Travel
“Above all, your presence shows that the outside world cares”
October 23, 2024
It’s been nearly a month since Hurricane Helene’s torrent of water, mud, and wind reshaped the Western North Carolina landscape, leaving behind unprecedented devastation. Some communities, including Swannanoa, Chimney Rock, Lake Lure, and Asheville’s River Arts District and Biltmore Village, are months and years from any return to normalcy. But today, a growing number of towns in the region, especially those at higher elevations (like Highlands, Cashiers, and Blowing Rock) and lower elevations (like Bryson City and Murphy, which are located southwest of Buncombe County and were spared the worst of Helene’s wrath), are open and asking travelers to “visit thoughtfully,” especially as fall returns.
In a typical year, a slight chill in the air would signal a massive influx of visitors—and money—to the area. According to the tourism pros at Visit North Carolina, fall travel to the mountain region generates around $2.1 billion in spending. “Missing that income and engagement can be devastating to our local, family-owned businesses,” says Annie Colquitt, co-owner of Maggie Valley’s Cataloochee Ranch and the Swag in Waynesville, both now open. So if you’re looking for a seasonal escape and a way to do some good with your dollar, consider traveling to a Western North Carolina community that is equipped to welcome visitors. These resilient mountain towns are deeply interconnected, and supporting one creates a ripple effect that reaches even those destinations that aren’t prepared to host travelers (yet).
Here’s how you can responsibly travel to and within the recovering region.
The unique geography of Western North Carolina—a maze of rivers and streams, hollers and valleys, mountaintops and ridgelines—meant communities mere miles apart experienced vastly different levels of flooding and storm damage. To help visitors discern which areas should be avoided and which are once again open to tourists, the folks at Visit North Carolina have created an interactive map. Counties and towns are coded red (closed), yellow (open with limitations), and green (open), with links to local websites for more info. “At this point the map is updated hourly,” says Scott Peacock, the marketing director for Visit North Carolina.
“If a town is open…go!,” pleads Jason Reeves, owner of the Outpost Inn in Cashiers and the Highlander Mountain House in Highlands, both of which are welcoming guests. “Your patronage can mean life or death to local small businesses.” Peacock encourages visitors to engage with shop owners, restaurant workers, hotel staffers, and even residents in these areas: “Ask them how you can best contribute to their recovery efforts, whether through donations or even volunteering. Generosity goes a long way, too. Tipping and shopping locally helps sustain these small businesses. Above all, your presence shows that the outside world cares.”
Towns that are currently open include: Andrews, Blowing Rock, Boone, Bryson City, Cashiers, Cherokee, Cullowhee, Dillsboro, Fontana, Franklin, Hayesville, Highlands, Maggie Valley, Murphy, Nanatahala, Robbinsville, Saluda, Sapphire, Scaly Mountain, Sylva, Waynesville, and Weaverville, among others. (See the interactive map for the latest updates.)
Despite the region’s soft reopening, it’s vital to plan ahead and check for closures along your route before hitting the road. “Don’t just plug your destination into Google Maps and go,” Peacock says. While the app will show many of the state road closures, in some cases it has inadvertently directed travelers to unsafe backcountry routes. Instead, Peacock advocates using the map at DriveNC.gov, which provides the most accurate status of roads in the area, including alternate routes around the large blocked sections of I-40 and I-26. Note: As of Tuesday, October 22, the entire North Carolina stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway remained closed.
Small businesses, family-run restaurants, artists, and makers are the economic heartbeat of the region, and they fill storefronts along bustling main streets from Saluda and Hendersonville to Boone and Blowing Rock. Across the region, these thoroughfares have been among the first places to reopen, and the businesses they house have been busy donating manpower, equipment, accommodations, and funds to the ongoing recovery. Now it’s our turn to show them love. “Come start your Christmas shopping early,” says Tracy Brown, executive director of the Blowing Rock Tourism Authority. “But stick to the main hubs. Don’t venture farther out into areas that are still in major cleanup mode.”
“Peak leaf season is special every year, but this one means even more,” says Reeves, who expects fall color around Highlands and Cashiers to crest in the next two weeks or so. But there are big elevation swings in the southwestern portion of Western North Carolina, and at lower altitudes towards the Smokies, the leaves are just beginning to change, and peak leaf peeping season should run well into November. Bookmark this link for weekly color reports.
Great Smoky Mountain National Park is open to visitors. The majority of the park is situated far enough west that it avoided the worst of Helene’s damage, though areas around Cataloochee Valley, Big Creek, and Balsam Mountain remain closed. To the east, swaths of the Nantahala National Forest are open for exploration, and the folks at Bryson City’s acclaimed Nantahala Outdoor Center are once again able to get paddlers out on the Nantahala River. In ski country, Beech Mountain Ski Resort is preparing to kick off their winter season as usual on Friday, November 29.
The city continues to make slow progress towards recovery and is beginning to reopen in stages and small pockets, including areas around downtown, but many neighborhoods and surrounding communities have a much longer road to recovery. To that end, the team at Explore Asheville has launched the Love Asheville From Afar website, “a centralized space where people can buy local products, purchase gift cards, and make direct donations to area businesses,” says Explore Asheville CEO Vic Isley.
Elizabeth Hutchison Hicklin is a Garden & Gun contributing editor and a full-time freelance writer covering hospitality and travel, arts and culture, and design. An obsessive reader and a wannabe baker, she recently left Nashville to return home to Charleston, South Carolina, where she lives with her husband, their twins, and an irrepressible golden retriever.