It is officially here, “The Busy Season”! The week of July 4th is one of the busiest of the entire year, with thousands of people descending on our little town to enjoy the beauty of the nature around them and to steal a little bit of our small town charm for their memories. We love this time of year because there is so much going on and there are tons of people around to help boost our small town economy, but this also means that we will be working ourselves to death until the visitors leave. We are okay with working overtime right now though, because in a seasonal town like this you have to make up for January, February, and March when you can.
Even though we find ourselves working a lot during this time of the year we also find time to still enjoy the beautiful place that we call home, and we would like to share with you some of the things that you should not miss out on seeing/doing when you are in town.
1. Deep Creek
This a special spot because it is part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and even though it is very busy in the parking and picnicking areas during this time of the year you can still find peace and relaxation if you are willing to hike far enough in to the park. Many people will just turn around once they see how many people are using Deep Creek for tubing, but if you take the initiative to hike 1/2 mile further than the rest of the crowd you will not be disappointed! With many waterfalls, diverse wildlife, hundreds of thousands of trees, and much more your time spent here will be simple but so enjoyable.
2. Wesser Fire Tower or Wesser Bald
This is a great spot to go where you can experience some great mountain views and peacefulness without being tuck in traffic and sharing your time with hundreds of other visitors. You can drive most of the way to Wesser Fire Tower and then the hike is about 1.5 miles on the Appalachian Trail. Once you reach the fire tower you can climb on up and sit and soak in the views while enjoying a picnic or take a short nap, be sure to bring sunscreen though.
3. The Fingerlake
The Fingerlake is part of the Nantahala National Forest, this lake is connected to Fontana Lake by a pipes, so that means no boat traffic to worry about! There are absolutely no motorized water crafts allowed on this part of the lake, so that means you can swim, paddle-board, kayak, canoe, float, soak up the sun, and much more without having to worry about getting run-over by a boat. This is a very popular spot in the summer for locals and tourists alike to cool off and enjoy the water, but it is still one of our favorites!
These are the places we will share with you for now, check in later on for more unique places that you should not miss while you are visiting our small town with a big backyard!
NC Smokies Things To Do 