Visit This Beautiful North Carolina Mountain Town For Family-Friendly Fun

North Carolina is a great travel destination, filled with plenty of outdoor-centric family-friendly things to do, from incredible hiking trails like the must-do trek to the top of Grandfather Mountain to expansive natural areas like a portion of Great Smoky Mountains National Park — which also happens to be one of the best national parks for freshwater fishing. If you are planning your family trip to North Carolina and want to avoid the more crowded mountain towns, then there is no better option than Maggie Valley.

Located about 35 minutes from the main North Carolina entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Maggie Valley is a lovely small mountain town and a great place to call your home base while you explore the area. The town itself also has plenty of family-friendly accommodation options, from hotels with pools to those that are located right on Jonathan Creek, a great spot for young ones to try out their fishing skills or float around on an inner tube. Plus, the downtown area of Maggie Valley is full of a variety of charming restaurants with meal options for the whole family along with cute craft shops and trading posts packed with trinkets. But, the family-friendly fun of this mountain town doesn't just end there.

On top of the shopping, restaurants, and splashing in Jonathan Creek, there's also lots of other family-friendly fun to be had in Maggie Valley. If you are looking for some outdoor fun, you can hit the trail at Soco Falls for a quick 4-minute walk to a stunning waterfall. You can also stop at the Soco Crafts and Tower and enjoy a nice view from the top of the nine-story-tall observation tower. Another option is to go horseback riding at Cataloochee Ranch, combined with beautiful sweeping views of the Smokies.

If you are up for a drive and are interested in getting some of the best views of the Smokies and Blue Ridge Mountains, then you can catch the famous Blue Ridge Parkway at the Soco Road access point, which is only around a 6-minute drive from downtown Maggie Valley. Along the way, you can stop and get out at several overlooks to take in the view and capture some great pictures. However, it is important to note that this road is very popular and can become quite crowded, especially in the summer when everyone is out of school, and autumn, when many travelers drive this scenic byway to take in the changing colors of leaves.

Maggie Valley isn't just a great family vacation destination in spring, summer, and fall. In fact, it's the perfect spot to visit for some winter fun due to its ski slopes and tubing hills. The Cataloochee Ski Area was actually one of the first ski resorts to be opened in North Carolina and, despite being located so far south, has a long skiing season (from November to March) thanks to hills that are coated in man-made snow. This means that you won't have to worry about snowfall before hitting the slopes at Cataloochee, as you're always guaranteed to have a great time. Plus, if you don't have gear, you can rent all the basic ski gear you need from the lodge or from one of the other ski shops in Maggie Valley.

If you don't like skiing, or simply want to take a break and do something else for a day, you can head to Tube World (located just outside of the downtown area of Maggie Valley). Tube World is one of those places that is fun for the whole family with its 12 snow-coated tubing lanes; however, it can get quite busy, so it is recommended that you make a reservation in advance. Reservations cost around $40 a person and are good for a period of an hour and 45 minutes. Inner tubes are provided and there is also a lift to carry tubers from the bottom of the hill back up to the top.