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in This Old House, HGTV and Southern Living magazine. The upscale inn offers visitors a chance to experience the health-giving properties of the springs, while its restaurant Martha’s completes the experience with organic fare. Combine camping with a spa trip at the Hot Springs Resort. Campsites and simple cabins (with or without air conditioning and full bathrooms) are just a few hundred yards away from the Hot Springs Spa & Mineral Baths, which has French Broad–fronted hot tubs fed by natural hot springs, plus massage rooms and a pre- or post-massage fire pit for relaxing. If you want a more adventurous foray into the waters, sign up with Huck Finn Rafting, which runs whitewater rafting and canoeing trips down the French Broad. Hike two city blocks of the Appalachian Trail here, as it runs right through town on Bridge St. For a filling plate of breakfast potatoes or sandwiches, stop in at the Smoky Mountain Diner.

To get to Max Patch Mountain, take NC 209 south for about 7 miles from Hot Springs, turning west on NC 1175 for 5.3 miles. Turn onto Max Patch Rd (NC 1182). The parking area at the foot of the bald is 3 miles down Max Patch Rd. While there is pleasant hiking both north and south, a short drive will take you to Max Patch and a 1.6 mile roundtrip hike to the Appalachian Trail’s southernmost bald mountain. From atop the grassy summit of Max Patch, there are panoramic views of the Blacks, Balds, Balsams and Great Smoky Mountains. On a clear day, you can even see the highest point in the Eastern United States – Mount Mitchell (6684ft).

Hop over the border to Tennessee, then continue another 50 miles on Hwy 352 and I-26 to exit 32 to reach Roan Mountain State Park, which encompasses 2006 acres of southern Appalachian forest at the base of 6285ft Roan Mountain. Recreational opportunities abound and the Roan Mountain State Park Lodge offers 30 cabins with a chance to relax – each cabin has a front porch with rocking chairs, outfitted kitchen, full bath with tub and shower, wood-burning stove and heat. Campsites are also available in the park.

On the top of Roan Mountain, straddling the Tennessee/North Carolina border (literally; it even ran through the dining hall) are the ruins of the old Cloudland Hotel site. The 300-room hotel was built in 1885 by Civil War General John T Wilder. Legend has it that North Carolinian sheriffs would hang out in the saloon, waiting for alcohol-imbibers from the Tennessee side to stray across the line, as North Carolina was a dry state back then.

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“Thru-hikers invent trail names to shed their ‘real world’ identity and represent the transformative power of a thru-hike. It’s common to hike with someone named Greyhound or Bloody Stumps for months and never know their real name. My friends named me Mr Magoo before the hike because of my dumb luck, and a thru-hiker named my hiking partner Lisa ‘Cartwheel’ because he thought her light pack would allow her to do cartwheels up the mountain.”

Francis Tapon, Appalachian Trail thru-hiker & author of “Hike Your Own Hike: 7 Lessons from Backpacking Across America.”

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Just 8 miles past Roan Mountain State Park on Hwy 143 you’ll reach Carvers Gap, where a set of log steps leads to a section of the Appalachian Trail which crosses a 10-mile series of grassy balds. Considered to be the Trail’s most beautiful section, it includes a virtually treeless area whose origin still mystifies scientists. Theories for their evolution include everything from extensive grazing to creation by aliens. The balds offer unobstructed views of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina. To the south, the AT climbs to the high point of the Roan Mountain ridge, the 6285ft Roan High Knob.

The Appalachian Trail can also be accessed at Shook Branch Recreation Area where the AT crosses I-321. With picnic tables, restroom, water and a sandy beach on the lake, Shook Branch is a pleasant location to hang out and relax before or after a hike. A fairly strenuous hike from the recreation area is to Laurel Fork Gorge & Falls. The