Asheville North Carolina

My wife and I are very passionate about camping, craft beers, exploring and music. We are heading to Asheville North Carolina to check out the music scene. Of course along the way we want to camp and explore, checking out the sights and scenery. We plan on camping in National Forest land due to being free and of course we are hermits anyway. I have a 2016 Offroad. Nothing fancy. I do have dakars, 887’s and 5100 billies. We have a RTT to live out of. No armor though. We have been North and West, but never south below Maryland. Sooo, here is what we need from you experts.
Recommendations on must see spots between my home in PA to Asheville.
Any great breweries along the way.
Remote camping areas that we can drive to in any National Forest along the way.
Music. It doesn’t matter what kind. Hidden venues outsiders like us don’t know about. We like everything except modern country. “Tractor rap”. We are leaving late September early October for a week.
Thanks in advance.
Kirk

 

October is leaf peeping season in Asheville and things are apt to be a little crowded. The last week of September normally isn't too bad but things pick up as you move further into Fall.

If you're not in a hurry, taking Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park and connecting to the Blue Ridge Parkway is a pretty drive that will take you into Asheville. There are several National Park campgrounds along the way.

Pisgah is the closest National Forest to Asheville but dispersed camping is allowed only in designated sites. There are several developed campgrounds within the NF as shown on this link https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5368415.pdf The Lake Powhatan campground would be my recommendation for easy access to the Asheville night life. Another public campground that we enjoy in the Asheville area is Cataloochee, a NPS facility near exit 20 further west off I-40. This is a small and fairly remote cg with several sites along a creek and a large population of Elk. Kinda neat if you've never heard them bugling before. Reservations are required at Cataloochee and, due to the timing of your visit, strongly suggested for Lake Powhatan.

A couple of hours south and west of Asheville is Nantahala National Forest which has better dispersed camping options. We've found some nice spots along FS81 outside Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. The Cherohala Skyway runs nearby and will lead you into Tennessee and Cherokee National Forest which also has some opportunities. I'd suggest getting USFS maps for both of these NFs which will be helpful for finding backroads and campsites. Bald River Falls in Cherokee NF is worth the drive if you get that far over. Nantahala Outdoor Center offers several different whitewater rafting options if that's of any interest.

Google is your friend on finding music in this part of our state - example https://www.greatsmokies.com/free-music.html

Hope you and the missus enjoy your visit.

 

Thank you very much. Fantastic info! Anybody else?

 

Thank you very much. Fantastic info! Anybody else?

 

Asheville itself, which I am sure you know, is loaded with great breweries. If you don't take Skyline Drive down and you take 81 through Virginia, there are several good breweries along the way just a bit off the interstate. In Harrisonburg, VA you have Pale Fire and Three Notch'd which are both great. Further south you have Ballast Point's East Coast location in Dalesville, VA. Near Roanoke you have Parkway Brewing and several others.

Check out brewerymap.com and you can see breweries along your route.

 

check out Sierra Nevada when in Asheville!

Their duck fat fries are things i dream of still

https://sierranevada.com/brewery/north-carolina/taproom

 

The area is full of beautiful camping. As previously mentioned, Pisgah NF (about 30 mins south downtown Asheville) is a quick drive with plentiful roadside camping. Cherokee NF borders Pisgah on the west side in Tennessee and tends to be more remote than Pisgah, this also offers plentiful exploring opportunities. Do you want more tourist-y places or off the beaten path?

 

Awesome!

 

My wife loves Sierra Nevada. She has been in the beer distribution business for years. One of her favorites.

 

We definitely prefer remote areas over touristy spots. Don’t get me wrong, if we are near a “must see” location, sure, we’re checking it out. But, we would rather stay away from the general population.

 

this should help https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/western-north-carolina-tacomas.393516/

 

Thank you sir.

 

Highland brewing company

12 Old Charlotte Highway, Suite 200
Asheville, North Carolina 28803

Monday–Thursday 3–9 PM
Friday–Saturday 12–10 PM
Sunday 12–6 PM

 

Much obliged.

 

Take a look on this page http://outboundoverland.com/. They've mapped out their route and made it available for download. More specifically, the Allegheny and Shenadoah area should be somewhat along the way for your trip. Safe travels!

 

Devils Backbone Brewpub and Meadows in Virginia

Blue mountain Brewery

Bold rock cidery

And many more

 

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nfsnc/recreation/recarea/?recid=48686

Go check out the Yosemite of the east.

 

Backroom Brewery
150 Ridgemont Rd, Middletown, VA 22645
(540) 869-8482
https://goo.gl/maps/pW99sptC1s52

If your coming down 81

 

I didn’t get to wheel on my last trip through Asheville, but I had good beer and good food there. Best brewery in town is Burial, IMHO. Damn good beer. Especially if you like sours. Thirsty Monk has a pretty good tap list.The food in Burial is good as is Tupelo Honey.

 

Stop in Mayberry and get a pork chop sammich!