Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2014 - 28

smooth sailing

Imagine the quiet of soaring over the Hiwassee
River thousands of feet above the air in a glider.
Chilhowee Gliderport (423-338-2000/ chilhowee.
com) near Chattanooga offers rides with commercial pilots.
Eat: Big River Grille & Brewing Works,
Chattanooga (423-267-2739/ bigrivergrille.com)
cooks fresh-from-scratch and brews several kinds
of beer.
Stay: Stone Fort Inn, Chattanooga
(855-734-7829/ stonefortinn.com).

get muddy

Chilhowee Gliderport

Dirt bikes, mountain bikes and ATVs are some of
the craft that mud lovers pilot through the 300plus miles of trails at WindRock Park (865-4353492/ windrockpark.com) in Oliver Springs.
Eat and Stay: Bring your own food and stay at
the park campground in tents or cabins.
RVs accommodated.

Some of the quietest
flying you'll ever do is
inside a glider piloted by
professionals at
Chilhowee Gliderport.

railroad track inside state parkland. Bikers, hikers,
and equestrians access it in Grayson, Carroll,
Wythe and Pulaski counties.
Eat: Bogey's, Galax (276-601-2536/
bogeysgalax.com).
Stay: New River Trail Inn, Fries
(276-744-3640/ newrivertrailinn.com).
Tennessee

Ride shotgun

Moonshiners once trolled the back roads that
Wildwater Pigeon in Hartford (866-319-8870/
wildwaterrafting.com) undertakes on two-hour
Jeep tours into and above the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park. Tours with different
themes may include creek crossings and encounters
with bears.
Eat: Bean Trees Café, Hartford (423-487-2187)
Stay: Mountain Shadows Log Home Resort,
Gatlinburg (877-653-9429/ mtnshadows.com).
28 | BlueRidgeCountry.com

go wild

Hand-feed red pandas and meet the meerkat mob
during Chattanooga Zoo's WILD Encounters tours
(423-643-5703/ chattzoo.org).
Stay: The Mayor's Mansion Inn,
(423-265-5000/ mayorsmansioninn.com) in
Chattanooga's Fort Wood Historic District serves
three-course breakfasts.
Eat: 212 Market Restaurant, Chattanooga (423265-1212/ 212market.com).

Pick 'em

In Cosby, Baxter's Orchard (865-217-2281) has
just about any kind of apple you'd want to pick.
Eat: Carvers Orchard & Apple House
Restaurant, Cosby (423-487-2710) for the chicken
potpie and substantial breakfasts.
Stay: Creekwalk Inn, Cosby (423-487-4000/
whisperwoodretreat.com) is a rustic, country retreat.

go below

Worley's Cave near Elizabethton is a seven milelong series of rooms and passages. River and Earth
Adventures (866-411-7238/ raftcavehike.com)
provides gear and guides to explore places like the
Hobbit's Hallway and Fairy's Ballroom.

http://www.chilhowee.com http://www.chilhowee.com http://www.bigrivergrille.com http://www.stonefortinn.com http://www.windrockpark.com http://www.chattzoo.org http://www.mayorsmansioninn.com http://www.212market.com http://www.bogeysgalax.com http://www.newrivertrailinn.com http://www.whisperwoodretreat.com http://www.wildwaterrafting.com http://www.raftcavehike.com http://www.mtnshadows.com http://www.BlueRidgeCountry.com

Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2014

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