From early June through early August, the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center offers residents and visitors of all ages an opportunity to find community and make memories with free or nominally priced activities such as outdoor movie nights, crafts, workshops, game days, yoga, bonfires, moonlight boat rides and more. 

Three years ago, Meg Hanshaw was in full-on planning mode for a camp that she hoped to see grow into something big, but that would — for that summer at least — roll forward hosted in her home with just two campers attending.

In addition to the year-round fun art spaces and activities for youth, The Bascom, A Center for the Visual Arts in Highlands offers a number of summer camp opportunities.

Sure, summer camps are all about creating precious childhood memories filled with friends and fun, but at Waynesville’s Pigeon Community Multicultural Development Center, it’s also about sharpening academic skills and teaching the next generation of young Americans the value of social responsibility. 

When Susan Courtney Harris first came to the Smokies, she was just looking for a place to escape the stifling Florida summers. What she actually found in Haywood County was the beginning of a cherished century-old legacy for thousands of girls and women.

Most families in Western North Carolina haven’t even taken their spring break yet but already parents are clamoring to secure a spot for their kids at an area summer camp.

What was hoped to be a slick new attraction designed to bring more visitors to Maggie Valley during wintertime has instead been shown to be an attraction of a different sort — a magic trick that turned $36,268 of taxpayer money into just $4,338 of ticket sales.

Macon County and the town of Franklin are working on a collaborative project to create a new greenway connection on East Main Street.

It’s a perplexing dichotomy. Maggie Valley has been portrayed as a town that rolls up the sidewalks once the leaf-lookers leave each fall, even though it’s home to two popular winter attractions — Cataloochee Ski Resort and Tony’s Tube World draw thousands each year to the western end of Haywood County — but now a third reason to visit the Valley will further test tourists’ appetite for winter wanderings.