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Thinking of doing great smokey mtns. next year, need your help, what to see, where to stay, where to eat, etc.. Any help would be appeciated.. THANKS, Mark
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If you want my opinion... You can stay at the Hampton Inn in Marion NC...20 minutes east of Asheville...Out of the way, no traffic. Lower rates...Right on I40... Unless you want to stay right in it...then try Maggie Valley, Waynesville, Boone, Asheville Gatlinburg TN, Are oyu planning Hotels, camping???? Is $80.00/night too much... how many people going...if 3 couples, you might want to rent a cabin in Cherookee??? Google carolina mountain vacations...As far as what to see... Biltmore estate, Blue ridge parkway, fields of the woods, Deals gap (had to put that in there) i personally think the roads are enough eye candy...Stay off the main highways... do a search on hear too... try NC HIlls, blue ridge pkwy, BRP , smokeys or smokey mountain...Sounds like you have plenty of time to decide....
I'd stay away from Pigeon Forge, TN and Gaitlingburg, TN. talk about traffic and people. I liked staying here when I was riding the Tail of the Dragon, smokie mountains, blue ridge parkway. http://www.twowheelinn.com/
it may be a few miles from the smokies but heck you want to ride don't cha.
Search some of my post for the br info . And go to carolinamcevents or carolinamotorcycle events as a search from your front page. This will show what and where for motels campgrounds, shops and joints to see. Do be a North Carolina altas and gazette from Wally World for ALL back roads to ride. Many great places to stay on the br and off in close by small towns.
First of all you need to plan at least a week stay. You need a central location like Maggie Valley (Waynesville close by). Then you need to start collecting information about the great rides all around. Get a couple of the ride maps from "America Rides Maps" and "Madmaps". They have a lot of suggestions and the most popular rides.
If you are going with another couple, you may want to rent a 2 bedroom log cabin to help with costs. We ate some meals out, but saved a lot being able to eat our breakfast meals and some of our dinner meals at the log cabin. The cost of the cabin was also less than it would have cost for two motel rooms for the whole week. You also need to find a cabin that is bike friendly (some cabins are not very accessible because of steep dirt or gravel lanes to them). We found one that not only was easily accessible but also had a garage to put our bikes in.
Biltmore Estate costs about $50 a person, so we decided we rather ride than spend that kind of money on walking through a mansion for 4 hours.
Roads you have to do must include, BRP between Cherokee and route 276, the Devil's Triangle, Hell Bender, of course the Dragon's Tail, 209 up to Hot Springs, Thunder Road (Wayah Road) just to name a few. Many nice waterfalls between Franklin and Highlands.
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YES, stay away from Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge area.. very congested with cars, unless you go between Janurary and March then highly recommend you stay/visit both areas.. Another area to check out is the Townsend area.. it is less traffic and very close to the Foothills Parkway this will lead you to Deals Gap and the Hellbender, etc.. Madmaps ordered on line will help a lot in planning your rides..
Agreed on hitting the Cherohala but I would just cruise thru Gatlinburg if not for the ride up the BRP. Yes, it is a tourist mecca but they do have some of the best food in the area. Also bring your rain gear! I have been up there once that we did not get wet or snowed on!! Good luck.....bring us all back some shots from your journey!
Great smokey mtns. ???
