Hike More, Worry Less

Hiking is one of the most popular outdoor adventures in the Bryson City area. Options range from an easy walk along a mountain stream to a strenuous backcountry hike.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Closest to Bryson City is the Deep Creek area with an easy trail to three waterfalls, a loop trail, and the Noland Divide trail to Lonesome Pine Overlook. In the Lakeview Drive section of the Park, you’ll find the Road to Nowhere

Tunnel, Goldmine Loop, Lakeshore Trail, and Noland Creek trails. Popular destination hikes in the park include Charlies Bunion, Clingmans Dome, Andrews Bald, and Alum Cave Bluffs.

Kid-friendly hikes include the Kephart Prong Trail and the Oconaluftee River Trail. The Nantahala National Forest and Blue Ridge Parkway trails are dog-friendly, as is the Oconaluftee River trail.

The Appalachian Trail stretches through Swain County from south of the Nantahala Gorge, across Fontana Dam and then follows the highest ridges of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park past Clingmans Dome and Newfound Gap on its way to Maine. You can access the trail at Wesser in the Nantahala Gorge, Fontana Dam, Newfound Gap, and at Clingmans Dome, the highest point in the Park.