Lake Toxaway is in Transylvania County, North Carolina. Lake Toxaway is the largest privately held lake in North Carolina.
Lake Toxaway
The lake, developed by the Lake Toxaway Company, is man-made and covers 640 acres and the shoreline is 14 miles. The first era of Lake Toxaway dam building began in 1890 and ended with the collapse of the earthen dam in 1916. In 1960 the second era began when the Lake Toxaway Company purchased the land and rebuilt the lake. In the early 1900’s, The Toxaway Inn was the place to go for the lavish style. The Inn attracted the rich and famous from its opening in 1903. Frequent guests included Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, the Vanderbilt family, John D. Rockefeller, James Buchanan Duke, R.J. Reynolds, and Thomas Edison. In 1963 Heinitsh built a golf course and the Lake Toxaway Country Club was formed.
We explored the surrounding communities of Cashiers, Cherokee, Sapphire, and Sylva. These towns are small and have the essentials. Always too many real estate offices and not enough shops, bars and restaurants in small towns. The few restaurants that were open were good, reasonably priced, and not crowded. The area is known as the land of waterfalls. There are over 260 waterfalls and it was fun trying to find as many as we could. We came across another couple doing the same. The roads are insanely curvy. Within a speed limit sign of 55 mph you could see the next one for 25 mph. The highway crews was blasting granite to make way for a straighter road, but kind of prefer the curves.
Along the trails to the waterfalls there were lots of dogwood in bloom.
Blue, white, and yellow wild violets.
We really enjoyed our walks in the woods.
It was a great opportunity for Jake to get some exercise. He really enjoys being off leash and exploring the trails. He stared at a large grey, oblong, smooth boulder under the water; maybe thought it was a manatee.
Blue Ridge Parkway
The Blue Ridge is a mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains. We drove it to its terminus at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We hope to follow it north to Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive. We saw a couple of Class C and Class B motorhomes on it. We went through a couple of tunnels that had less than 13 ft. clearance. We would not have made it with our RV at over 13 ft. There were very few people driving it. Probably because its spring and the trees are just budding. We heard that in the fall the drive is extremely beautiful and slow travels. Sandy loved the drive, maybe more exciting in her BMW, but the Jeep was still fun.
All along the parkway there are overlooks and numerous photo opportunities. The highest elevation on the road was 6053 ft. The dogwood and wildflowers were amazing. It was nice to come across a cooperative butterfly and a shy turkey…who still waited for us to take her picture.
Mountain Falls Luxury Motorcoach Resort
We really enjoyed our stay here. Mountain Falls Luxury Motorcoach Resort in Lake Toxaway at an elevation of 3200 ft. There was hardly anyone here. Still the off season. Many of the restaurants were closed until May. We stayed on a ridge with beautiful views on either side. There was a lot of construction going on. Some lots have minimal amenities with peaceful surroundings. Some go over the top with tiny homes that have washer/dryers, bedrooms, kitchens, full baths, and huge patios with stunning views. They had crystal clear cable…rare at other RV parks. The internet/wifi was incredible with download speeds of 50 Mbps and upload of 30 Mbps. We took full advantage and streamed Netflix each evening…with a glass of wine (or two).
The clubhouse was massive. There were 2 pools and 2 spas. Both closed until May. The clubhouse also had bocce ball, a gym, and tennis courts.
Sandy really enjoyed the 9 hole par 3 golf course. They just aerated the greens and had plenty of ant mounds to make putting very challenging.
We enjoyed all the beautiful views and spring photography. There were forget-me-nots everywhere. So nice to see columbines when in the mountains.
