September 2025 - South of the Smokies Special

Four riders gathered midday on a beautiful sunny fall Friday to begin a four-day tour of the beautiful riding area south of the Smokey Mountains.  Larry, BobK, Mel and Dave (yes, that one, live from the N Carolina coast!) met in Ball Ground and headed to McCaysville the fast way, then took a brief respite at Buck Bald Brewing in Copperhill on the TN state line.  From there it was easy going west along the Ocoee river, then north thru Reliance to the Cherohala Mountain Trails Campground just west of Tellico Plains.  We call it the “back way to Tellico” and simply can’t overrate what a beautiful ride along one of TN’s most twisty, yet empty, back roads.  As Dave said… more twisties than he’s seen in the prior year!  After setting up tents at CMTC, the guys rode the few miles into Tellico Plains for dinner at Senor Lopez and enjoyed an outstanding Mexican dinner.  Then back to CMTC and a short campfire before bed.

Saturday arrived with the promise of completely clear skies and beautiful riding.  They began the infamous Cherohala Skyway and headed to Bald River Falls.  The Forest Service recently completed a new bridge to replace the previous bridge which forced falls viewers onto the same road space as vehicles.  All agreed the new setup which separates viewing from traffic is absolutely top notch, as well as the extensive road improvements and repaving of the six miles leading to the falls.  This had to cost a bundle - thank your politicians.  

At the falls, the two riders on adventure bikes, Larry and Dave, separated and rode the North River Road forest service along the stunning Bald River, then up to the Skyway (almost a mile high!) while Bob and Mel backtracked to the Skyway on pavement, then continued on the Skyway to our meetup point, both arriving within 5 minutes of each other – a rare “separation and meetup” without a hitch!  Each group thought they had the better views.  

They continued to Robbinsville (via an extensive backroads short cut that… didn’t!) and lunched at an old favorite meat-and-three, Lynn’s Place, while downtown was hopping with a live music festival – timing is everything!  From there they beat the heat by riding through the always-shady Nantahala Gorge and rested at the Nantahala Outdoor Center right on the riverbank.  Then on to their next home-for-the-night, the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge, probably one of the nicest motorcycle-specific resorts east of the Mississippi.  Since our day’s mileage was light, we were able to throw up tents and have time to catch most of the UGA football game on the big screen in air conditioning before dinner - sweet! Sadly, we were four of only about 15 guests on a pretty fall weekend which might speak to our overall motorcycling demographics.  I’ll return (but I’ll remember to reserve meals in advance – we ate that night only due to our proprietor’s pity and our good looks.)

Sunday morning, we enjoyed a very good breakfast at Iron Horse, then headed in a large counterclockwise circle… SE toward Highlands, then E toward Cashiers, then N to Balsam Mountain where we joined the Blue Ridge Parkway NW to our last home-for-the-night, Mile High Campground.  We lunched at a nice spot in Cashiers, Whiteside Brewing, and recommend them - great food and beer-to-go for the evening.  

Our destination, Mile High campground, is a remote and nearly-primitive campground off the BRP on Indian land bordering the Smokies.  As their name might suggest, the views were superb! Sometimes in the summer the elk congregate at this high elevation, but alas, none were seen.  Since services were unavailable, we broke out campstoves and fended for ourselves for dinner, with surprisingly good results.  As evening wore on, a front pushed through and cool winds picked up significantly.  We started to wonder if we’d be sleeping in “all we brought”, but were pleasantly surprised come morning to find calm winds and warmer temps than the prior evening and, although cloudy, no rain in the forecast.  

As we finished our last 10 miles of BRP heading to Cherokee, we enjoyed five tunnels and reveled in some of the prettiest scenery of the entire trip.  Then, with only one mile to go before reaching Cherokee and the parkway terminus, we passed by a group of 3-4 elk feeding along the left (and wall-like) side of the road.  It was a bit scary because if they’d have bolted, their only path was across the road in front of us.  Given that we were looking UP at those giants, there’s no doubt who’d have won that contest.  Luckily, we got our speeds down and they stayed put.  Apparently, we weren’t the first motorcyclists they’d ever seen.  

That morning’s breakfasts were “Waffle House specials” in Cherokee.  After we’d traveled south from Cherokee, Dave and Mel peeled off and headed to Mistletoe State Park on the shores of Lake Hartwell northwest of Augusta for a fourth night, setting Mel up for an easy trip home to Athens the next morning and positioning Dave for his trek back to the Wilmington area.  They report their weather was good, the lake views great, and their campfire and satellite-watching even better!  They recommend keeping state parks on your list for travel options.  

Overall, the group had a blast.  Great riding and even better fellowship – what more could you ask?

Approximate Mileages for the Georgia crew:  148, 150, 168, 196 for a trip total of 662
And Dave… a bit more than DOUBLE that total!  Many thanks, Dave, for making the effort to join us for this one.  It was great to ride with you again.