So as you may or may not have noticed I was gone most of last week from SunSpots Asheville. The fam and I took a trip to Cataloochee Valley up near Maggie Valley, NC in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It’s only about an hour and 15 minutes from SunSpots Asheville. If any of you voice talent are interested in coming to the area it makes a great day trip or overnight excursion from Asheville.

They are trying to reintroduce elk to the region and have an experimental herd there. I have posted a few pics of the elk here and on my facebook page. You basically drive through the valley at dawn or a couple of hours before sunset and the elk are feeding near the side of the road. It gets pretty crowded on the weekends so the best time to go is during the week. It really gets busy in the Fall when the elk begin the rut. It’s not uncommon to see a couple of bull elk lock horns over the one they love during the fall season. We were even lucky enough to see a bear with 2 cubs, although we heard tell of another bear sighting of a mama with 4 cubs. There is a campground located in the valley about 10 miles from the nearest highway. They have restrooms, but the nearest store is about 35 minutes away over a rough dirt road with barely enough room for 2 lanes. We were lucky enough to get one of the 6 or 7 creek side campsites. The fishing was slow. My oldest son caught a brown trout and I lost 2. From the stories being told by the other fisherman at the campground it was a tough week for everyone. There was even an old pro there who had been fly fishing for 30 years and he only caught 1 fish in 4 days. Overall we spent 5 days hiking, fishing, checking out historical sites, wildlife viewing and just plain chillaxin. Very refreshing. Anywho back to the real world!!! Enjoy the pics! -Bryan