Table of Contents

Introduction 9

What's Where in the Smokies and the Blue Ridge Mountains

Exploration Themes 28

Author's Favorite Trips: A Week in the Mountains 41

1 The Northern Mountains 45

The Blue Ridge Parkway Enters North Carolina 48

The Blue Ridge Parkway: Blowing Rock & Grandfather Mountain 64

Behind The Blue Ridge: Boone & Banner Elk 88

Behind The Blue Ridge: Spruce Pine & Burnsville 106

The Mountains Of Northern Tennessee 123

Beneath The Blue Ridge: The Catawba River Valley 141

2 Asheville's Mountains 161

The Blue Ridge Parkway Circles Asheville 165

The City of Asheville 181

The Blue Ridge Parkway Approaches the Smokies 211

The Blue Ridge: Chimney Rock & Saluda 228

The Blue Ridge: Hendersonville & Brevard 249

North Of Asheville: The Bald Mountains 270

3 The Great Smoky Mountains National Park 287

Gatlinburg & The Northeast Quadrant 293

Townsend, Cades Cove, & The Northwest Quadrant 316

Bryson City & The Southwest Quadrant 340

Cherokee & The Southeast Quadrant 358

4 South of the Smokies 379

Near The Park: Sylva & Dillsboro 383

The Blue Ridge: Cashiers & Highlands 398

Franklin & The Nantahala Mountains 420

The Northern Unicois: Robbinsville & Tellico Plains 439

The Southern Unicois: Murphy & The Copper Basin 462

Index 485