Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 25 minutes away

Oconaluftee: elk, a farm museum and the easy river trail

The visitor center sits beside the Mountain Farm Museum, a collection of 19th-century log buildings moved here from around the park. Elk graze the fields most mornings and late afternoons, and put on a show during the fall rut. The Oconaluftee River Trail runs 1.5 flat miles from here into Cherokee, and it is one of only two trails in the park where dogs are welcome.

Deep Creek: three waterfalls on one loop

From the Deep Creek trailhead outside Bryson City, a 2.4-mile loop passes Tom Branch Falls, Indian Creek Falls and, on a short spur, Juney Whank Falls. Few walks in the park give you three waterfalls for so little effort. In summer, rent a tube at the entrance and float the lower creek.

Mingo Falls

Technically just outside the park on Cherokee land, Mingo Falls drops about 120 feet. The trail is short, 0.4 miles, but it starts with 161 stairs. No parking tag is needed here.

Kuwohi and Newfound Gap

Newfound Gap (5,046 ft) is where US-441 crosses the state line and the Appalachian Trail; allow an hour each way. Kuwohi, the mountain formerly signed as Clingmans Dome (its Cherokee name was restored in 2024), is the park’s high point at 6,643 ft, reached by a steep half-mile paved path to the tower. Kuwohi Road is open April 1 to November 30 and walkable in winter. Andrews Bald, 3.6 miles round trip from the same parking lot, is the better hike.

• Kephart Prong Trail: 4 miles round trip to an old CCC camp, off Newfound Gap Road
• Smokemont Loop: 6 quiet forest miles, starting at Smokemont Campground
• Road to Nowhere: drive Lakeview Drive from Bryson City to the tunnel and walk through

Eat afterward

Back down the hill, Bryson City and Cherokee are on the way home. Dillsboro and Sylva are 15 minutes from the lodge in the other direction.