Experience the finest among North Carolina Vacation Rentals in Highlands NC at The Lakehouse on Lake Glenville in Cashiers

There is something incredibly special about the holiday season that brings friends and families together like no other time of the year. This year, make your time together even more memorable by initiating a new ‘day after the feast’ family tradition – a family outing at one of the many Christmas Tree farms located in western North Carolina’s Jackson County to hand-select and harvest the perfect Live Christmas Tree. Two of our favorite tree farms, Ty-lyn Plantation Christmas Tree Farm and Tom Sawyer’s Christmas Tree Farm, offer rides on a vintage red fire truck or in a horse-drawn wagon, hot cider and chocolate, bonfires and even an elf village to engage young and old alike. Located on opposite sides of Lake Glenville, a short walk from the lake, both tree farms are an easy drive from our lakefront lodge. The Holiday season will be here before you know it – so start planning today!

The scenic mountain village of Cashiers, North Carolina sits at 3,500 feet in the southwest corner of the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains. This is where you’ll find the Lakehouse at Katie Camp. Here, you are truly away from it all – the city, the traffic, the noise. And yet, when you are at Lake Glenville and in Cashiers you will discover scenic vistas, colorful wildflowers, rippling waterfalls, beautiful golf courses, challenging hiking trails, mountain streams, eclectic shops, stunning sunsets and starry, starry night skies.

In Cashiers there are no man-made attractions – no no huge billboards – no shopping malls or big box stores – no rush hour traffic. The village is populated with eclectic and interesting one-of-a-kind shops and cafes. A local coffee shop, village flower vendor and open-air produce market occupy three corners of the town “square”. A Village Green is on the fourth corner of the square. This scenic park hosts special events and entertainments. Just beyond the Green is a children’s park, Village Play, that families love.

One of the many great adventures when you visit Jackson County  (Cashiers-Lake Glenville) in the North Carolina Mountains is a wide range of Great Smoky Mountain fishing opportunities. From dropping a line ‘right off the dock’ at the Lakeshouse to the numerous other lakes, rivers and streams in the area, angles find plenty to suit them here.

The Tuckasegee River is the largest body of water in Jackson County, and has been called “Western North Carolina’s best trout stream for fly anglers“. The North Carolina Mountains also offer scores of small streams that make for great mountain fishing locations. Fishing is also available in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, on the Cherokee Indian Reservation and on many North Carolina Mountain lakes in Jackson County including Lake Glenville – a 1,500 acre pure-water lake with 26 miles of shoreline habitat.

Fishermen visiting the Great Smoky Mountains have good success in their search for rainbow, brown and native brook trout, bass, bream, walley and crappie. Keep in mind that fishing regulations may apply and vare depending on where you choose to fish. Go to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission website for information about trout regulations, licensing information, Jackson County stream stocking information and directions to handicapped-accessible fishing spots.

Visit WNC Fly Fishing Trail for information about 15 prime spots to catch brook, brown and rainbow trout in Jackson County. Detailed trail maps are available free of charge on the site and at the Cashiers Chamber of Commerce and outfitters throughout Jackson County.

How long has it been since you paddled a canoe? Fished in a clear mountain stream? Watched stars shoot across the night sky? At the Lakehouse at Katie Camp on Lake Glenville in Cashiers, North Carolina, these are just some of the adventures that you and your family can share.

There are quaint mountain villages and resort towns nearby hosting Fall festivals September – November. And for pure enjoyment, there’s shimmering Lake Glenville offering excitement and relaxation.

For reservations, please contact us at 904.321.2210 or email us at info@nclakehouse.com. Rates from $690 nightly.

The Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, a local tradition since 1948, showcases the work of the best of the best craftspeople in the Appalachian region. Craft Guild members are artists living in the mountain counties of 9 states from Maryland to Alabama. Their work is diverse: crafts rooted in Appalachian traditions are displayed along with the work of contemporary artists.

In addition to showing the work of over 200 craftspeople, the Fair also features craft demonstrations and local musicians performing traditional mountain music. This year’s event takes place July 21 – 24th at the Asheville Civic Center, 87 Haywood Street, Asheville, NC, nestled within the Blue Ridge Mountains and long recognized as an arts and crafts destination, provides a perfect backdrop for the Craft Fair and is a picturesque 90-minute drive from Lake Glenville and Cashiers.

Ever wonder why some bicycles are made with as many as 27 gears? The answer can be summed up in two words – North Carolina.

With a huge variety of terrain, no matter what kind of cyclist you are, the state is a cyclist’s dream. A recently published ranking of the 10 best bike trails – from flat, serene and easy 10th gear to steep, perilous and possibly heart attack inducing 1st gear highlights, in 3rd gear, the Cashiers Tour.

This route is relatively short (10 miles), but packs a major thigh burning and visual wallop. To begin with, Cashiers happens to be perched atop a plateau which is encircled by the Nantahala National Forest, providing the area with awe-inspiring vistas at virtually every turn.

Judi Lawson Wallace, author of Short Bike Rides in North Carolina, describes the sights in the area this way: “Cashiers’ location on the Eastern Continental Divide at 3,487 feet, combined with the number of rivers flowing through the area, gives it many natural wonders at which to marvel…It has tall mountain peaks, deep valleys, many waterfalls, lush forests and mountain plants and a serene setting.”

Start your ride at Cashiers Commons on US 64, turn right when you get to NC 107 and get ready for heart-pounding climbs, hairpin turns and one of the most inspiring rides you will find anywhere. (Complete directions are found in Wallace’s book).

After completing your ride, relax with a cool beverage overlooking Lake Glenville at our vacation rental, the Lakehouse at Katie Camp.

Gather a group of friends or family and celebrate the New Year at the Lakehouse at Katie Camp.

Tips for serving champagne and sparkling wine:

• Smaller, more numerous bubbles usually indicate a better wine. Better wines also generally have bubbles that last longer.
• Champagne should be served totally chilled. An hour and a half in the refrigerator should do it. If you forget to chill the champagne, avoid placing it in the freezer; it can freeze in 15 minutes and explode. A better quick chill method is to put the bottle in a bucket of ice and water for 15 – 20 minutes.
• Champagne should be served in flutes or tulip-shaped glasses. The wine loses less of its bubbles when poured into these glasses.
• Champagne should be consumed as soon as it is purchased. It may be stored for up to three years in some cases, but will not improve with age.
• Champagne comes from the Champagne region of France. Domestic “champagne” is actually sparkling wine. 

12/03, 12/04, 12/06, 12/11.  I love a parade and if you do too there are lots of opportunities to enjoy a traditional small town parade as many of the villages that surround Lake Glenville host their Christmas parades. These annual events are populated by local high school bands, home-made “floats” towed by farm tractors and riders large and small mounted on steeds of many varieties. Waynesville, Brevard, Hendersonville and Cashiers each have a parade.

In the spirit of a mountain tradition, spend a morning or afternoon with the family at a Jackson County Christmas tree farm. Choose your own family Christmas tree, and take it home on top of your car.

Tom Sawyer Tree Farm is located just across Lake Glenville from the Lakehouse at Katie Camp. The tree cutting excursion includes a ride in a horse-drawn carriage and an elf village where, once children cross a bridge into the village, they don an elf cape. Tom and Vicki Sawyer’s tree farm is open rain, shine or snow. Hours are from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm beginning the Saturday before Thanksgiving. They are closed on Thanksgiving Day.

Run for women’s health care in one of three races supporting the Haywood Regional Medical Center Foundation and its efforts to fund free mammogram screenings in the county. The morning starts with The Pink Relay, an all-women race in which five team members cover a combined 20-mile stretch through the Haywood Community College campus. The Pink 4-miler, which is open to men and women, and the family-friendly Bubble Gum Fun Run/Walk take participants through the campus of the Haywood Regional health & Fitness Center. Then enjoy a relaxing afternoon at our mountain lake lodge on Lake Glenville.

Saturday, October 30, 8:00 am – noon. Registration 6:00 am; $200 relay; $30 Pink 4-miler, $25 before October 22; $10 fun run. Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center, 75 Leroy George Dr., Clyde, NC. (828) 400-5868