her dad when she was only five years old. Now, at age ten, she acts as first mate, announcing to passengers that her role is to “keep everything ship shape – with a place for everything and everything in its place.” She also acts as supervisor for the feeding of the ducks and geese. She and her dad  take this responsibility very seriously – after noticing how people on the other boats throw junk food to the friendly birds. They researched their diet and learned how unhealthy those foods are. Now, they offer special floating duck food as a healthy supplement to their diet, going through about 500 pounds a year. Katherine periodically brings out the food during the trip and helps the littlest children safely toss it to the clamoring flocks, ensuring it is spread out so the birds do not fight. But Katherine says her favorite part of the cruise is when the boat gets inches up to the base of the falls, and she can feel the spray on her face.

The family tradition of water-related careers dates to the early 1900s with the family business Wise Boatworks. It was originally based in Wayzata, Minnesota, but in 1926, Mark’s grandfather, Harry Wise, cruised down the Mississippi and ultimately found himself in Mount Dora, Florida, on the shores of Lake Dora. Harry built a boat called the City of Dora there, and the Coast Guard appointed him as an official captain during World War II. They tasked him with patrolling the Ocklawaha River to look out for U-boats. He thought he might as well make it worth his while, so he began taking passengers along, teaching them about the local ecosystem, Florida’s first ecotours.

“I’m doing the same thing my great-grandpa did,” Mark says. “It’s in our blood.” One look at Katherine, sitting in his lap, confidently steering the boat, confirms that the next generation is already hooked.

To book your own unforgettable Lake Glenville cruise, visit www.worldclasswaterfalls.com

A Brief History of Lake Glenville

In 1941, Nantahala Power & Light dammed the west fork of the Tuckasegee River to generate electricity, creating Thorpe Reservoir, a hydro-lake at 3492 feet of elevation with a maximum depth of 126 feet. The town of Hamburg, its schools, homes, businesses, and farms were submerged. But the still active Hamburg Church now sits on the shore of the lake. Its historic graveyard was excavated and relocated on a steep slope across Highway 107, where local families still bury their kin.

The lake’s original purpose was to provide hydroelectric power for the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) during World War II. In 1943, the lake would provide the area’s first commercial electricity and change the course of the entire community. However, at the outset, aluminum manufactured with the lake’s power was used to build B17 bombers and even the first atomic bomb. In 1943, power from Thorpe Reservoir first became available for residential use. The once sleepy mountain lake getaway is now known as Lake Glenville and is a premier vacation destination in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This part of the plateau experienced a real estate boom recently, with vacation homes making up about 90% of the shoreline. The COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020 helped escalate sales further, pushing the median home value on the lake to $2-million with no shortage of magnificent homes well above that price range.