Maggie Valley provides crafters with some excellent resources that rival products found in the craft stores of large metropolitan areas.

Meet the Reviewers
To evaluate the quality of the shops in Maggie my sister Nancy with 50 years of crafting experience and I took a tour. A few of Nancy’s talents include an expertise in jewelry making, painting, and paper crafting. I was a Creative Memories consultant for five years and enjoy scrapbooking. Additionally, I have been sewing clothing and interior decor items for 30 years. With these skills on our resumes, we felt qualified to offer reviews of the Maggie Valley shops.

Scrappin in the Mountains
Our first stop Scrappin in the Mountains provided an exciting assortment of papers. Rather than overwhelming, the artfully arranged selection makes finding the perfect papers a pleasure. What fun scrapbooking your trip to Maggie with the custom designed diecuts including the iconic Maggie herself along with the Elk of Cataloochee! If you come for a Scrapbooking Girlfriend Getaway, the light and bright work area would add to the fun.

Pretty Crafty
Our next stop on the craft store tour took us to Pretty Crafty. Darlene the owner is usually on site and is extremely knowledgeable. In addition to a good basic selection of scrapbooking supplies, Pretty Crafty includes products for a variety of interests. Nancy found some great beading tools and some helpful tips from Darlene. If you have varied crafting interests or you have kids stuck for a rainy day vacation activity, Pretty Crafty should be on your vacation to do list.

Quilters Quarters
Within a stone’s throw of Pretty Crafty lies Quilters Quarters. Walk through the door of this cabin shop and you are guaranteed to be inspired. The fabrics are not only artfully displayed but creatively organized. Selecting the colors for your first or next quilt will be a joy. The extensive product line brings regular visitors from throughout the southeast to the doorsteps of Sandy and Tom Fogarty, Dianne and Diane. They eagerly take suggestions for classes and have a very strong class schedule for beginners to intermediate to experienced quilters.

With so much to do in and around Maggie Valley, visiting the craft shops would not ordinarily make it onto your vacation to do list. But, these privately owned shops emphasize quality and unique products with talented displays. Stop in when you are out and about; you won’t be disappointed.

Never underestimate the value of the Maggie Valley Chamber of Commerce. The visitor center provides a variety of rack cards or information cards that highlight activities from all over western North Carolina. You will find visitor guides from the traditional like the Blue Ridge Parkway to the exotic like Santa Land. There are suggested activities for visitors of every age and every interest.

And if you are feeling overwhelmed by the number of choices, Jena and Nancy are there to help. They base their information on the feedback from the guests who have been coming back to thank them for the great tourism tips that they have been sharing with Maggie Valley visitors for years now.

The ladies’ number one pick for kids in the summer – Sliding Rock.

Make sure to stop by and introduce yourselves to Jena and Nancy and explore the many resources of the Maggie Valley Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center.

Small town Maggie with a population of around 800 year round residents offers the punch of big tourists areas without the congestion.

Looking for the ideal vacation spot? Asking yourself what Maggie Valley has to offer?

How about minutes away from:

the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
the Blue Ridge Parkway,
the Pisgah National Forest,
the Elk of Cataloochee.

Don’t forget trout fishing in the Mountain Heritage Trout Waters. Check out a map of the actual fishing areas in Maggie.

Move away from the naturalist’s pursuits with the following:

Antiquing around Maggie and Waynesville.
Golfing at the lovely Maggie Valley Club or Lake Junaluska Golf Course just to name a couple of courses.
Great live productions at Eaglenest.

For a great way to check out all the details please go to maggievalley.org . Please stay with us at Mystic Mountain Cabin so you can be where the action is.

On your next visit to Asheville, you will want to add the Grove Park Inn on to your list of not to be missed activities. You’ll find this grand old inn surrounded by a neighborhood of wonderful Arts and Crafts style homes. Opening in 1913, the spectacular structure of granite boulders is unique to the area.

Upon your arrival, you have options. You could just take a leisurely stroll through the lobby known as the Great Hall. Check out the 24 foot ceilings and the two 14 foot fireplaces. Then, you can explore the public areas of the inn which will lead you to some wonderful gift shops that display original arts and crafts by local artisans. But, I believe when weather permits you should splurge on lunch out on the Sunset Terrace, a casual dining experience. Along with a charming setting and great service, the menu provides a wide variety of excellent choices.

Planning a trip to Maggie Valley or the surrounding area, you will want to have an accurate impression of the local weather in order to pack appropriately. A fun and reliable site, Ray’s Weather Center, does more than provide an accurate weather forecast of each county in Western North Carolina. It also provides wonderful photos and local conversation. You will find drop down menus devoted to outdoor activities like birding and wildflower photography.

Links to webcams and a road conditions site along with an online almanac helps take the mystery out of packing for your visit to Maggie Valley and the surrounding area.

Cataloochee Ski Area has much to offer. Snow making equipment in Maggie Valley, NC allowed for a 133 day ski season in 2008. Essentially, the computer test every element of the weather that creates the optimum climate for snow. By taking the human decision making out of the equation, the snow produced by 90 snow making machines is consistent and reliable. In 2008, 100,000 skiers took to the slopes at Cataloochee.

Covering over 45 acres with 16 trails, Cataloochee visitors will find two black diamonds, one with a 740 foot vertical drop. With 4 lifts, the skiing is easy at Cataloochee. Check it out for yourself.

Although cold weather dominates the days and nights in Maggie Valley and the surrounding area through January and February, you can still find plenty to do in this mountain friendly place.

In the Snow
Cataloochee Ski Area is still in high gear and should continue making snow through March. Cataloochee offers a FREE beginner lesson with all Cataloochee rentals any non-holiday Monday through Thursday, all season long!! This free lesson is for 1 1/2 hours and you should be present 30 minutes prior to your chosen lesson time to sign up! Lesson times run 9:30, 11:30, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30 and 7:15pm. No excuses. Get out there and give it a try.

Looking for a tamer way to enjoy the snow. Check out Tube World. The experts at Cataloochee Ski Area know how to keep the snow in shape for a perfect tubing experience. Because of the carpet lift that takes you back to the top of the run, you get that much more time to spend tubing. With a dedicated Wee Bowl Snowplay area even the tots can enjoy the snow. Tube World will keep you in the snow from the middle of December to the first of March.

As of October 28, 2009 a rock slide on Route 40 has restricted access to Big Creek Trail. Until the road is repaired, this particular hike should not be attempted. If you are planning a vacation in Haywood County, there are many alternative routes to Haywood County when coming from the West. Haywood County Tourism Department provides detailed alternative routes on their website.

A great place for a picnic and in the summer a swim in the creek plan to spend at least a few hours at the trail head to Mouse Branch Falls . You’ll find a few picnic tables and barbecue grills along the riverbank. With a clean relief station close by, it is easy to make a day of it.

If you just have time for the hike, you will find that it is an easy flat trail. Approximately 1.7 miles into the hike you will arrive at Midnight Hole which is a great place to take a break. Our guide book suggested that some people swim in this big pool. We were happy just navigating down to the water’s edge to enjoy the refreshing coolness of the water.

Just another .3 of a mile down the trail you will arrive at Mouse Branch Falls For novice hikers this hike provides an easy walk and wonderful sights and sounds.

It is easy to find the trail head for Mouse Branch Falls on Big Creek Trail from Maggie Valley. The 40 minute ride takes you west on I-40 24 miles into Tennessee to exit 447. Then you double back on I-40 going East to exit 451 toward Waterville Road. From this point you are only 4 miles from the parking lot for the trail head. Stay at our cabin Mystic Mountain for convenience.

TIPS
1. Book in advance as availability is limited.
2. Mention the Scrapbookin’ Getaway to receive your free gifts from Mystic Mountain and Haywood County Tourism.
3. Decide in advance if you want to schedule a crop at Pretty Crafty.

I wanna scrapbook but can’t find the time. Check out the Scrapbookin’ Getaway for you and your girlfriends at Mystic Mountain Cabin in Maggie Valley, a gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains. At Mystic Mountain, you will find an assortment of cropping tools, idea books, and how-to DVD’s. Plus as a member of the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority , Mystic Mountain will provide you and your friends with a wonderful Spa Gift with a retail value of $115 from HCTDA.

When you arrive, you will be treated to a Welcome bag with goodies for your first morning at the cabin. You also will find one of a kind scrapbooking gifts in your Scrapbookin’ Getaway Gift Bag along with a $40 gift certificate to Pretty Crafty, a wonderful scrapbooking supply store. Scrapbook uninterrupted from morning to night while you spend quality time with your girlfriends.

At a group rate of $174.83 per night (minimum of 3 nights) in a cabin that sleeps up to 6, you receive lodging, the spa gift, the scrapbooking gift and the $40 Pretty Crafty gift certificate. With 6 girlfriends splitting the cost, you could finally find the time to get all the scrapbooking done that you want for as little as $30 per girlfriend per night. Limited availability. Go to Mystic Mountain Cabin to check availability and book your Girlfriend Getaway now.

Mark, the dedicated jogger in our home state of Florida, replaces jogging with ambitious hiking when we vacation in Maggie. He found this wonderful hike right off of Creekside Drive where Mystic Mountain Cabin is located.

The hike starts out at the driveway going up Creekside, this is a steep incline, up to Saddle. Once you take a right turn onto Saddle, the level of difficulty eases back. You can enjoy long range views of the valley along Johnathan Creek as you follow a dirt road through Killian Knob. As the trail winds back down to the lower elevation, you end up at a spot where a stream tumbles and rumbles down the mountainside. At the top of a wooden stairway that runs along the stream stands a great little deck with benches. When you continue on down past the stream, you arrive back at Country Club Drive which wraps you back to Riddle Cove Road and back to Creekside. This wonderful little loop takes a minimum of 45 minutes, longer if you explore the stream.

Once you get into the Maggie Valley neighborhood of Creekside you need to go no further. The homes of Creekside sit in the holler or hollow of Killian Knob . Mystic Mountain Cabin located at an elevation of 3,300 feet provides a great starting point for hikes in, around, and to the top of the knob.

Let the Hike Begin

From the base of the driveway, you have several hikes to choose from. The most ambitious of these, the hike to the top, takes you from an elevation of 3,300 feet to 3,900 feet. Because of the elevation change the hike alternates between moderate and strenuous. The hike takes around 60 minutes. Since it originates from the house, if you are a novice hiker, you can gradually build up to completing the hike over a series of days. Or if you really aren’t a hiker, you can just hop in your car and drive the approximately half a mile to the top. It is paved most of the way. Whether you drive or walk, it is well worth the effort.