The Glenway Field Guide · Haywood County, North Carolina
Things to Do in Maggie Valley
Maggie Valley sits high on the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains — close enough to the park that you can hike the balds and be back for dinner, far enough from Asheville to feel genuinely off the tourist track. Skiing, hiking, golf, live clogging, and motorcycle roads that draw riders from across the country. Here’s how to use your time.
~2.5 hrs
From Charlotte
~3 hrs
From Atlanta
~1.5 hrs
From Knoxville
~4.5 hrs
From Nashville
~4.5 hrs
From Charleston
Maggie Valley · Est. 1904
Yes, there was a Maggie
In 1904, Jack Setzer, the first postmaster on upper Jonathan Creek, sent Washington a list of names for the valley’s new post office. Several had already been rejected as taken, so this list included his daughters: Cora, Mettie, and Maggie. Washington picked Maggie. She was fourteen, and by her family’s telling she was mortified — certain her schoolmates would never let it go. Four years later she married and moved away, settling eventually in Texas. The valley kept her name.
The town that grew up around it still suits her: quiet, a little shy of the spotlight, letting Waynesville and Asheville do the announcing. The Glenway watches it all from 3,543 ft (1,080m) up the valley wall — 12.2 percent of the way up Everest, if you keep score that way.
The peak itself has a name, if you go looking for it on a topo map: Leatherwood Top, 4,997 ft (1,523m). It won’t mean much outside Haywood County, but now you know what to call the mountain you’re standing on.
Activities
Where to spend your days
Dining
Where to Eat
From the diner down the hill to James Beard winners an hour away.
Hiking
Trails & Waterfalls
A waterfall ten minutes from the chalet. A summit with 360° views. Everything in between.
Golf
Golf in the Mountains
Courses with elevation changes that don't show up on the scorecard.
Skiing
Skiing & Snow Tubing
Cataloochee is right up the road. More slopes and tube parks within day-trip range.
Swimming
Swimming Holes & Pools
Cold plunge pools, a 60-foot natural rock slide, and where to find lifeguards when you want them.
Breweries
Craft Beer
Taprooms in Waynesville and Sylva. Asheville's full beer city within an hour.
48 Hours
The Weekender
A full itinerary for a long weekend — how we'd spend two days here.
Distinctly Maggie Valley
Things you won’t find anywhere else
Tail of the Dragon · ~1.5 hrs
Deals Gap
318 curves in 11 miles on the NC/TN border — arguably the most famous motorcycle road in the country, about 50 miles west of the valley. Maggie Valley is a natural base for riders doing the Dragon, and the valley draws a significant motorcycle culture all season: the roads, the scenery, and the elevation make it a destination in its own right whether you’re on two wheels or four.
Since 1993 · Vintage Lane
Wheels Through Time Museum
Over 300 rare American motorcycles, most of them a century old and still kept in running condition: Harley-Davidson, Indian, Crocker, Henderson. Dale Walksler started the collection in 1993; the current 38,000-square-foot building on Vintage Lane, just off Soco Road, opened in 2002. It draws the same crowd that comes for Deals Gap, and it’s worth the hour even if you don’t ride.
Elk Viewing · ~45 min
Cataloochee Valley
Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the best places in the eastern US to see wild elk — reintroduced here in 2001 and now a herd of nearly two hundred. The valley is about 45 minutes from Maggie Valley. Go at dawn or dusk in September and October when the rut is on and the bugling carries across the whole valley.
Casino · ~35 min
Harrah’s Cherokee
Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort is about 35 minutes from Maggie Valley — a full resort casino with a hotel, spa, and entertainment. The drive through the Qualla Boundary (the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ territory) is worth a slow pass on the way. The Museum of the Cherokee People in Cherokee is genuinely excellent.
Seasonal
A different valley each season
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