Let’s take a trip! And let’s stay within the region we love most—the beautiful southern Appalachians. Here, courtesy of Blue Ridge Country’s loyal, knowledgeable and enthusiastic readers, are 35 places to consider for your next getaway.
Courtesy of Rock City
Rock City’s Lovers Leap is one of five things not to miss in Walker County, Georgia.
About This Story: Our coverage area—the mountain regions of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Kentucky—is home to more great places to visit than you could shake the proverbial stick at. The process of finding the 35 destinations presented here began with U.S. Travel Association data (for West Virginia, a Dean Runyan Associates study) assessing the increase in travel spending—2017 over 2016—in all geographically relevant counties and cities in each state. We then determined the top eight in that realm for each state, listed them alphabetically, and offered online voting for our readers, toward creating the top-five lists presented here. The data affirmed increased visitorship to each; the reader input—voting for up to three destinations per state—narrowed those lists to voters’ favorite/hope-to-visit destinations. Reader-poll voting took place between February 20 and April 7, 2019. Our thanks to all who took part.
Destinations in each state are listed in order of vote totals. For more details on each destination – including our editors' picks for 175 can't miss attractions and reasons to visit – subscribe now to get the July/August 2019 issue as your first copy. Thank you!
Virginia
1. Floyd County (Floyd, Willis)
2. Roanoke County (and the cities of Roanoke and Salem)
3. Montgomery County (Blacksburg, Christiansburg)
4. Albemarle County (and the city of Charlottesville)
5. Culpeper County (Culpeper, Rapidan)
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North Carolina
1. Buncombe County (Asheville, Black Mountain)
2. Transylvania County (Brevard, Pisgah Forest)
3. Avery County (Banner Elk, Beech Mountain, Seven Devils)
4. Henderson County (Hendersonville, Flat Rock)
5. Ashe County (West Jefferson, Lansing)
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Tennessee
1. Monroe County (Sweetwater, Tellico Plains)
2. Blount County (Maryville, Townsend)
3. Carter County (Roan Mountain, Elizabethton)
4. Claiborne County (Cumberland Gap, Harrogate)
5. Anderson County (Oak Ridge, Clinton)
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West Virginia
1. Greenbrier County (Lewisburg, White Sulphur Springs)
2. Mercer County (Bluefield, Princeton)
3. Pendleton County (Seneca Rocks)
4. Morgan County (Berkeley Springs, Cacapon, Paw Paw)
5. Fayette County (Fayetteville, Oak Hill)
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South Carolina
1. Pickens County (Clemson, Easley)
2. Greenville County (Greenville, Travelers Rest)
3. Oconee County (Seneca, Walhalla)
4. Spartanburg County (Spartanburg, Landrum)
5. Cherokee County (Blacksburg, Gaffney)
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Georgia
1. Rabun County (Clayton, Dillard, Tallulah Falls, Sky Valley)
2. White County (Helen, Cleveland)
3. Towns County (Hiawassee, Young Harris)
4. Walker County (Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain)
5. Catoosa County (Fort Oglethorpe, Ringgold)
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Kentucky
1. Letcher County (Whitesburg, Payne Gap)
2. Harlan County (Harlan, Evarts, Cumberland)
3. Perry County (Hazard, Vicco, Buckhorn)
4. Floyd County (Prestonsburg, Allen City)
5. Powell County (Slade, Bowen, Clay City)
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