Accommodations

The Blue Ridge Mountains Province offers vacation rental homes, condos, and cabins in Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, or North Carolina. Choose a vacation near any of the Blue Ridge Mountains's local attractions that offers quiet comfort while making the most of the beautiful mountain areas at affordably priced rates.

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Activities

While the Appalachian trail from Maine to Georgia draws Hikers from all over the world, you can choose to hike the trails throughout the Blue Ridge Mountains, fish or raft on the streams, or ski the nearby mountain slopes. In addition, in Gatlinburg many man-made attractions have been built in the area, including Dollywood, Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, and the Guinness World of Records Museum. Cherokee, North Carolina, is a Blue Ridge Mountain vacation destination with plenty of fun activities, including museums, amusement parks, a casino, hiking trails, and scenic drives.

Events

The Old Fiddlers’ Convention, held in August, has given Galax, VA the nickname the "Capital of Old-Time Mountain Music"  and attracts upwards of 20,000 visitors to watch many of the most renowned American folk, country and bluegrass performers. The Annual Cherokee Indian Fair in October on the Cherokee Indian Fair Grounds is a nearly century-old celebration, including artwork, crafts, agricultural items and traditional food items made by local artisans. Gatlinburg hosts the North American Country Music Association awards ceremony in early March, and celebrates Independence day with the Midnight Parade in the early morning hours of July 4.

Mountain Activities

There are excellent ski resorts in the Blue Ridge Mountains area of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia, but they do not have to be covered in snow to be enjoyed. While well known for the skiing and snowboarding, in the summer and fall they offer spectacular backgrounds for hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, camping, and fishing.

Golfing

The Gatlinburg Municipal Golf Course is open year-round with modern facilities and a fully equipped pro shop, and has been acclaimed as one of the most picturesque courses in America with breathtaking views of the Great Smoky Mountains. Cherokee offers two classic mountain golf courses, both offer challenging 18-hole play on scenic rolling hills with wide vistas. The excellent scenery of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the lovely weather combine with rolling fairways to make the Roanoke and Shenandoah Valleys exceptional golf experiences.

History

King George III included the Blue Ridge Mountains when he defined the western edge of the American Colonies in 1763, even though they were considered Cherokee land in Georgia and North Carolina, and the Monacan, Saponi and the Tutelo Indians occupied the northern region of the mountains.  The Indians and the Blue Ridge Mountains themselves formed a barrier to the westward expansion of the Colonies.  Following the Revolutionary War, the newly independent Americans began to slowly force their way to the west.

Small farms, logging and mining were the principal industries of the settlers in the Blue Ridge Mountains for over a century. Most of this early westward movement regarded the Mountains as a an area to get through to more desirable land. The few that settled in the Blue Ridge Region tended to be mostly poor Scotch and Irish immigrants, who formed close knit communities that did not welcome newcomers and who developed a distinct regional culture.