There is no bad road in the southern Appalachians in late October. We put a few of our favorite dog-friendly parks into a route — Georgia to North Carolina, apple country to ski country — because fall color, holiday weekends and opening day at the ski areas are all reasons to be up there with a dog.
I grew up visiting first my great-grandparents and then my grandparents for holidays and summer trips at the farm that has now been in the family for 220 years. Now my siblings and I are more involved in keeping the farm going and I have had the opportunity to explore the area as a camper. We visited Grandfather Mountain a few years ago and had a blast hiking with the pups!
The route
The tour runs south to north, and the order is the whole trick. Color moves downhill: the high peaks turn first, and by the time they’ve dropped their leaves, the valleys are at peak. So you start in Georgia’s apple country while the lower mountains are still lit up, and you finish near Boone just as the bare slopes up there start making snow instead.
Eight stops, a slow week or a picked-apart long weekend:
- Ellijay, Georgia
- Blue Ridge and Morganton, Georgia
- Hiawassee and Blairsville, Georgia
- Dillard, Georgia
- Franklin, North Carolina
- Cherokee, North Carolina
- Waynesville and Brevard, North Carolina
- Spruce Pine and Boone, North Carolina
Every stop has at least one park on our list, and most have a fenced dog park right on the grounds. Here’s what each stretch looks like.
Ellijay: apple country
Start where the mountains are orchards. Two of the three parks here have the run-then-rinse combo we plan whole days around: Talona Ridge RV Resort and Apple Country RV Resort each have a fenced dog park and a dog wash station, so a muddy hour off the leash ends with a clean dog and a dry RV floor.
Diamond Lure Campground & RV Resort has all of that plus a dog beach on its own grounds. Bank that one for a warm-weather trip; this late in the year, the water is bracing.
The town is apple country in the plain sense — orchards and pie — and the late varieties are still coming off the trees into November.
Blue Ridge and Morganton
Ten minutes up the road, the mountains go from orchards to lake and river. In Blue Ridge itself, the Blue Ridge / Toccoa River KOA Holiday puts on dog events for its guests, which is a nice change from parks that merely put up with dogs.
Down the lake in Morganton, Blue Ridge RV Resort and Waterside at Blue Ridge both have fenced dog parks. It’s a quiet corner of the route — lake on one side, national forest on the other.
Hiawassee and Blairsville: Georgia’s roof
This is the highest corner of the state. Brasstown Bald, the tallest point in Georgia, is a short drive from any of the three parks in Hiawassee — High Shoals Falls RV Park and Cabins, Mountain View Campground and the Hiawassee KOA Holiday — and all three have a dog park on their grounds.
Over in Blairsville, Crossing Creeks RV Resort & Spa has a fenced dog park too, and it’s the more secluded-feeling stop of the two towns.
Dillard: the last stop in Georgia
Dillard is the park here, sitting on 441 just before the North Carolina line, with a dog park on the grounds. There’s not much else to the town, which is sort of the point — it’s the overnight that sets you up for Franklin, ten minutes up the road.
Franklin: six parks, one small town
Franklin is the dog-friendliest stretch of the whole route. Six parks on our list, all with something for dogs:
- Deer Springs RV Park — dog park, plus sites with their own fenced pet area
- The Great Outdoors RV Resort — dog park and a dog wash
- Highlands Riverbend RV Resort and Cabins — dog park on the river
- Rose Creek Campground & Cabins — dog park, and they keep pet treats on hand
- Gem City RV Resort — dog park, close to town
- Cullasaja River RV Park — dog park
Deer Springs is the one to look at twice if your dog is an escape artist: a fenced pet area on your own site means you open the door without clipping on a leash.
The drive from Franklin up to Highlands, through the Cullasaja Gorge, is one of the best in the mountains — waterfalls pull-outs, tight curves, slow going. Leave the dog a window.
Cherokee: the edge of the Smokies
The Cherokee / Great Smokies KOA Holiday and Cherokee Family Adventure RV Resort both have fenced dog parks, and Wolf Oaks Park has sites with their own fenced pet areas.
One thing worth knowing before you plan hikes: Great Smoky Mountains National Park allows dogs on almost none of its trails. The Oconaluftee River Trail, just north of town, is one of the few it does — a flat river walk, on a leash. It’s not the wilderness, but it’s the Smokies you can share.
Come the holidays, the train out of nearby Bryson City runs its Christmas trips, and Cherokee puts you fifteen minutes from the station.
Waynesville and Brevard: the ski country front door
By late November, this stretch becomes the winter leg of the tour. The three Waynesville parks — Pride RV Resort, Creekwood Farm RV Park and Winngray Campground — all have dog parks, and Cataloochee, usually one of the first ski areas in the East to open, is a short drive up the valley.
If you have an extra day, Morgan Mill RV Park in Brevard puts you at Pisgah’s front door, and Red Gates RV Park in Hendersonville and Apple Valley Farm Motorcoach Resort at Lake Lure are easy swings off the route.
Spruce Pine and Boone: the high country finish
The tour ends where the mountains get serious. Three Peaks RV Resort and Spacious Skies Campgrounds – Bear Den in Spruce Pine, and the Boone KOA Holiday in Boone, all have dog parks on their grounds.
This is the ski base of the route: Sugar, Beech and Appalachian are all within a morning’s drive of Boone. When we run this trip in November, the pattern is simple — a fenced dog park for the morning, a lift ticket for the afternoon, and the dog asleep in the RV by the time the boots come off.
Before you go
A few things that matter more in October than in July:
- Book ahead. Leaf weekends and holiday weekends fill the mountains fast. If you’re travelling late October into November, reserve before you plan anything else.
- Call about breed rules and fees. Our listings show only what each park says about itself, so a missing detail means the park doesn’t say, not that the answer is no. A two-minute call settles it. If you find something out of date, the “Suggest an edit” link on every listing tells us.
- Pack for cold nights. The high stops drop below freezing while the valleys are still mild. Bring the dog’s warm bedding, and a towel for the wash station — a wet dog at 30 degrees is a different problem than a wet dog in July.
Know a mountain park that belongs on this route? Add a listing and tell us where your dog has been happiest.