80th birthday reunion in the Smoky or Blue Ridge Mountains
 

Hi all:
My mom is turning eighty next year and we are looking for a rustic, beautiful ranch or hotel where we (8 siblings, 8 spouses and 24! grandchildren) can celebrate the weekend of her birthday. Our ideal is Cataloochee Ranch, but they don't look like they have any availability for the weekend we need (October 8). Do any of you travel pros have ideas of where we could stay? We are looking for simple accomodations with opportunities for riding, hiking etc. Thanks so much for any and all ideas.

Anna

Have you thought about the Peaks of Otter - they have a great hotel there. Their website there is

http://www.peaksofotter.com/

It's at Blue Ridge - my parents loved it and there is a lot of hiking!

Hi and thanks for pointing me toward The Peaks of Otter. The scenery and location are perfect but we are hoping for something a little more rustic (no tvs and phones in the room!). Thank you . Anna

Anna, I am new in the Asheville/Hendersonville area so I don't have any personal experiences but someone who we met when hiking told us about Pisgah View Ranch. Suppose to be rustic with hiking trails, horseback riding, fishing and it is only 20 miles from Asheville.
www.pisgahviewranch.com

Hi. My family had a wonderful trip to the Asheville, NC area last fall. We stayed in a wonderful cabin at Mountain Springs Cabins just outside of Asheville. There are over a dozen lovely, clean cabins with kitchens in a gorgeous setting with a stream running behind them. The Blue Ridge Parkway is just minutes away, giving you areas to hike. Our stay there was wonderful. Here is the website: www.mtnsprings.com

I'd strongly recommend Clear Creek Ranch, just south of Burnsville, north of the Blue Ridge Parkway, east of Mount Mitchell, and about an hour northeast of Asheville. Rex and Aileen are awesome hosts, the scenery is jaw-droppingly beautiful, the food is good, the bar is full, and there are no TVs and telephones in the room. There are plenty of activities for young and old alike, too.

It is a tremendous location for a reunion.

Ditto for Clear Creek Ranch. I have been there twice and it is one of my favorite places on Earth. The people there couldn't be nicer. It would be a great place for a reunion. My daughter and I were there for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago and everyone there treated us like family.

My family had a very unpleasant experience during our stay at Clear Creek Ranch. We found hosts to be unhelpful with arrangin any activities and they became rude after we had a dinner out somewhere else.

My family had a very unpleasant experience during our stay at Clear Creek Ranch. We found hosts to be unhelpful with arranging any activities and they became rude after we had a dinner out somewhere else.

Consider:

www.SaludaInn.com

I had dinner there last week w/ a friend of mine from high school who just moved back to the Carolinas after years in NY. The Inn is available to be rented in it's entirity. 18 bedrooms and 11 baths. It's a gorgeous old home, but rustic in it's way. Look at the photos on the website, I can't do it justice.

Saluda is a small quaint town right on your way up the Blue Ridge Escarpment, near Flat Rock & Hendersonville, and about 30 min from Asheville, NC.

SHould you call to inquire, tell the Innkeeper that Danna said Hi.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I guess the problem with having an ideal in mind (Cataloochee) is that nothing else seems to quite measure up to the combination of beautiful setting, activities, cabin accomodations etc. Thanks again for all the ideas.

Look into High Hampton Inn in Cashiers. It is rustic and large groups have the opportunity to stay in cottages or the main inn.