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 Estate

Franklin, North Carolina
About 30 miles away is Franklin, a small mountain town surrounded by beautiful streams, waterfalls, mountains, hills and valleys. The people are friendly and organize lots of activities, including festivals and arts & crafts shows. There are plenty of trails for hiking and the views are breathtaking. There is also plenty of fishing, hunting, rafting and kayaking available. The Franklin area is the Gem Capitol of the World, try your hand at mining and you are bound to find many beautiful and sometimes very valuable stones.

Mother Nature places the gemstones in beds of clay where they have remained undisturbed for perhaps millions of years until we excavate them from the hills and rivers of Macon County. Most mines sell gem dirt in a bucket or bag (few allow digging) and you may have to pay an admission fee for the day. You are provided with a screen for washing and there is a flume - a trough of running water - with a bench along it's length. The dirt goes in the screen, the screen goes in the water and the mud is washed away. Well, it's not quite that easy but it is completely safe and mine operators are on hand to help with technique and identification.

The "3 c's" of gem mining are Color, Clarity and Crystals. Gemstones come in every color from white to black. Garnets are glassy red , pink or reddish brown. Rubies are silky red, sapphires are every other color, and both have a crystal formation with 6 sides. Moonstones are pearly white to gray and peach to chocolate brown with a flat box-like shape. Quartz comes in many forms, sometimes clear colors like Amethyst and Citrine, sometimes opaque colors with mica flecks like Aventurine and of course clear with sides - quartz crystals. That's just a few of the many gemstones found at local mines.

Stop in at one of the many gem shops for a crash course in gem identification or spend some time at The Franklin Gem & Mineral Museum in the old jailhouse on Phillips St. in historic downtown Franklin.

Dillsboro/Franklin Day Trip from Hemlock Inn
Take Hwy. 74 East to Dillsboro. Take Dillsboro Exit (Hwys. 441/23) to first traffic light. Turn left, then immediately right onto Webster Street . Park in first available parking space, as you can walk any place in town. Be sure to visit Dogwood Crafters Co-op on Webster Street; Shirley’s Boutique, Enloe’s Market Place, and Bradley’s General Store on Front Street (along the railroad); The Corn Crib (crafts) and Nancy Tut’s Christmas Shop on Haywood Street (Hwys. 19/23 Bus.); and the Riverwood Shops (crafts, pewter, etc.) across the river at the top of Webster Street.

For lunch, try the Well House in the basement of the Riverwood Shops, or Enloe’s Market Place or Bradley’s General Store on Front Street .

Note: We usually have Dillsboro street maps in the rack outside our office.

Take 441 South toward Franklin. You might like to stop at The Old School House Antiques a few miles south of Dillsboro. Continue on 441 to Franklin , taking the 441 Business through the main business district. At the light just past the Court House, turn right onto Hwy. 28 North.

Go approximately 10 miles to the sign for Sheffield Mine. Enjoy some time mining for rubies and sapphires. You might also like to visit beautiful Perry’s Water Garden in this same area.

The shortest return to Bryson City is to continue on out Hwy. 28 North to where it intersects with Hwy. 74, and turn right on 74 to Bryson City. This is a very curvy, two-lane road, not recommended for those not used to driving in the mountains. Or, you may go back to Franklin and return to Bryson City via Hwys. 441/74 the way you came.

Driving Time: Hemlock Inn to Dillsboro, 18 minutes; Dillsboro to Franklin, 25 minutes.

 

 

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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
e-mail: hemlock@dnet.net

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