From the outdoorsman to the artist, the southwestern North Carolina mountains offer a wide array of cultural activities. Discover your inner artist with a weekend course at the John C. Campbell Folk School. From weaving to blacksmithing, you can chose your craft and learn on their 300 acre campus. Take a casual stroll through one of the many festivals throughout the year or simply watch the magnificent fall colors as the leaves change. The waterfalls, gentle breezes and distant mountain tops will put your mind at ease.

Nature Note

The North Carolina forests are alive with over 1,500 flowering plants, 60 different mammals, 70 species of fish and 200 species of birds. The profusion of life reaches extraordinary proportions in the mountains. The deciduous forests on the lower slopes have over 300 species and subspecies of trees, including silver bell, yellow buckeye, white basswood, sugar maple, yellow birch, tulip poplar and beech, plus most of the common trees of the Piedmont. Spruce and fir dominate the high mountain peaks. The sounds, smells and life of the mountains stimulate the senses and promote the feelings of quietude and escape.