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The Great Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains
Your guide from the Hemlock Inn, Bryson City
Great Smokies: Intro | Deep Creek (Waterfalls) | Catalochee | Great Hikes | Oconaluftee | Newfound Gap/Clingmans Dome | Gatlinburg | Great Drives
Blue Ridge: Bryson City | Dillsboro | Cherokee | Franklin | Maggie Valley | Asheville
Waynesville | Joyce Kilmer Forest | Blue Ridge Parkway | Fontana Lake/Dam | Fishing Whitewater Rafting | Biking | Great Smoky Railroad | Biltmore EstateCherokee, North Carolina
Just seven miles from Hemlock Inn is Cherokee, home of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation. Here is our suggested day trip to the Cherokee and Balsam.Take Hwy. 19 North to Cherokee, and turn left at the second traffic light on Hwy. 441 North. At next traffic light turn left, then left again into the parking lot of the Museum of the Cherokee.
After touring the museum, go across the street to Qualla Arts & Crafts Guild. Look, but don't buy yet.
Proceed on to the Ocnaluftee Indian Village. After touring the village, come back to the traffic light at the Museum and turn right on 441 to a small shopping center on your left. Visit the Medicine Man gift shop next to the Ponderosa Steak House. You will find crafts and moccasins more reasonably priced here than at the Guild.
A merica's most popular outdoor drama, "Unto These Hills", is the tragic and triumphant story of the Cherokee. Set against the backdrop of the Great Smoky Mountains, the drama is presented under the stars on three stages in our beautiful Mountainside Theater. Since opening on July 1, 1950, "Unto These Hills" has been seen by over five million people.
At the Oconaluftee Indian Village there is much to see: Over two centuries of tradition, living on through the modern-day Cherokee. Watch as ropes of clay are molded into pots and bowls, watch as a canoe is built with fire and ax. View corn grinding, and chipping flint into arrowheads. Presented by the non-profit Cherokee Historical Association, the Oconaluftee Indian Village is a glimpse of the past. Here you will see the model of a Cherokee village from over 225 years ago! Cherokee guides in native costume will explain their history, the culture and life-style of their ancestors, and answer your questions. All this while pausing to watch Cherokee demonstrate their arts and crafts. This 18th century replica of a Cherokee community contains a replica of a 7-sided Council House and typical homes as they were 250 years ago.
On leaving the shopping center, turn right on 441 North. Just north of town (after divided road begins) turn right onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. Be sure to stop at Water Rock Knob and the various overlooks. Proceed to Balsam and return to Hemlock Inn via Hwy. 74 West.
Note: At Balsam you are approximately 30-35 minutes from Hemlock Inn.
Hemlock Inn
Adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
P.O. Box 2350, Galbraith Creek Rd, Bryson City, NC 28713
phone: 828-488-2885 / fax: 828-488-8985
Reservations taken from 7:30 AM until 11:00 PM EST
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