Want a new way to see Lake Fontana? Suitable for all ages, Smoky Mountain Jetboats (http://www.needmore.com/jetboats/) offers rides seven days a week that take roughly 35 to 40 minutes from start to finish. Highlights of the trip include a 65-foot waterfall, mountain views, getting splashed and a professional driver who "spins" the boat 180 degrees. Combination trips include a hike, picnic and swimming, with round-trip transportation available. Also suitable for kids at least 10 years old and weighing over 70 pounds, Nantahala Gorge Canopy Tours (http://www.adventureamericaziplinecanopytours.com/ngct.html) offers dramatic rides above the forest floor. Each participant gets a helmet, full body harness, gloves, trolley and tether lines to glide through multiple ecosystems.
No trip to Bryson City would be complete without a stop at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (http://www.gsmr.com/), which offers a 44-mile round-trip ride to the Nantahala Gorge. Highlights include the Horseshoe Curve, Fontana Lake Trestle, Tennessee River and the Nantahala River. Passengers can choose to ride in reconditioned coaches, crown coaches, club cars, dining cars, caboose or open-air cars ideal for picture taking. In October, "The Great Pumpkin Patch Express" celebrates Charles M. Schulz's classic story "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," while "The Polar Express" holiday train ride begins in November and operates until Christmas Eve.
Located a little more than 10 miles north of Bryson City is the Oconaluftee Indian Village (http://www.cherokee-nc.com/index.php?page=17). Highlights include regular tours by Cherokee guides as visitors step back into the 1760s. The village is open daily, and visitors can experience traditional medicine, interact with villagers to help hull canoes, make pottery and weave baskets, among other daily activities. The Village also hosts live reenactments and arts and crafts classes for children at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Spend a day at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (http://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm), which is the nation's most-visited national park. The area features sixteen peaks over 6,000 feet and more than a half-million acres of wilderness. Clingmans Dome -- the highest point in the Smokies -- and Cade's Cove are two of the most popular landmarks. Other areas to visit include Deep Creek, Lakeview Drive (known as the "Road to Nowhere"), Mountain Farm Museum, Mingus Mill, Smokemont and Cataloochee Valley. Also near Bryson City, be sure to check out Fontana Dam, which at 480 feet high is the tallest dam in the eastern United States.
