These cozy mountain destinations will help you kick the winter blues and stay active when the weather turns cold.
Courtesy of The Grand Bohemian Lodge
The Grand Bohemian Lodge welcomes visitors to Greenville, South Carolina.
When the weather turns frigid, nothing staves off the winter blues like a scenery-packed trip to a swanky inn or boutique hotel in a great Blue Ridge Mountain town. Turn the tide on cabin fever with soaring roadside overlooks, easy walks to mountain vistas and delicious food and drink at local hotspots.
Planning the perfect getaway is often easier said than done. Here, we take away the guesswork to bring you an inside guide to destination-worthy stay spots and breezy adventures in seven amazing Blue Ridge communities.
Berkeley Springs, West Virginia
Courtesy of West Virginia Tourism
The Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, Roman bathhouse offers heated pleasure.
Stay: Six-thousand-acre Cacapon Resort State Park sits just 10 miles south of downtown and is home to a 120-room lodge and fleet of revitalized Civilian Conservation Corps-era log cabins. The latter blend modern must-haves like luxe mattresses and wi-fi with rustic touches like hand-hewn log beams, wormy chestnut plank floors, working vernacular stone hearths and loft bedrooms. wvstateparks.com/cacapon-resort-state-park
Play: Enjoy a wintry ramble around CRSP’s wooded six-acre lake. Follow with a quick drive to the Cacapon Mountain Radio Tower parking lot and follow the Overlook Trail to a beautiful, 2,600-foot eastward panorama of Warm Spring Ridge.
Next, indulge in a relaxing soak downtown in Berkeley Springs State Park’s 200-year-old, grand Federal-style Roman bathhouse. Private chambers hold sunken, spring-fed tile baths filled with water that’s heated from 74 to a steamy 102 degrees.
Eat/Drink: Stop at Cacapon Mountain Brewery for delicious craft beers brewed with famed local mineral spring water in a renovated turn-of-the-century textiles mill. cacaponbrewing.com
Find eclectic, upscale farm-to-table comfort cuisine a few blocks away at Lot 12 Public House in a thoughtfully overhauled 1913 Victorian home. Expect creative but familiar Southern-style entrees like roasted butternut squash and mascarpone risotto cakes with rosemary fried apples, pumpkin coulis and toasted almonds. lot12.com
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Courtesy of West Virginia State Parks
West Virginia’s Cacapon Resort State Park has a 120-room lodge.
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Courtesy of Lot 12 Public House
Lot 12 serves Southern fare
Warm Springs, Virginia
Courtesy of The Omni Homestead Resort & Spa
The Warm Spring pool was designed by Thomas Jefferson
Stay: Book a stay in one of the South’s most iconic historic hotels at the Omni Homestead Resort, located in nearby Hot Springs. Founded in 1766, the Colonial Revival-style national historic landmark is nestled into a small, bucolic valley surrounded by Allegheny Mountains and will celebrate its 260th anniversary in 2026. Grand, well-equipped lodgings are complemented by museum-like lobbies and corridors that showcase the inn’s status as a destination for famed personages like George Washington. omnihotels.com/hotels/homestead-virginia
Play: The 9,000-acre Warm Springs Mountain Preserve sits 8 miles from the hotel — and is part of a 77,000-acre tract of continuous national forest. Park in the paved lot off Mountain Valley Road then follow a namesake 1.2-mile trail to Dan Ingalls Overlook for 3,000-foot eastward views of Shenandoah Mountain and the Calfpasture River Valley.
Take a rejuvenating soak on the way back in a hot springs bathhouse that dates to the 18th century and was originally designed by Thomas Jefferson. The octagonal pools have gorgeous gravel bottoms, wooden walls, domed ceilings and are fed by 98-degree natural mineral springs water.
Eat/Drink: Bacova Beer Co. offers tasty craft brews and barbeque-centric pub fare in a renovated, turn-of-the-century Victorian warehouse within walking distance of the Homestead. bacovabeer.com
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Courtesy of The Omni Homestead Resort & Spa
Virginia’s Omni Homestead dates to 1766.
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Courtesy of Waterwheel Restaurant at Gristmill Square
Bath County’s Waterwheel Restaurant has served since 1973.
Head north to dine at Waterwheel Restaurant in a marvelously reimagined, century-plus-old gristmill. The Bath County staple has been around since 1973, yet remains more relevant than ever. Menus are chock full of delights like a crisped duck confit salad with a whorl of tweezer-sculpted microgreens or a hearty, house-made chicken ratatouille with spicy Basque piperade sauce. waterwheelva.com
Corbin, Kentucky
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Adobe Stock
Moonbow days occur every month at Kentucky’s Cumberland Falls State Resort Park.
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Wrigley Taproom & Eatery Facebook
Wrigley Taproom is a locals’ favorite in Corbin, Kentucky.
Stay: What this tiny city on the outskirts of 5,600-acre Laurel River Lake lacks in discerning hotel options, it makes up for in awesome Airbnbs and VRBOs. The 312 Ramp & Camp Cabin, for instance, sits 3 miles from downtown at the end of a forested lane in the Daniel Boone National Forest’s Laurel Bridge Picnic Area. The miniature great room with wood-paneled cathedral ceilings and kitchenette is nice, but the short woodland walk to lakefront vistas is even better.
Play: An eastward cruise on U.S. 27 delivers you to the Daniel Boone National Forest and Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. Known as “The Niagara of the South,” the latter holds a 68-foot-tall, 125-foot-wide curtain waterfall surrounded by a bowl of high cliffs. Better yet, a paved walk leads from the visitor center to a stone platform with picturesque views.
Eat/Drink: Top off your adventure with pints or craft cocktails at dive-ish and locally beloved Wrigley Taproom and Eatery in the heart of downtown. thewrigley.com
Scale things up a block away with gourmet surf-n-turf at ambience-rich Seasons Restaurant. The eatery features a pair of lavishly decorated English Victorian-meets-Old South dining rooms and a wild lounge that feels like it walked out of “The Chronicles of Narnia.” Menus change frequently, trend Southern, but are studded with French inspiration like creamy wild mushroom porkchops with garlic-thyme sauce. instagram.com/seasonsrestaurant313
Knoxville, Tennessee
The 312 Ramp & Camp Cabin Facebook
312 Camp Cabin is a short walk from Laurel River Lake.
Stay: The 200,000-person city brims with authentic mountain culture — and the historic Oliver Hotel is the perfect basecamp for soaking it up. The 28-room boutique is housed in a downtown brick Victorian that dates to 1876 and once held a bakery. Visitors get chic and quirky lounges with custom chandeliers and light fixtures, and comfortable rooms with unique midcentury-esque design schemes, wet bars and nifty subway-tile bathrooms. oliverhospitality.com/oliver-hotel
Play: A beautiful, 30-mile ride south delivers you to the northern border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Look Rock Viewing Platform. Park by the lower overlook off the Foothills Parkway and follow a paved, near half-mile trail to superb 2,500-foot vistas of the Smokies, Tennessee River Valley and Happy Valley Ridge.
Eat/Drink: Sip craft cocktails in the hotel’s 19th-century-speakeasy-themed Peter Kern Library, which feels plucked from the pages of Oscar Wilde.
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The Oliver Hotel
The Oliver Hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee, is a 28-room boutique hotel.
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J.C. Holdway Facebook
J.C. Holdaway serves high-end Southern fare in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Walk a block down the street to J.C. Holdway, where former Blackberry Farm star chef, Joseph Lenn, gives Southern staples the international treatment and vice versa. Menus change daily and offer a blitzkrieg of culinary wonders like a plate of vibrant green ricotta ravioli with English peas, pickled turnips, basil pistou, edible flowers and Benton’s ham hock glaze. jcholdway.com
Bryson City, North Carolina
The Everett Hotel Bryson City FaceBook
The Everett Hotel dates to 1908 and overlooks the Tuckasegee River in Bryson City, North Carolina.
Stay: The Everett Hotel sits in the heart of town in a thoughtfully restored, three-story red brick bank building that dates to 1908. It overlooks the scenic Tuckasegee River and is surrounded by a mind-bending horizon of peaks in the Nantahala National Forest and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The 10-room boutique exudes luxe but rugged frontier charm and boasts spacious, lavishly outfitted suites, a first-floor wine bar and stellar rooftop lounge. theeveretthotel.com
Play: Locate the Blue Ridge Parkway’s southern terminus 12 miles from the hotel in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Qualla Boundary. Cruise through the charming little town, then hit a quintet of overlooks within 25 miles for stupendous views of the Boundary and Smokies.
Follow with a breezy, quarter-mile walk to Mingo Falls. Park in the namesake lot off Big Cove Road, then pursue the creek through 2,800-foot-high rhododendron thickets to a gushing, 120-foot cascade in the woods.
Eat/Drink: Dine in the Everett’s exquisite, 28-seat Bistro. Here you get a Western saloon-meets-Roaring Twenties speakeasy atmosphere and chef-driven takes on Southern standards like creole shrimp and grits, or pan-seared rainbow trout with heirloom grains and local-grown veggies.
The Everett Hotel Bryson City FaceBook
In Bryson City, North Carolina, the Everett Hotel Bistro offers atmosphere and a chef-driven menu.
Pick from two dozen craft beers and ciders on tap at Bryson City Brewing in a sharply overhauled RC Cola Bottling plant that dates to 1924. A bar menu of mouthwatering smash burgers, smoked barbecue, wings and nachos rounds out the package. brysoncitybrewing.com
Blue Ridge, Georgia
Blue Ridge Scenic Railway
The Blue Ridge Scenic Railway rolls along the Toccoa River in North Georgia.
Stay: Book a secluded luxury cottage on the rural outskirts of the funky mountain town of Blue Ridge from Above The Rest Cabins. The company’s dozen-plus options blend woodsy charm with posh modern amenities like jacuzzi tubs, wraparound decks, granite countertops and working stone fireplaces. View-rich locations range from the shores of 3,290-acre Lake Blue Ridge, Toccoa River hillsides and 2,000-plus-foot ridgeline roosts. abovetherestcabins.com
Play: Take a two- or four- hour winter tour along the Toccoa River on the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway. Eye candy includes loads of rural farmland, near-ubiquitous views of the swift-moving mountain waterway and seemingly endless peaks in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest.
A breezy but wonderful mile-long hiking loop passes through 3,290-acre Lake Blue Ridge Recreation Area and brings magnificent views of undeveloped shorelines backed by a brigade of 2,000-foot peaks like Green Mountain and Hickey Knob.
Eat/Drink: Pair pints of regionally brewed beers or craft cocktails with lakefront views about 2 miles from downtown at the fun and festive Boat Dock Bar & Grill. lakeblueridgemarina.com/boat-dock-bar-grill
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Above the Rest Cabin
Not far from Blue Ridge, Georgia, Above the Rest Cabins offer modern amenities in a wooded setting along Lake Blue Ridge and the Toccoa River.
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Black Sheep Restaurant
Blue Ridge, Georgia’s Black Sheep Restaurant offers savory locavore fare.
Head to Main Street’s Black Sheep Restaurant for savory, locavore deliciousness in a radically updated historic Craftsman home. Dine in a heated glass pavilion beneath the sprawling limbs of a 200-year-old oak while feasting on New American entrees like balsamic-glazed lamb lollipop chops served in a pool of red wine reduction and drizzled with garlic-shallot aioli. blacksheepblueridge.com
Greenville, South Carolina
Scoundrel
Greenville, South Carolina’s Scoundrel brings a New American approach to French cuisine.
Stay: The Grand Bohemian Lodge offers stately downtown comfort in a setting that feels like an authentic Old World mountain château. Enter through a majestic lobby with soaring honeycombed ceilings, stone archways and a massive vernacular rock double-fireplace. Large rooms are equipped with primo mattresses, marble tables, opulent tile showers and floor-to-ceiling windows with views of lovely Reedy River Park. kesslercollection.com/bohemian-greenville
Play: Take an automotive jaunt through the Palmetto State countryside on the famed Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway to jaw-dropping, 360-degree views of Headwaters State Forest from the Sassafras Mountain Observation Tower. A quarter-or-so-mile walk from the parking area carries you to a platform with unsullied, 3,500-foot panoramas of seemingly endless peaks in three states.
Eat/Drink: Relax at the marble bar or on a leather sofa for divine small plates and fine wines, whiskies or bourbons at the hotel’s cigar-style lounge, Spirit & Bower.
Greenville native Joe Cash dishes up celebrated world-class eats at nearby Scoundrel on Main Street. The restaurant’s accessible New American approach to French fine-dining classics like a roasted half chicken with gnocchi Parisienne and mustard sauce have won it a devoted following — and a spot on the James Beard Foundation’s 2024 Best New Restaurant list. scoundrelgvl.com
Upcountry South Carolina
South Carolina’s Sassafras Mountain Observation Tower offers great views.
The story above first appeared in our November / December 2025 issue. For more like it subscribe today or log in with your active BRC+ Membership. Thank you for your support!