Travel Directions
Please use the interactive map below to find directions to Camp Greenbird.
Cherokee, NC - 10 minutes
A culture, a people, and a place that's actually a sovereign nation, Cherokee is located right in the heart of Western North Carolina. It's also base camp for hiking in the Great Smokies, arts and crafts shopping, native elk herd viewing, hours of fishing fun, and home to a history that spans millennia.
Each place you visit in Cherokee pulses with the stories and significance of a people whose roots run deep and whose ancient wisdom is fascinating to uncover. Nestled in the lush landscapes of Western North Carolina, Cherokee invites you to smell the wood smoke and open your ears. If you listen closely, maybe you can hear the chanting of the little Nunnehi people of the mountain peaks. No need to resist Cherokee’s invitations to dive right in. Fire off a blowgun if you dare, but make sure your spouse is in the clear. As you cast your line into the trout-filled rivers or wash your face in the sweet spray of a waterfall, let the powerful feelings of Cherokee carry you.
Sylva, NC - 20 minutes
Sylva is a very fun and picturesque small town at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains. Stroll its all-American Main Street, packed with local restaurants, friendly stores, galleries, bookshops and breweries. Visit for many events during the year, including the big Greening Up the Mountain street festival to welcome spring and Concerts on the Creek summer weekly concerts.
Outdoor lovers will be overwhelmed with the options for hiking, waterfalls, fishing, biking and more in the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains - including Nantahala National Forest. In fact, the town owns Pinnacle Park with a 7-mile round-trip trek to a 5,000-ft. peak with great views. The Blue Ridge Parkway is just 11 miles from downtown via US 23 North / US 74 East. Sylva is home to the Western North Carolina Fly Fishing Trail, attracting anglers from around the world. The Tuckasegee River is known for its whitewater and trout populations.
Artsy Dillsboro is just a few miles west with studios, shops and galleries, along with some great art festivals.
Jackson County Chamber of Commerce - Things To Do
Jackson County is a wonderful place to plan a getaway to the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. See what is happening in our nearby towns and communities. Jackson County is nestled among the Great Smoky Mountains, and features a nice balance between peaceful forests and vibrant downtowns. Jackson County was founded in 1851. It was named for Andrew Jackson, President of the United States from 1829 to 1837.
Great Smoky Mountain National Park
Great Smoky Mountain National Park
Ridge upon ridge of forest straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. World renowned for its diversity of plant and animal life, the beauty of its ancient mountains, and the quality of its remnants of Southern Appalachian mountain culture, this is America's most visited national park. Hikers enjoy the Smoky Mountains during all months of the year with every season offering is own special rewards. During winter, the absence of deciduous leaves opens new vistas along trails and reveals stone walls, chimneys, foundations, and other reminders of past residents. Spring provides a weekly parade of wildflowers and flowering trees. In summer, walkers can seek out cool retreats among the spruce-fir forests and balds or follow mountain streams to roaring falls and cascades. Autumn hikers have crisp, dry air to sharpen their senses and a varied palette of fall colors to enjoy.
Mountain Farm Museum and Mingus Mill
The Mountain Farm Museum is a unique collection of farm buildings in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park assembled from locations throughout the park. Visitors can explore a log farmhouse, barn, apple house, springhouse, and a working blacksmith shop to get a sense of how families may have lived 100 years ago. Most of the structures were built in the late 19th century and were moved here in the 1950’s. The Davis House offers a rare chance to view a log house built from chestnut wood before the chestnut blight decimated the American Chestnut in the forests during the 1930’s and early 1940’s. The museum is adjacent to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. The site also demonstrates historic gardening and agricultural practices, including livestock.
A half-mile north of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center is Mingus Mill. Built in 1886, this historic grist mill uses a water-powered turbine instead of a water wheel to power all of the machinery in the building. Located at its original site, Mingus Mill stands as a tribute to the test of time. At the visitor center, rangers can answer your questions about the park and there is a bookstore with a broad selection of guides, maps, and other products.
Local Breweries and Gastropubs
Innovation Brewing - Sylva and Dillsboro, NC
Welcome to Innovation Brewing — where we are dedicated to changing the way you think about beer. While we will be supplying our neighborhood patrons with plenty of traditional styles of ale and ol’ standbys, we are equally dedicated to evolving and crafting new and unique styles of beer. Experimentation with a variety of fun and fresh ingredients will always be available to stimulate the palate and the senses when you stop by Innovation Brewing for a pint. And of course an IPA or three will be available for your drinking pleasure at all times. Fermentation. Experimentation. Innovation.
Balsam Falls Brewing Co. - Sylva, NC
Rooted in community, Balsam Falls invites you to experience finely crafted beverages made with the best local ingredients in a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Come relax with us and discover new styles and flavors all brewed with care and a commitment to community.
Nantahala Brewing Co. - Sylva, NC
Founded in 2009, Nantahala Brewing Company creates award-winning beers in the shadow of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A proud supporter of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Friends of the Smokies and Great Smoky Mountain Association, the brewery’s beer, culture and vision are defined by the park’s wild spaces and its untouched, natural water that flows from one of the purest, protected watersheds on the planet. Nantahala Brewing is known for such adventure-inspired flagships as Dirty Girl Blonde Ale, Noon Day IPA, App Trail Extra Pale Ale, and Bryson City Brown Ale
Lazy Hiker Brewing Company - Sylva, NC
We’re brewing great craft beer in the mountains of Western North Carolina. In our little town of Franklin, we have a beautiful new brewery in the 5-bay garage out behind our comfortable taproom. Step outside and you need only look around to see the high mountains of the Southern Appalachians stretching out before you. Some folks around town are thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. Some folks are tourists come up from Atlanta. Some are seasonal residents from Florida. For those of us fortunate enough to live here year-round, we take it slow, enjoy the mountains in every season, and enjoy our craft beer.
Area Attractions
Rafting & Watersports
Swimming, sailing, water skiing, boating, tubing, whitewater rafting, kayaking and canoeing are all available in Jackson County. There are four whitewater rivers, the Tuckaseigee, Chattooga, Oconaluftee and the near by Nantahala, with difficulty ranging from Class I to Class VI.
Commercial companies rent rafts, canoes, kayaks and tubes. Canoes and boat rentals are available on Lake Glenville, near Cashiers. There are also several smaller, more remote lakes in the county, all of which have boat access.
Trout Fishing
Jackson County contains 4,600 miles of trout streams and receives an annual stocking of 92,800 trout, which is the most of any county in the state. It also features the state’s longest contiguous stretch of N.C. Mountain Heritage Trout Waters. Jacson County is the home of the state record for the largest rainbow trout ever caught.
Jackson has 31 public access points for fishing; supports fishing classes for children, is home to the nation’s largest river cleanup day in the country; and plays host to its own chapter of Trout Unlimited. Click here for information about access to 13 of those river access points along the WNC Fly Fishing Trail alone.
Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino
Now you can play like the big boys at any one of our 100+ traditional games! Get in on the live card action located across the casino floor. Get your game face on! Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort invites you to join in on the fun and excitement of table games at our gambling getaway destination. With live dealers and real chips, our ultra-modern table games offer a unique format that keeps all the fun of traditional table games and adds the latest interactive technology. Whether you're an experienced player or new to table games, every hand is a new opportunity to win!
Concerts on the Creek
These mountains are known as much for the music that comes out of them as they are for their picturesque vistas, cascading waterfalls and alluring trails. Some of the world’s finest musicians have come from Western North Carolina and that rich tradition carries on today.
Here in Jackson County, the Town of Sylva, Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department and Jackson County Chamber of Commerce team up to produce the Concerts on the Creek series at the Bridge Park gazebo in Sylva every Friday from 7-9 p.m., Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Concerts on the Creek events are free and open to the public with donations encouraged. Bring a chair or blanket and enjoy the shows. Occasionally, these events will feature food truck vendors as well.
Fire Mountain Trails
The Fire Mountain Trails are Cherokee’s newest source for big adventure—a multiuse trail system that’s made to mountain bike, hike, or run. The network of trails is more than 10.5 miles total, so there’s plenty of room for everyone to recreate safely and responsibly. The trailhead is located about 100 yards from the Oconaluftee Indian Village (see below) in Cherokee and shares a parking lot. The trails interlace through the nearby Great Smoky Mountains, so you already know the views and terrain will take your breath away, even if your recreation of choice doesn’t!
Oconaluftee Indian Village
As you enter the soft trails of the village, it’s no longer the 21st century: you’re immediately transported to the 1760s. You won’t need your robotic-voiced GPS here. The faint tang of wood smoke wafts by as you are led by a Cherokee cultural expert on an interactive journey through Cherokee lifestyle and history. Your guide will show you the way through the winding paths, flanked with traditional Cherokee dwellings, work areas, and sacred ritual sites. Delight in cultural dances amid the swaying oaks and sycamores. As you wander, interact with villagers as they hull canoes, sculpt pottery and masks, weave baskets, and fashion beadwork. Watch as a village prepares for war. Be amazed by a blowgun demonstration. Oconaluftee Indian Village is much more than just a place; it’s living history.
Appalachian Women’s Museum
The Appalachian Women’s Museum is an all-volunteer organization, who has worked to open the doors of the Monteith Farmstead in Dillsboro, North Carolina to house and retell these stories through a living museum. The mountains of western North Carolina are breathtaking. However, it wasn’t always an easy place to live. For many women, life in the Southern Appalachians was hard with raising children on very little means, caring for families and making a living in an isolated part of America. No matter the circumstances, these women faced whatever came their way with determination, grit and grace.
Golf in The NC Great Smoky Mountains of Jackson County
Jackson County offers a superb selection of classic mountain golf courses that are both challenging and scenic. Our daily fee and semi-private layouts host thousands of golfers each year.
From Cashiers’ world-renowned resorts and courses in the south to the picturesque Sequoyah National Golf Club in the county’s north end, the area is replete with one-of-a-kind mountain golf in a variety of awe-inspiring settings.
Check out our list of golf and tennis clubs in Jackson County!
Museum of the Cherokee Indian
Experience the 11,000-year-old Cherokee story vividly. If your idea of a museum includes dusty displays tended by a boring curator, get ready to rediscover what a museum can be. Inspired by the beauty and ingenuity of the Cherokee people, this is a cultural and historical tour without equal, one fused with interactive video, intriguing displays, and a full sensory experience. Step through their doors and discover up close the Cherokee people’s spirit of inventiveness, resilience, and will to survive. Let yourself be guided through a moving journey that illustrates who the people of Cherokee really are, where they came from, and why they’re still here. Keep a hankie close; Cherokee history is serious stuff.
Great Smoky Mountain Railroad
Their scenic rail excursions take you from their historic depot in Bryson City, through the beautiful countryside of Western North Carolina. Their variety of train options and special event trains makes them perfect for making memories! They are one of the top Fun Things to do in North Carolina for families. Dine in their First Class Cars with a private attendant and breathtaking views or take it all in while riding in an Open Air Gondola! Step on board for your next rail adventure!