Fishing & water
Trout streams and fly water, the Nantahala and the Little Tennessee, and a swimming hole or two within a short drive.
Trout
Western North Carolina is serious trout country, and Macon County has both stocked and wild water. The Nantahala River and the Little Tennessee are the two obvious names, with smaller creeks in the national forest for anyone willing to walk in.
Fly fishing
This is fly water. The creeks in the national forest are the small, cold, close-in kind a fly rod is made for, and both the Nantahala and the Little Tennessee fish well with one. If you’re bringing a rod, bring it for this rather than as an afterthought.
What the rules are varies by classification from one stretch of water to the next, so check the water you actually want with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission before you go.
Licenses
You need a North Carolina fishing license, and some water carries additional rules depending on how it’s classified — hatchery supported, wild, delayed harvest. It’s all handled through the state Wildlife Resources Commission, and it’s worth ten minutes online before you go rather than a conversation with a warden after.
Swimming
Quarry Falls on US-64 between Franklin and Highlands — known locally by a blunter name — is the roadside swimming hole everyone ends up at on a hot afternoon. Cold water, easy access, usually busy.
Whitewater
The Nantahala Gorge is one of the most popular rafting rivers in the southeast, with several outfitters running trips daily through the season. Roughly an hour from the campground.