Coming September 13-14th at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds, only 15 minutes from Waynesville, NC. The Smoky Mountain Elk Fest is an event full of music, entertainment and educational demonstrations. You can expect to find lots of great food and drinks, guided hikes, trout racing, wildlife artists, crafts and cultural performances by the Cherokee Indian Reservation.
Help us celebrate the reintroduction of the elk to our area. Elk used to be abundant throughout the western North Carolina mountains, but by the mid-1800’s, the population was wiped out due to overhunting and habitat loss. After extensive research by the Great Smoky Mountain National Park Service and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, wild elk were reintroduced into the Cataloochee Valley in 2001. The original herd consisted of 52 elk, and over the years their numbers have grown to more than 150-200+.
While you are here for our Elk Fest, why not take a guided, eco-tour of Cataloochee Valley and the elk with Cataloochee Valley Tours. Esther Blakely is a University of Florida certified naturalist. She will take you through the valley and surrounding mountains explaining many interesting facts about the flora and fauna here in western North Carolina. She will also talk about the history of Cataloochee Valley and how it became part of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Brookside Mountain Mist Inn Bed and Breakfast is only a short drive from the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds and the pick-up location for Cataloochee Tours. We offer both bed and breakfast as well as extended-stay type accommodations. Our B&B guests get a three-course breakfast each morning, late-afternoon snacks and beverages such as coffee, tea, sodas and bottled waters. Our accommodations have great mountain views! Call us at 828-452-6880 or book online to reserve your suite for this unique festival event.
Come for the scenery, stay for the Elk Festival!
