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Local Outdoor - Activities
:: Hiking :: Fishing Guide :: Outfitters :: Rafting :: Art Galleries:: Transportation Museum :: Antiques :: Golf :: Train :: About The Balsam Area

TV News Clip about Jackson County's Fly Fishing MAP and GUIDE :
Order a Western North Carolina fly fishing trail pamphlet here.

Fly Fishing Guides

Fly Fishing Outfitters Return to TOP

  • You can go fishing on your own at an area river, or you can get some guidance from these outfitters.
  • CCS Fly Fishing Outfitters offers fishing lessons, walk/wade and float trips for half and full days, including half day evening trips. Full day trips include lunch, and all trips include rod and reel.
  • Smoky Mountain Fly Fishing offers Beginner trips, half day and all day trips to great locations and drinks and snacks are provided depending on the length of the trip.

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Rafting

  • There are some great rivers in the are that the whole family can enjoy, and these outfitters can help you pick the right trip for you.
  • Nantahala Outdoor Center has all sorts of great options for all ages. Older children can enjoy rafting the rapids with their parents, while NOC also offers activities and adventures for younger children and folks who aren't ready to hit the rapids.
  • USA Raft also offers tours of the rapids. They offer three different types of trips, family class, adventures class, and world class, depending on what you are looking for.
  • Wildwater Rafting offers guided tours, dinner tours, or you can rent your own kayak or raft and take an adventerous trip on your own.
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Antiques

How about browsing through one of the local antiques shops? Those include the Balsam Antique Mall, Barber's Orchard Antique Mall, Moose Crossing Antique Gallery, and That Woods Auction and Antique Mall.

Hiking Return to TOP

  • With the Blue Ridge Parkway, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Pisgah National Forrest all a stone's throw away from the inn, hiking options abound.
  • Balsam Mountain Inn has three trails around the property, with a fourth to be cut soon.
  • Mountains to Sea Trail is within walking distance of the inn. It is a great place to take yourself or your dog for a nice leg stretch. Someday it will run more than 900 miles across North Carolina, but right now about 400 miles are complete, including the section just closest to us.
  • We are just located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, and there are many trails from which to choose. Some of the closest to the Balsam Mountain Inn are Waterrock Knob, a short but steep hike to a gorgeous view, and Richard Balsam, a 1.5 mile loop to a 6410 ft summit.
  • Pinnacle Park is 1100 acre park in nearby Sylva, North Carolina. There are numerous hiking trails here including a somewhat strenuous hike past a small waterfall to a summit with a 270 degree view of the area.
  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park is half an hour away from the Balsam Mountain Inn, and has 850 miles of trails for exploring.
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Golf

Gambling

Museums
Like Museums? Within a short drive of the inn there are museums about science, culture, transportation, and more!

Train Rides

  • Great Smoky Mountain Railroad is fun for the whole family! They offer a variety of excursions, including Dinner and Dinner Theatre Trains, Thomas the Train excursions, and beaatiful trips to the Nantahala Gorge.
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Drama

  • Unto These Hills is the tragic and triumphant story of the Cherokee. Presented each Summer Mid-June through late August.

Art Galleries

A whole day can be made of strolling in and out of local art galleries.

  • BURR STUDIO AND GALLERY
    136 N. Main St., Waynesville Sculpture & pottery by Dane & MaryEtta
  • CEDAR HILL STUDIO
    196 N. Main St., Waynesville, Originals & prints, Gretchen Gretchen Clashy art
  • DEJA VIEW GALLERY
    132 N. Main St., Waynesville, Local & regional art, pottery, crafts
  • EARTHWORKS GALLERY
    21 N. Main St., Waynesville
    earthworksgalleries.com, Limited editions, musical instruments, artglass, Pendletons
  • ELIZABETH ELLISON WATERCOLORS
    155 Main Street, Bryson City, Smokies region art including watercolors of animals, landscapes, and wildflowers.
  • GRACE CATHEY SCULPTURE GARDEN
    136 Depot St., Waynesville, Located within Walker 66 Service Station
  • HARDWOOD GALLERY
    102 N. Main St., Waynesville, Working studio, hand-sculpted wood carvings
  • PENUMBRA GALLERY & STUDIO
    534 West Main Street, Sylva, gallery of local artists and working studio.
  • RIDGE RUNNER NATURALS
    Wild Mountain Watercolors, 33 N. Main St., Waynesville, Local watercolors of mountain scenery
  • TEXTURES
    For the Finely Crafted Home
    142 N. Main St., Waynesville, A collection of finely crafted furniture, art and accessories.
  • TWIGS & LEAVES
    98 N. Main St., Waynesville, "Where Art dances with Nature"
  • Asheville about a 45 minute drive from the Balsam Mountain Inn has many galleries.
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About The Balsam Area

Although far removed from the bustle of modern life, Balsam is a three hour drive or less from several urban areas, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Knoxville, Greenville/Spartanburg, and Tennessee's Tri-Cities.

Traveling north on the Parkway from Balsam, it is about 12 miles to the scenic road's highest point: 6,053 feet on the shoulder of Richland Balsam Mountain.

Within 35 miles of Balsam are Biltmore House and Gardens; Great Smoky Mountain National Park; the Cherokee Nation; the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests; the Cradle of Forestry (site of the first forestry school in the United States); Shining Rock and Middle Prong Wilderness areas; and white water rafting on the Nantahala, French Broad and Tuckasegee rivers. Within 15 miles are the Great Smoky Mountain Railway; Western Carolina University and it's Mountain Heritage Center; and the Shops of Dillsboro, featuring the arts and crafts of many of the region's talented artisans.

Balsam is situated in Balsam Gap, a deep gap of the towering Great Balsam Mountains, one of the highest ranges in the entire Appalachian chain. Among the Great Balsam peaks are Richland Balsam (6,410 feet) and Waterrock Knob (6,292 feet.)

The unincorporated village of Balsam formerly was the home of the site of the highest-elevation rail depot east of the Rockies (the depot was moved in the 60's.) Balsam still marks the highest elevation - 3,314 feet - of any standard-gauge railroad in the East

Norfolk-Southern continues to haul freight through Balsam two or three times a day.

Milepost 443 of the Blue Ridge Parkway is located at Balsam Gap. From the gap it is 26 miles to the Parkway's southern terminus in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and another 30 miles to Gatlinburg, TN via Newfound Gap Road (US 441 North.) One can drive north from Balsam for nearly 550 miles on non-commercial roadways (the Parkway and Skyline Drive), traversing several national forests and the Shenandoah National Park.
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