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